Escape to stay – make VET your first choice Erasmus Project

Project Title

Escape to stay – make VET your first choice

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Access for disadvantaged; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The project follows the core objectives of the “Riga Conclusion on VET” (2015): to promote job-related learning in partnership and make it more attractive; and to improve access to vocational education and training through efficient guidance and occupational orientation. The biggest challenge facing VET is the public perception that it is the final resort for dropouts. But in reality employment prospects and vocational careers for learners, who have completed a vocational training programme, are very good. For example in Germany around two thirds of all trainees get a permanent job with their companies after completing vocational training. Professionals with a vocational qualification are in high demand on the labour market. In some fields, candidates with a vocational qualification are even more sought after than university graduates. In view of the shortage of skilled labour and the trend towards academization and VET as 2nd choice, there is a need in all partner countries to inform young people even better about the very good career opportunities offered by work-based learning (WBL) as an alternative to university studies. Improving the image of Vocational Education and Training is our priority in this project. Here the consortium will test and establish an innovative challenge-based approach that starts with the learner and arouses curiosity for VET and work-based learning (WBL). This includes, among other things, Escape games which can provide vocational orientation in an appealingly way. Educational Escape rooms have drawn the interest of educators due to their ability to foster valuable skills such as teamwork, leadership, creative thinking, and communication. As a consequence, educational Escape rooms are emerging as a new type of learning activity under the promise of enhancing students learning through highly engaging experiences. The partnership will be composed of chambers, companies, schools and innovative VET providers. So a good balance between VET and business is guaranteed. Together they will answer the question of how to unlock the potential of Educational Escape games to improve the image of VET. This new type of “learning activity” has decisive advantages: it is playful (arousing curiosity), it simulates “problems” from the real working world and makes young people aware of their strengths. It is an effective intervention that can be applied by lots of different actors in VET to attract additional target groups as potential VET students and later on skilled workers: school leavers with an educationally distant background, girls, university drop-outs, etc. Partners will create flexible Escape room settings including methodological and didactical recommendations, that can be used or adapted afterwards to the end-users’ needs. Those will be piloted with at least 80 students and their respective educators/vocational counsellors of the target group. By providing appealing and playful opportunities to get to know specific occupations, students will become aware about “challenges” and “benefits” of the attractive world of work. In summary the partnership seeks to reduce misconceptions about certain VET profiles, arousing an interest in those profiles and considerations to choose a VET learning path among students, teachers and parents. We will enhance graduate employability through attractive work-based learning and vocational training and support companies in the daily “war of talents” to attract future skilled workers.

Project Website

http://www.escape2stay.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 346515 Eur

Project Coordinator

IHK- PROJEKTGESELLSCHAFT MBH & Country: DE

Project Partners

• CEPROF – CENTROS ESCOLARES DE ENSINO PROFISSIONAL LDA
• Auxilium pro Regionibus Europae in Rebus Culturalibus
• ŠOLSKI CENTER NOVA GORICA
• CAMARA OFICIAL DE COMERCIO E INDUSTRIA DE ZARAGOZA