TECHVETLAB: A SOLUTION FOR POSTCOVID-19 LABORAL MARKET THROUGH A TECHNICAL TRAINING OF VET STUDENTS WITH OBSTACLES.

COVID-19 had a major impact on the global economy and employment and continues to do so today. Since then, despite the fact that the context has changed in one way or another, the situation for st...

The aim of the project was to promote a transformation of VET, to make it capable of addressing the social and labor inclusion needs in the technology sector of students with obstacles from disadvantaged areas and at serious risk of exclusion, and helping companies to develop projects that allow to rebuild the EU after the pandemic. To this end, our goal has been the creation of the innovative “Being a Part of It” strategy that allows VET to be linked directly to the technology sector by turning the classroom into a virtual department of the technology company and developing key parts of its research projects and training students with obstacles in the transversal processes and skills that favor their hiring. This project ends a journey of 6 years collaborating in the E+ Program that has allowed it to generate a progressive and effective process for the labor inclusion of youth with obstacles in cutting-edge technology companies in three phases: 1. Joint work of all the students within the classroom (result of this project). 2. Digital Individual Internships. 3. Transnational and on-site individual internships in the company.

Throughout the 27 months of the project we carried out multiple activities such as training activities, selection activities, virtual meetings of the coordination and communication committee, sustainability, activities for the creation of results… However, we would like to highlight: - 4 on-site Transnational Meetings. - 2 virtual Transnational Meetings. - Hundreds of joint actions for the development of results with the collaboration of teachers, researchers, experts, and the students themselves. - 4 pilot tests in VET centers in Spain, France, and Greece with companies in Spain and Portugal. - External evaluation actions (involving 189 experts from 3 scientific committees), internal and real-world evaluations, as well as an on-site audit by SEPIE. - Bilateral meetings with policy makers from CEFIRE, the GRETA Network, the FRENCH MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION AND YOUTH and GREECE’S REGIONAL DIRECTORATES OF EDUCATION. - 114 visibility and dissemination activities involving 1039 entities from 67 countries. - Participation in Erasmus Days 2023 and 5 educational innovation congresses. - 4 major Multiplier Events involving 251 participants. - Publication of 2 scientific articles.

We have developed 3 main results: O1. METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE, aimed at teachers and company technicians, which defines the BPI METHODOLOGY (Being part of it) and provides all the necessary guidelines to implement it in the VET classroom, allowing students to develop critical parts within cutting-edge innovation projects within the development of their subjects and during school hours. O2. EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE 'TECHVETLAB', an innovative free-access software compatible with that used by technology companies to control operational and production processes, but directly adapted to the characteristics and educational needs of VET students. O3. VET4TECH SEARCH SYSTEM, a software that integrates databases that include 79 centers and companies in the technology sector at European level, to facilitate the joint participation in research projects and carrying out mobilities of VET student with obstacles. Also, 4 tangible outcomes and various learning and structural outcomes have been created. See http://www.criticalthinking4vet.eu/ep2021/results.