Improving and Implementing Excellence in VET

The project was conceived as a tool to analyse in depth the way in which excellence should be understood and how to transfer it to the educational system. Since 2020, the Consejeria de Educacion d Castilla y León has been committed to supporting the creation of networks of centres of professional excellence in order to increase the attractiveness and relevance of vocational training based on quality and employability, being the first Community to implement the process of certification of excellence for centres supported by public funds. Based on this trajectory, in 2021 the need was detected to create a network of international collaborators who, with the necessary spaces and resources, provided through European funding, would facilitate in-depth reflection in order to create knowledge transfer. The combined effects of rapid technological change, digitalisation, climate change, the circular economy and new ways of working require innovative ideas to ensure that VET not only adapts to change, but is also at the forefront of mastering and driving this change at EU level. In this context, vocational training institutions need to be much more flexible and responsive to the need to renew their offer.

The project was based on the relevance of analyzing the concept and trajectory of excellence in the countries that make up the consortium to finally develop a questionnaire that will serve as an instrument for VET providers. For this objective, it was necessary to form a working group composed of four organizations that would allow acquiring a holistic vision of the fundamental aspects to achieve excellence. The first phase of the project should be based on the definition of the state of the art in both countries; subsequently, as one of the most relevant activities of the project, we had to raise, through discussion tables, the opinion of all the actors involved in VET (educational community, business agents, public administrations) to discuss the model of relationship between training and employment. After more than 8 online meetings and two face-to-face meetings between partners, we would finally develop the IIEXVET questionnaire that would allow the centres to find their own starting point and pave the way to excellence. The model would be presented at two multiplier events with more than 200 participants plus one event, aimed specifically at the educational community, to encourage the efficient use of resources.