PRALINE goes to Dublin to address Language Learning for Migrant Learners
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PRALINE goes to Dublin to address Language Learning for Migrant Learners

FPEmpresa Vet Schools Association has participated in the fourth Peer Learning Activity (PLA) of the European project PRALINE (Promoting Adult Learning in Networks) that has taken place in Dublin the 10th and 11th of May. During the meetings, Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) has explained to the European members how the Further Education and Training (FET) of Ireland is.

Presentations that have focused on the Language Learning for Migrants Learners; theme over the different speakers have presented solutions through Good Practices. In that way, the speakers have exposed a general perspective over the situation of the country. Apart, the actual Ukrainian crisis has been underlined, because Ireland receives a great number of Ukrainian migrants to the English speaker country.

The PLA has shared with the assistants the presentations of the following people: Lorraine Downey, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Development Officer at City of Dublin Education and Training Board; Michael Donohoe, Lead Researcher Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board (CMETB); Fergus Craddock, FET Strategy and Policy Development Officer at ETBI; and Roisin Doherty, Director FET Active Inclusion -SOLAS.

Fourth PLA contents

After fourth PLA of PRALINE, one of them online, the members of the project have responded to questions about the learned practices in the last meetings. Like this, the group has settled on what points must be strengthen in the EU’s educative policies. Furthermore, this practice actions have allowed to the members have a more global vision of PRALINE, just like work the team dynamics.

In addition, should be highlighted the fifth and the last Good Practice of the Ireland PLA that has made a Design Thinking Workshop by groups. Then, the different organizations have debated which are their direct and non-direct stakeholders. All this with the purpose to identify challenges, potential solutions, and the VET state-of-art.

Finally, the European members have announced the date of the 5th PLA that will take place in Estonia the next month of October. It will be organized by Estonian Association For Advancement Of Vocational Education.

PRALINE is an Erasmus+ funded project with the aim to boost the international networks of adult education that are in progress through good practices summary.

A Brazilian VET Schools delegation brings Spanish Vocational Education and Training closer
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A Brazilian VET Schools delegation brings Spanish Vocational Education and Training closer

The last Tuesday, 28th of March, FPEmpresa VET Schools Association gathered in Madrid with a Brazilian VET Schools delegation formed by Instituto Federal de Alagoas (IFAL) and Instituto Federal de Pernambuco (IFPE) belonging to Conselho Nacional das Instituições da Rede Federal de Educação Profissional, Científica e Tecnológica (Conif) to explain the function of the Association. This meeting is the first real mobility since FPEmpresa and Embajada de España en Brasil encourage the international cooperation between centers. What’s more is delimit on the aim of the Association for internationalize the VET. In this way, the Brazilian centers have visited the high schools IES Capacitación Agraria and IES Hotel Escuela, two VET centers associates to FPEmpresa.

The encounter, that has initiated in the center IES Capacitación Agraria, has allowed to the Brazilian delegation presents itself and publish the reality over how is organized the VET in Brazil. Also, the meeting has permitted to the visitors get close to the professional agrarian and environment families. Furthermore, they have known the most innovative projects that has the center as the vertical garden and the compost system. Finally, the session has concluded with a guided tour of the facilities of IES Hotel Escuela, where it has the hotel, the restaurant, the kitchen, and the travel agency.

Carol Bello, responsible of the international relations of IFPE, has rated as “very pleasant” the experience to know the function of the Vocational Education and Training in Spain. “After the visit, we have some ideas about new collaborations in the future. In addition, the way of work in the centers is impressive and we have found models that could be applied in Brazil”, add.

On the other hand, the visits, that has taken place in Madrid, open a new way to FPEmpresa and Conif. Both organizations want to boost this type of encounters that provide a knowledge’s exchange between the VET of different countries. In this way, they have involved to leverage the virtual tools that save the distance.

The actual meeting has taken place after the virtual reunion of the last 17th of March, where FPEmpresa was presented virtually to the centers that form Conif. Apart, FPEmpresa explained in detail how works the VET in Spain. Additionally, all the actions answer to the objective of the Association of helping to the associated centers in its internationalization. FPEmpresa facilitates that the members approach to the VET of those countries that are beyond the European Union as Brazil, too.

Since 2021, the Association and the Embassy of Spain in Brazil intervene in different activities to give the opportunity of cooperating between Spanish and Brazilian centers in different educative projects. Among them are the eTwinning projects that connect the centers of both countries in a virtual way.

PRALINE gathered all his partners in Lisbon
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PRALINE gathered all his partners in Lisbon

FPEmpresa Vet Schools Association has participated in the third PLA (Peer Learning Activity) of the European project PRALINE (Promoting Adult Learning in Networks) that has taken place in Lisbon. On this occasion, the Associaçäo Nacional de Escolas Profissionais de Portugal (ANESPO) has organized the meeting in the School of Commerce of Lisbon (SCL). PRALINE is an Erasmus+ funded project with the aim to boost the transnational networks of adult education through good practices summary.

After the second PLA celebrated in Valencia and directed by FPEmpresa the last month of October 2021, Portugal has received the European partners of PRALINE by the 14th and 15th of March. The members have had the opportunity to know better the Vocational Education and Training of the Lusitanian country. In this context, the executive director of ANESPO, Luis Costa, have explain that “the PLA in Lisbon has accomplished with his objectives. Apart, it has allowed to the associations know the function of the education inside the Portuguese classrooms”.

Costa has rated the encounter as “very important to ANESPO. It has been a great exchange of experiences about how the VET is been working in different places. The reality is not the same in all the European countries. Each nation treats the VET according to her precedents. For example, we had one of the worst educational systems in Portugal for many years. It was for financed issues”.

This third meeting has had the participation of some figures that have shared good practices of the Portugal’s VET with the PRALINE’s partners. Attended Teresa Damásio, CEO of ENSINUS Group; Catarina Esménio, SCL General Board Adviser; Alexandra Teixeira, Director of the Adult Qualification Department of the National Agency for Qualifications and Vocational Education; and Andreia Lopes, Regional Director of Human Resources at LIDL Portugal, among others.

Finally, Costa has concluded that “in the next encounters we will tackle the problem of attract the people with a low qualification. By this way, we will help them to obtain a quality education to access to new employees”.

The partners have announced the date of the next PLA at the final of the meeting. It will take place in Ireland the next month of May and it will be organized by the Irish partner of PRALINE, Education and Training Board Ireland (ETBI).

FPEmpresa and Group Esprinet launch the I Edition of VET Knowledge’s Transfer Awards
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FPEmpresa and Group Esprinet launch the I Edition of VET Knowledge’s Transfer Awards

FPEmpresa VET Schools Association and Group Esprinet launch the I edition of VET Knowledge’s Transfer Awards which the aim of bring the women’s talent to the fore in those VET professional families where is limited. The call is directed towards the 400 VET schools associated to FPEmpresa. The inscription started the 8th of March and will be ending the next 29th of March.

The call came up from an agreement between FPEmpresa and Group Esprinet that was signed the last month of February for which both organizations stablish attract women’s talent towards VET studies where there are a low women’s representation. Furthermore, this initiative pretends encourage aptitudes and abilities in the students to make competitive professionals, just like promote technical skills learning.

The first edition of awards has a solid agreement with the 2030 Agenda that set up objectives to achieve for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). By this way, the call proposes to the participants to create a technological solution that accomplish one of the SDG and promote the gender equality.

The three better purposes will be rewarded with 5.500, 4.000 and 2.500 euros, respectively. The registered teams will know all the details of the challenge in an online session the next 26th of April. Apart, since that day, they will have four days to formulate their purposes. The winners will be announced the next 25th of May.

All the information about this I edition of VET Knowledge’s Transfer Awards can be consulted on the contest rules.

#Innovaprofes turns the VET into a great point of virtual meeting
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#Innovaprofes turns the VET into a great point of virtual meeting

#Innovaprofes virtual meeting, organized by CaixaBank Dualiza and FPEmpresa VET Schools Association beside FPInnovación, turned the last 19th of February into a great point of virtual meeting for the Vocational Education and Training. In a virtual way, hundreds of participants could traverse a divide space in different scenes where plays 26 presentations, where shows undertaking classrooms of VET schools and where the attendees worked the contact network, too.

The event that was developed through virtual reality platform application Virtway has transformed in the biggest VET virtual meeting, considering that it has been the second edition that has success. The day was open by the three participant entities with the treasurer vicepresident of FPEmpresa, Tomás Alonso. In that way, the most part of governing board was in #Innovaprofes through different presentations. Also, Luis García, president of the Association, dealt with new dual vocational trainings in his statement.

García explains that “this meeting has been a good opportunity to see us through a virtual environment favorable to learn about the speakers, as to be in contact in a nice way”. Apart, he underlined that “we must congratulate to the #Innovaprofes team, because they did an excellent job with this initiative. Furthermore, we need to have in mind the efforts that require a virtual encounter with so good results”.

The space that was organized by five rooms divide in different themes about educative innovation gathered almost 400 participants who could choose between various explanations from 30 different presenters. In addition, FPEmpresa had a stand in the reception zone where all the presents had detailed information about the objectives and activities of the Association.

By other hand, this event has reached a big impact in other virtual world like the social networks, because the teachers had a big response with the hashtag #Innovaprofes.

UPT2S PROJECT: Upgrading Trainers in Dual Vocational System
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UPT2S PROJECT: Upgrading Trainers in Dual Vocational System

Since 2019 EFA La Malvesia– associated centre of FPEmpresa VET Schools Association – leads the Erasmus+ KA2 for VET project called “Upgrading Trainers in Dual Vocational System”.

When it comes to youth unemployment and job insecurity we can see that Europe is having some problems, being more highlighted in the south of Europe. In this scenario, the VET DUAL SYSTEM and specially the role of the trainer in the company are considered really significant resources to solve this tragic problem for the future of the European youth.

The VET students spend many hours working with their trainers in the companies. Therefore, they must be a real and effective influence for their trainees to guarantee the success of the internships. This will benefit then as they will enrich their soft and professional skills required by the Labour Market.

Although the willingness to collaborate is usually excellent, there is still a lack of professionalization of the competences of the trainers which would help to achieve a real experience of high quality.

Obviously, there are multiple reasons for these gaps, such as: the role of the trainer is not legally regulated in all European countries or, surprisingly, it is not considered as an educational agent. In addition, the access to updated and relevant information is complicated due to the lack of centralized access to it.

In the light of the questions mentioned above, the UPT2S project was launched in December 2019 in Spain and its main objective is the achieve the professionalization of the role of trainers in the Dual Training System. The transformation of a company’s employee into a pedagogical trainer who is a fix and real link between companies and educational institutions and which should be facilitated with the created resources/tools.

The project goal is to obtain three intellectual outputs:

  • Implementation of an online course for trainers (25 hours).
  • The creation of an Evaluation App to assess the different learning and skills levels acquired and monitoring the progress of the trainee in real time.
  • A guideline based on the best practices focused on the role of the trainer.

Due to Covid-19, important activities had to be postponed. Needless to say, the partnership did not intend to give up their project . Therefore, they continued to move forward via on-line, showing their resilience and ability to adapt to the current situation.

Nonetheless, at the end of the month of September 2021, a group of 20 people from the project partner countries: Spain (EFA La Malvesia), Estonia (Järvamaa Kutsehariduskeskus), France (MFR de Bretagne), Croatia (Srednja Skola Bedekovcina), Germany (DEULA Nienburg) met in Nienburg to check how the project was going on, its development and to set new goals.

This training activity was based on an intensive testing of the pedagogical outcomes that the partnership had developed during this phase of the project carried out by invited international experts. These resources have been an Online Course for trainers involved in VET Dual System and an Evaluation and Communication APP that allows monitoring in real time the progress of the trainee in the company during their internship period.

It should be noted that the evaluation of the resources used were well received by the participants: VET teachers, Trainers, Educational and Labour Administration Representatives. These members analysed and tested their performance, highlighting the added value was added to the project. It was also mentioned that it can become a tool that can be used by the trainer in order to upgrade their professional skills and at the same improve the quality of evaluation and monitoring of the trainees.

The project partners are currently working on the development of the third objective: A guide of best practices in this field, which allows the trainer to become a real educational agent.

 

For more details on the project and its ongoing developments please visit: project website.

https://upt2sproject.com/

Facebook page @UPT2SProject

FPEmpresa carries out consultative work in the European Project for the Improvement of the Quality of Dual VET in Spain
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FPEmpresa carries out consultative work in the European Project for the Improvement of the Quality of Dual VET in Spain

The vice-president and treasurer of the FPEmpresa VET Schools Association, Tomás Alonso, attended on the 9th of December the closing ceremony of the European Project for the Improvement of the Quality of Dual VET in Spain, in which the Association has participated carrying out consultative work as one of the key social agents in this educational area.

During the event, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Education and Training has presented the publication titled 102 Good Practices of Dual VET, a document that aims to serve as an example and inspiration for all the actors involved in this training field.

“This compilation of good practices and their dissemination and exchange among all the interested parties represents, without a doubt, one of the fundamental pillars on which the improvement of Vocational Education and Training is based”, Alonso highlights.

After the inauguration by Nathalie Berger, the Director of Support for Reform in the Member States (REFORM) of the European Commission, a round table was held to exchange good practices in Dual VET implemented in different Spanish Autonomous Regions. Finally, it was the Spanish General Secretary for Vocational Education and Training, Clara Sanz, who gave the closing speech and took the opportunity to share with the attendees some of the most relevant points of the new piece of Spanish legislation on VET.

The project, promoted by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Education and Training, has received technical support and funding from the European Commission (DG REFORM), through the Support Program for Structural Reforms, as well as technical assistance from the Bertelsmann Foundation. For more information about it, visit the following link (in Spanish).

35th edition of the Don Bosco National Award
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35th edition of the Don Bosco National Award

The Salesian School “Nuestra Señora del Pilar” in Zaragoza organises the 35th edition of the Don Bosco National Award, which is aimed at the promotion of creativity, research and innovation among young people. In addition, it emphasises on individual development and students’ access to the labour market.

By carrying out these projects, a series of crucial skills and aptitudes are reinforced, such as: collaboration, perseverance, commitment, autonomy, and effort. On the other hand, through these innovative and research projects, this Award’s intention is to encourage the active participation of the entire educational community and companies, in order to give collaborative work and entrepreneurial spirit a leading role.

In this 35th edition, innovation and research of young students who see their projects as potential forms of entrepreneurship in the given categories prevail. Within the Research Area: Science category (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, etc.) and Health Science and Social and Legal Science category (Medicine, Psychology, Humanities, etc.); within the Technological Innovation Area: Information and Communication Technologies category (Telecommunications, Audiovisual Technologies, ICT, etc.) and Industrial Technologies category (Electronics, Robotics, Mechatronics, etc.).

The Don Bosco National Award is financed entirely by private capital and it is thanks to the participation of sponsors and collaborators that the initiative is consolidated year after year.

Students of Vocational Education and Training (Basic VET, Intermediate VET and Advanced VET) and Bachillerato may participate. In order to participate, they will have to submit their projects via the online application form before November 30, 2021.

Share Don Bosco National Award on social media with the hashtag #PdB35ed

FPEmpresa and CaixaBank Dualiza bring together 500 teachers to analyse the future of VET
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FPEmpresa and CaixaBank Dualiza bring together 500 teachers to analyse the future of VET

The 7th VET Conference: VET, challenges for a world in transition, held on November 4 and 5 in the Spanish city of Toledo, has ended successfully. Its celebration has been received with a great reception by the more than 500 attendees. The Conference has been organised by the FPEmpresa VET Schools Association and CaixaBank Dualiza and has had the collaboration and support of the regional Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Castilla-La Mancha.

The president of FPEmpresa, Luis García, values ​​the results obtained in this 7th Conference very positively and is convinced that it has shown that “VET is not only a key issue for the development of the Spanish productive sector, but it has already become in a matter of national significance”. In addition, this Conference confirms the importance of VET centres working together since, only in this way, “can we all achieve the desired objective: make VET more visible and improve the VET system so that it is established as a solid academic path, with present and future, in all the Spanish territories”.

For his part, the director of CaixaBank Dualiza, Juan Carlos Lauder, has expressed his satisfaction with the development of the Conference that “for yet another year has served as a reference for the VET world, as a meeting point for educational centres and nexus for the 500 teachers and professionals in this field who have gathered in it”. Furthermore, he wanted to add that “events like this only make us more convinced of the talent that VET accumulates and that the future of our society depends on its impulse; something that we will continue to support from CaixaBank Dualiza”.

More than 30 speakers, from the academic and institutional sectors, have participated in the Conference, who have expressed their different points of view on Vocational Education and Training and have shared their experiences and good practices with all the attendees.

Presentations such as the one made by the General Secretary for Vocational Education and Training, Clara Sanz, by the President of CaixaBank, José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, or by the General Director of Vocational Education and Training of Castilla-La Mancha, María Teresa Company González, have been accompanied by many contributions made by representatives of VET educational centres from all corners of Spain, as well as by experts in the VET field and by representatives of the CEOE, UGT and CCOO (main social agents in Spain). Additionally, within the framework of this Conference, some visits have also been made to VET schools and companies in the Spanish province of Toledo. They have visited the IES Alfonso X El Sabio, the IES Universidad Laboral, the IES Azarquiel and the Infantry Academy, as well as the companies Aerennova, Innovantia and Bezares.

The 7th VET Conference has been broadcast live through the official YouTube channels of FPEmpresa and CaixaBank Dualiza and can be watched again in its entirety at the following links (in Spanish):

FIRST SESSION 4 NOVEMBER. 9:30 to 11:30.

SECOND SESSION 4 NOVEMBER. 11:50 to 14:30.

_____________________________________________

FIRST SESSION 5 NOVEMBER. 9:00 to 11:30.

SECOND SESSION 5 DE NOVEMBER.  12:00 to 14:30.

 

 

FPEmpresa present at the EfVET Annual General Assembly
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FPEmpresa present at the EfVET Annual General Assembly

The FPEmpresa VET Schools Association will be present at the Annual General Assembly of EfVET (European Forum of Technical and Vocational Education and Training), which is going to be held today, October 28, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. (CEST), via virtual platform for the second consecutive year.

EfVET, an organisation of which FPEmpresa is a member, is one of the institutions with the greatest international relevance in the field of Vocational Education and Training and its mission is to defend and enrich VET, through transnational cooperation and the creation of a strong pan-European network of institutions working towards a common goal.

The purpose of EfVET is clear: to promote quality and innovation in Vocational Education and Training throughout Europe, in order to develop fruitful mechanisms for cooperation and mutual learning and to guarantee an agile exchange of good practices between all parties involved. Furthermore, this organisation plays a decisive role when it comes to influencing European policies related to Vocational Education and Training.

At the Assembly, various internal issues of the organisation will be discussed, such as the presentation and approval of the activity report and financial report for last year’s financial year; the presentation of EfVET’s strategic plan for the period 2022-2026; and the presentation of the EfVET History Book.