This project involves four different vocational colleges: Berufskolleg Kaufmannsschule of the City of Krefeld, Berufskolleg Rheydt-Mülfort for Business and Administration (both Germany), Tekirdag Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi in Tekirdag (Turkey) and IES Universidad Laboral of Albacete (Spain). It addresses the problem of high youth unemployment, which often occurs not only because of a problematic economic situation but also due to a lack of education among the young people, which in turn results in deficient training and professional capabilities. A school's role in this context must be to reach the affected young people, who might feel inclined to drop out of school because they are exhausted or frustrated by the school's requirements. The project pursues a highly individualized approach and takes the target group's individual requirements into account. A lead question will be: What must school be like in order to be attractive for students? - Students from the project schools will be given the opportunity to have their say on their wishes and requirements for a motivating and encouraging school. These will be assessed as to their feasibility by interested students in each school, then tested and - if they are seen as appropriate - implemented in the schools curricula. Apart from this holistic approach, the project maintains the pedagogical approach that measures activating students, i. e. methods that go beyond classic knowledge-based lesson organization, are suitable to solve the problem addressed by the project and will convince students that school is a place which meets their requirements as to gaining education in a positive way. Consequently, so-called 'active breaks' during a lesson, extension of the schools' offers regarding sports and facilities for independent studies will be tested as to their acceptance by the school community. Further inspiration about suitable measures to enhance the school's attractivity can also be expected in the exchanges of students from the different project schools: in three international meetings - one per participating country - they will learn about the different local structures and the cultural, structural and social preconditions. This promises potentially einriching contrasts, which may also inspire changes and additions to their own systems. A number of 30 students per project school throughout two school years is intended to do the necessary research and conduct the testing with as many different students and classes as possible. Once implemented, more than 4000 students at the project schools - and particularly those who bear the risk to drop out without a degree - are meant to profit from these measures and gain fresh motivation to attend school. At the end of the project period, schools are supposed to be different places, with additional offers which suit the individual needs of their students.
The project was realized by four vocational colleges, namely Berufskolleg Kaufmannsschule der Stadt Krefeld, Berufskolleg Rheydt-Mülfort für Wirtschaft und Verwaltung (both Germany), Tekirdag Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi (Turkey) and IES Universidad Laboral in Albacete (Spain). It approached the problem of high numbers of young unemployed people, whose unemployment is often not just caused by difficult economic circumstances in their home countries but also by their lack of qualifications which in turn makes it harder for them to acquire a high-level job or training. A school's task in this context should be to reach those young people who are considering to drop out of school without a school degree because of frustration or lack of motivation. For this end, the project pursued a highly individualized approach and aimed specifically at meeting the requirements of this target group, with the leading question: What does school have to be like in order to be attractive for students? Consequently, the students of the project schools were asked to express their wishes and requirements for a motivating school. These wishes and requirements were internally evaluated and examined as to their realisation by interested students. Moreover, the project maintained that measures going beyond classic teaching and lesson organization but also activating students, or health-boosting activities, would also be part of a solution to the problem of students dropping out. These should also be suitable to make schools a place where the students' needs for education are addressed in a positive way. As a result, in the project measures such as so-called active breaks during a lesson or learning possibilities in self-learning centres were examined. Also the exchange of ideas and experiences between the students of the different project schools provided inspiration for improvements of each school: during visits to the project schools they learned about the specific local cultural, structural and social preconditions and examined the peculiarities of the partner school as to their applicability at their own school. For the execution of the project measures in the academic years 2015/16 and 2016/17, in each school around 30 students participated and examined possible improvement measures. Ultimately, a total number of 4000 students in the four schools will profit in one way or another from the improvement measures. In particular, those students who are considering dropping out of school should get a motivation boost. At the end of the project, each school had introduced various extra measures addressing the individual requirements of these students.