The partnership was created to link the public and private sectors aimed at promoting regional development. The engineering industry has been and remains a core industry in the regions and therefore it is important to "supply" the employers with qualified staff. Nevertheless, this is only possible by intensive cooperation of companies and schools, and in particular by increasing of amount of practical training directly in companies. As a model the German dual system of vocational education can serve, where students are prepared directly in companies. We would like to achieve the following objectives by realization of the project: - to modernize the vocational education in partner schools through connecting of the school and practice - to increase the interest in technical professions - to exchange the experience and develop possible proposals to reform of the education - to acquire new skills and knowledge from the country, where the dual system is implemented - to involve more the key employers in the vocational education and persuade them that coordinated education can bring more benefits - to enhance the cooperation between the partnership created by organizations that are responsible for vocational education and training, whit the main aim to connect the education with the requirements of practice - to strengthen the role of partnership between schools, companies and social partners by possible influencing of the network of vocational education The target group of the project are teaching staff and students of secondary vocational schools, directories of engineering companies in the regions (especially employees involved in the vocational training) and the representatives of the regional government, industry and professional associations involved in vocational education. The partnership consists of organizations from three EU countries. On the one hand, it is Germany with functioning dual system of education, on the other hand, Slovakia and Czech Republic are countries with ambitions to introduce dual system. The main outputs of the project are the analysis and studies of labor market needs, school and employers readiness for the dual education, also the analysis of finishing of education and credits transfer. The project produces three intellectual outputs - modules training for engineering departments, proposals of network for regional cooperation and model of career guidance training.
The partnership was created to link the public and private sectors aimed at promoting regional development. The engineering industry has been and still remains a core industry in the regions and therefore it is important to provide the employers with qualified staff. Nevertheless, this is only possible via intensive cooperation of companies and schools, and in particular by increasing of amount of practical training in the companies. The German dual system of vocational education can serve as a model, where students are prepared directly in companies. We achieved the following objectives by realization of the project: - to modernize the vocational education in partner schools via cooperation of the school and practice - to increase the interest in technical professions - to exchange the experience and develop possible proposals to reform of the education - to acquire new skills and knowledge from the country, where the dual system is implemented - to involve the key employers in the vocational education more and persuade them that coordinated education can bring more benefits - to enhance the cooperation between the partnership created by organizations that are responsible for vocational education and training, whit the main aim to connect the education with the requirements of practice - to strengthen the role of partnership between schools, companies and social partners by possible influencing of the network of vocational education The target group of the project were teaching staff and students of secondary vocational schools, directories of engineering companies in the regions (especially employees involved in the vocational training) and the representatives of the regional government, industry and professional associations involved in vocational education. The partnership consisted of organizations from three EU countries. On the one hand, it is Germany with its functioning dual system of education, on the other hand, Slovakia and Czech Republic are countries with ambitions to introduce dual system. We cooperated in the project with these partners: Vocational school Tremosnice (Czech republic), 1. Slovak engineering cluster and German partners Jenaer Bildungszentrum, respectively Internationaler Bund Bildungszentrum Jena. The project produced three intellectual outputs - training modules for engineering professions, proposals of regional cooperation networks and a model of career guidance in vocational education. Intellectual output O1 consists from 15 training modules in engineering. Intellectual output O3 includes a model of career guidance in vocational education. The partners prepared a model based on the needs of Slovak and Czech schools and on the experience of the German partner. The most extensive project output is the intellectual output O2, which focused on linking vocational training from the point of view of theory and practice. The results of the output are varied, the most important part was the mapping of cooperation between secondary vocational schools and employers. The project also included 4 transnational project meetings and 14-day mobility for 30 students from Slovak and Czech schools at the German partner. The project partners that the results of the project will also contribute to the modernization of vocational training in the participating regions of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The strategic partnership and international co-operation will work even after the end of the common project. All project outputs will be used in the next process. Within the established regional networks in vocational education, we expect the contribution of employers, especially in the area of recruiting students, organizing excursions or competitions for the interested in technical professions. All outputs have been made available to other schools and employers, school management and 1. SSK management are responsible for managing it. Schools will continue to organize researches between employers and social partners as well as analysis of the applicability of graduates in order to maintain the best connection between theory and practice needs. The sustainability of the project will also be supported by the new law on vocational education, which defines dual education as one of its aims and duties. Schools and employers in Slovakia will be motivated to implement this system. All participating schools will be able to benefit from the experience gained.