The repercussions of the unstable situation in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Syria since 2011 have been felt ever more strongly in Europe, too. 3,88 million people fled from Syria alone in 2014. The refugee crisis reached a tentative climax in 2015, during the first half, as many people were seeking asylum as during the whole of 2014. The high number of refugees from these areas of conflict, entering EU member states on a daily basis, proposes a challenge to all of society’s institutions. Most of these asylum seekers will most likely be granted asylum status, meaning they will not return to their countries of origin any time soon. Accordingly, the question has to be asked how to integrate them into society and the labour market. The “Fast Lane to the Labour Market" project offers an innovative approach for the problem of integrating refugees into the labour market as described above: With its approach being both integrative and co-operational, based on the principles of Work-based learning (WBL), ECVET as well as content and language integrated learning (CLIL), it shortens the time span from the refugees’ arrival until the point of entrance into the labour market because it combines the acquisition of language skills, social and cultural integration as well as vocational qualification. The project encompasses all phases that members of said target group have to pass through: arrival and orientation, qualification and education as well as integration into the primary job market.The “Fast Lane to the labour market” project aims to produce four intellectual outputs: 1. a new competence quick scan, 2. a European curriculum in form of a methodic approach for the integration of the development of language skills, vocational competences and soft skills through WBL. 3. training material for employers, trainers and teachers, 4. a tutorial video teaching the implementation of said methods. These products shall be brought forth by means of the following project build-up: 1) A state of the art analysis will be made, best practices collected 2) Drafting the Outputs 3) Testing the material in six pilot projects with 120-140 refugees 4) Evaluation 5) One Teaching Activity 6) Adaption of the material.It is an indispensable necessity for the competitiveness and growth of the European economy to fill vacant positions in certain sectors and shortage occupations with qualified personnel. The goals of the European Union regarding the battle against poverty and social marginalisation can, at the same time, only be achieved if the great number of refugees can be directly integrated into both workforce and society. The project results can be applied sustainably and universally to migrants, new arrivals or disadvantaged people. The project results will have a positive effect on the target group of refugees. By means of the methods developed in the project, they will not only be integrated into the labour market faster, but also into society. They will be able to participate in social life through the faster acquisition of fluency and the possibility to earn their own wages, thereby circumventing social marginalisation. Additionally, the target group of refugees displays high motivational levels to take up gainful employment and to build up a certain standard for themselves. The previous integration system with the prerequisite of fluency disregards vocational qualification side-tracks the target group for years, making them not only lose their motivation, but also rendering social integration impossible. The project results will provide a helpful support to educators, teachers and educational institutions and also to businesses. Material will be developed that enables a determination of competence and explains to educational institutions how to combine acquisition of fluency, education and social integration through on-the-job training as well as how to facilitate integration into the labour market. At the same time, the project develops material for trainers in businesses to ensure an enduring employment and to sensitise for a handling of the target group. Regional network building, also a part of the project, including employment agencies, trade associations, educational institutions and businesses, will provide an ongoing exchange on the subject longer than the project’s duration which will analyse regional labour markets’ demands, sustainably solidifying and distributing the results of “Fast Lane”. “Fast Lane” acts as a model of improvement for national vocational education systems. The project results will deepen work-based learning, thereby enhancing quality in national and European vocational training. With its focus of on-the-job training, “Fast Lane” offers a European modernisation of educational systems and an improvement of the transition into the labour market.
The repercussions of the ongoing war in Syria and the unstable situation in the Middle East and parts of Africa have led to a high number of refugees in European countries. All countries are faced with the challenges how to integrate them into society and the labour market. An approach is needed that addresses refugees’ competence right from the start, matches them to the labour market’s needs and further educates and trains them in order to enable them to start in their respective occupations. In the project ‘Fast Lane to the Labour Market’ eight partners from five European countries worked together to develop an innovative approach. In the approach, we brought together principles of Work-based learning (WBL), ECVET as well as content and language integrated learning (CLIL). The aim is to shorten the time span from the refugees’ arrival until the point of entrance into the labour market because it combines the acquisition of language skills, social and cultural integration as well as vocational qualification. The project encompasses all phases that members of said target group have to pass through: arrival and orientation, qualification and education as well as integration into the primary job market. These are the concrete outputs of the project: • Quick Scan – a wbl oriented competence check to assess migrants’ skills, which avoids the linguistic obstacles of so far used assessments. • Curriculum – including a task database with practical tasks right to use and a learning log. • Trainer Material – which contains workshop sessions to train teachers, trainers, companies in intercultural awareness, teaching professional competences and orientation on the job and labour market • A tutorial video which explains our developed approach and it’s goals • Monitoring Tools The approach follows an integrated method as it starts with an early assessment of competences (Quick Scan) which meets each participant at the place he/she is. Through the description of an individual educational plan the actual training begins, for which is used the Curriculum material. This material does not only contains professional training but also reflection on behaviour, social skills and most important the continuous preparation and reflection on language. Further, the “Fast Lane” approach also focuses on the perspective of employers and trainers and helps them to reflect their own processes and sensitise in working with the target group of refugees or newcomers in general. The developed material is offered as an open source in word format so that other institutions can easily use and adapt it regarding their own needs, different institutions in different member states are confronted with different realities and obstacles. At the beginning, we developed for each country “state of the art reports” that are describing the following aspects: • Overview of the national situation • Policy trends regarding integration • Access to the labour market • Integration system • VET-system and other vocational training forms From these reports the partners derived success criteria, which form the basis for the development of the intellectual outputs and the project monitoring. After the development of the Intellectual Outputs (see above), we organised a teaching activity to present the material and to make other staff members familiar with the approach. We collected the feedback of this activity to adjust the material. Subsequent to this we conducted in total five pilot projects and monitored the implementation of the defined success factors in companies and training centres such as the usage of the Fast Lane material and the effects on learning by interviewing wbl-coaches and participants. In the end the project partners organised five Multiplier Events in each participating country to present the Fast Lane approach and the material to the target group of teachers, trainers, VET-Institutions, wbl-providers, companies, employers and official institutions included in the integration process of migrants. The consortium consists of eight partners from five different countries (DE, NL, BE, AT, IT). Coordinator Gewerkstatt and DeLift are training centres working mostly on behalf of official institutions. ITTA brought in the scientific expertise on language learning and data collection to monitor the project outcomes and impact. Together with Scalda and Alfa, both VET-schools they developed the Curriculum. Especially Alfa and Scalda brought in their whole expertise in teaching and developing tasks and materials for teachers. Diaconia Valdese accompanies asylum seekers in Italy during the arrival and application process, so they entered their expertise on working with the target group, social aspects and intercultural competences. Sterpunt, functioning as an umbrella organisation for VET Institutions in, hast a wide network of Multipliers to disseminate the Fast Lane material. Best, expert in training delivered the methods for the Trainer Material.