The aim of the project is to enhance cooperative student learning, which is an effective educational tool for inclusion of students with educational difficulties, students from marginalized groups, students from immigrant families with different social, racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and needs. To identify the needs of target groups we created a questionnaire for local entrepreneurs and its results will serve as key factors of the project and they help to identify the objectives and needs that needed to be pursued within the project. Target groups of the project need relevant qualifications and education which enable them to have fair chances in the labour market within and beyond the EU. They need to be able to work and live in ethnically, racially, culturally and religiously different societies. Due to globalisation of the EU labour market they need to develop language skills, ICT digital competencies and entrepreneurial skills which are important for starting up their own entrepreneurship. To reduce the increasing number of students who are not able to complete their qualifications and education and they are under constant risk of leaving school too early, it is necessary to change the organisation of education to avoid having a group of students with low-skills and extremely low chances to be employed in the EU labour market. They need to be motivated to stay in school and complete their education and qualifications. Approximately about 45 students and 4 teachers will be directly involved in the project. More than 1600 students and teachers will benefit from the project indirectly. Each project participant comes from a country which struggles with impacts of socio-economic crisis and soaring number of people living in excluded marginalised communities, for example the Roma community and immigrants. The lack of job opportunities in industry makes schools look for different areas of education which will provide graduates with better chances at labour market. The aim of the project is to ensure that mainly young people with educational difficulties, coming from families with a low standard of living and dependent on social welfare system get equal chances to be employed in a very competitive labour market. Furthermore, participants are determined to tackle with issues regarding immigration which brings social exclusion and discrimination of teenagers – descendants of refugees. In addition to this, many participants come from areas that are remote from economic centres. In the project, participants will work in international/mixed groups which enables them to work in multinational working environment and thus increase their language, ICT and entrepreneurial skills. On top of that, it will make them appreciate and respect different cultures and religions. Our aim is to limit above mentioned obstacles as much as possible and provide teenagers with tools and knowledge that enables them to play an active role in society and achieve personal and professional fulfilment.During the project we expect following qualitative and quantitative results: increased and developed computer skills, ability to work in an international working environment, transversal skills, reading comprehension skills, communication skills, entrepreneurial skills, ability to respect, tolerate and appreciate cultural, social and ethnical diversity, ability to present in front of an audience, ability to give speeches.Through dissemination and exploitation of project activities and its outcomes we aim at promoting European values, multilingualism, principles of democracy, equity and inclusion not only on local/regional level but also in the whole Europe and worldwide. Mutual cooperation on the project will undoubtedly lead to more complex cooperation on many levels and platforms, such as eTwinning and other relevant informal learning/teaching activities.
The main idea for the creation of a joint transnational project was to look for ways and strategies to effectively integrate students with learning disabilities, students from marginalized groups, from immigrant families, students with different social, racial, cultural and ethnic origins and different needs. At the same time, we have worked intensively on the effective involvement of local and regional entrepreneurs in the process of professional training of their future employees. To identify the needs of the target groups we have created a questionnaire for local entrepreneurs. The analysis of their results served as a key factor in setting the objectives of the project, significantly helping to identify the competencies and skills to which the project was targeted. We have drawn from the fact that target groups of pupils targeted by our project also need education and qualifications to enable them to adequately apply to the global labor market. Due to the increasing globalization and labor mobility, they must be able to work and live in ethnic, racial, cultural and religiously diverse communities and communities in the future. At the same time, it is essential to develop key language, digital and entrepreneurial skills. One of the important goals of the project was to prepare graduates who would be ready not only to work actively, but also to start successful business in any area of the economy and industry. In order to reduce the growing number of students who for various reasons have not obtained the necessary qualifications and education, and are subsequently exposed to the constant risk of early school leaving, it is necessary to change the organization of education. Young people without adequate education, skills and knowledge belong to the group of the population facing the biggest problem of applying to the global labor market. It is extremely important for them to get the right motivation to stay in school and get high-quality education and qualifications. The project involved 45 students and 6 teachers from 3 secondary vocational schools from Komárno, Suceava and Pisa. Other pupils and partner school teachers participated in virtual project activities. All three secondary vocational schools have been facing very similar current issues: countries that are struggling with the impact of the ongoing socio-economic crisis are characterized by the growing number of people living in excluded marginalized communities, such as members of the Roma community and descendants of immigrants from third world countries. As all three schools operate in regions with a shortage of job opportunities in industry, they also look for areas of education that will give graduates better chances in the labor market. The aim of the project was to ensure equal access to the labor market regardless of origin, language, culture and religion. Over two years, we've successfully organized three training activities and two virtual education series. The aim of the activities was to acquire and strengthen skills and competencies that ensure greater flexibility in the labor market. Thanks to the innovative approach, we have created our own learning materials and we have fully adapted the activities to the needs of the target groups that the project was aimed at. We have used non-traditional methods, forms and approaches throughout the project, developing creativity, initiative and innovation. We introduced the elements of peer learning and through working in international mixed groups, we focused on the acquisition of entrepreneurial, language and digital skills. We have created a common web site that we gradually update and use as a learning material for introducing CLIL, teaching of economic subjects and foreign language. We have laid the foundations for further successful cooperation on the eTwinning platform and the ERASMUS + VIRTUAL INNOVATION CENTER project.