The EC communication(Nov 2012) ‘Rethinking education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes’ encourages EU Member States to ensure that young people develop the skills and competences required by the European labour market, particularly focusing on combating youth unemployment and promoting educational mobility. Young people’s interest in mobility is clearly shown by the success of programmes such as Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs and Erasmus+ KA1.Between 2014 and 2020, some four million people are expected to benefit from Erasmus+, including around two million higher education students and 650,000 VET students. Mobility is already an established phenomenon in higher education but in second chance education this is a relatively new concept i.e. to integrate a vulnerable target group into society and the labour market International mobility is a challenge for disadvantaged young adults, evidenced in their low participation rate in international mobility (less than 8%).Several studies show that young people are the group most likely to move to another country, yet a number of obstacles hinder mobility for disadvantaged young adults. The needs of disadvantaged young adults that are not being addressed have been expressed both by E2C-Europe members and other partners within the INCAS consortium. Existing actions and tools either focus on recognition of vocational learning outcomes (ECVET),require a certain degree of engagement and autonomy (e.g.EVS, European Solidarity Corps) or are non-transferable tools bound to an education provider. Paper based materials mean that progress during mobility cannot be monitored until the beneficiary returns, often too late to address problems. The purpose of work based mobilities in second chance education is to facilitate the small step progress in living and working in another country that is peculiar to disadvantaged young adult INCAS has two main objectives: • To provide services that improve the quality of international work placement • To solidify and expand the sustainable infrastructure in SCE with the INCAS elements which support quality in international work placement (preparation,implementation and evaluation/validations. INCAS targets the triangle of actors in second chance work placements i.e learners, teachers/trainers, and employers & provides resources & tools that make high quality international work placements possible. The aim is to select best practices from a variety of national resources and actions, to improve them with further input from employers, and to make these resources available to disadvantaged young adults in a more engaging and practical manner, via a mobile phone app and online e-portfolio , a quality monitoring system, and a database of European placement providers. Teachers/trainers and work -based mentors will raise their understanding of the support needs of disadvantaged young people in preparing them for mobility and supporting them during the mobility. They will be equipped with the tools that satisfy the needs of the target group and the accompanying resources that will support the implementation of a learner - centred work based training mobility .
The EC communication(Nov 2012) ‘Rethinking education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes’ encourages EU Member States to ensure that young people develop the skills and competences required by the European labour market, particularly focusing on combating youth unemployment and promoting educational mobility. Young people’s interest in mobility is clearly shown by the success of programmes such as Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs and Erasmus+ KA1.Between 2014 and 2020, some four million people are expected to have benefited from Erasmus+, including around two million higher education students and 650,000 VET students. Mobility is already an established phenomenon in higher education but in second chance education this is a relatively new concept i.e. to integrate a vulnerable target group into society and the labour market International mobility is a challenge for disadvantaged young adults, evidenced in their low participation rate in international mobility (less than 8%).Several studies show that young people are the group most likely to move to another country, yet a number of obstacles hinder mobility for disadvantaged young adults. The purpose of work based mobilities in second chance education is to facilitate the small step progress in living and working in another country that is peculiar to disadvantaged young adults. However E2C-Europe members and partners within the INCAS consortium expressed that needs of disadvantaged young adults are not being addressed as existing actions & tools either focus on recognition of vocational learning outcomes (ECVET),require a certain degree of engagement and autonomy (e.g.EVS, European Solidarity Corps) or are non-transferable tools bound to an education provider. Furthermore existing paper based materials mean that progress during mobility cannot be monitored until the beneficiary returns, often too late to address problems. INCAS has two main objectives 1)To provide services that improve the quality of international work placement. 2) To provide tools and resources that support quality through all stages of preparation, implementation and evaluation of international work placement. INCAS selected and improved best practices from a variety of national/European resources and actions, making these resources available to disadvantaged young adults in a more engaging and practical manner, resulting in a mobile phone app ( i-phone and android compatible) to be used while on mobility, a range of e-learning courses for preparation, 4 toolboxes of resources to support all stages of mobility for learner and teacher, a quality monitoring system for sending and hosting organisations, and a database of European placement providers.(www.incasproject.erasmus.site) Teachers/trainers and work -based mentors will raise their understanding of the support needs of disadvantaged young people in preparing them for mobility and supporting them during the mobility. They will be equipped with the tools that satisfy the needs of the target group and the accompanying resources that will support the implementation of a learner - centred work based training mobility .