The target of the European Commission is to reduce the rate of dropouts to 10% in the European Union by 2020. Whereas France, Cyprus and Greece already reached the threshold (FR: 8,9%, CY: 8,5%, GR: 6,0%), Germany is with 10,1% still slightly above the target and Spain is still more far away to reach this number with 18,3%. Although the number of dropouts decreased in all of the countries since 2010, there is still a huge need for ways to include young people in difficulty into education and training. In order to develop new ways for the inclusion of young people in difficulty, the project “InMobVET” brings together 7 partners from these 5 European countries: vocational schools, public training centres for apprentices, training providers, organisations working in mobility projects and the Rectorat de Lyon as regional institution of the Ministry of National education in France. The projects’ objective is to follow an intercultural approach resulting in a mobility stay abroad for young people in difficulty to remove obstacles to training and by this increase the rate of education and employment among these young people and promote their success in training. Therefore, the primary target group are young people with fewer opportunities taking part in vocational education and training. These young people are at risk of dropping out of education and training due to learning difficulties or fewer opportunities because of their socio-economic and cultural background. Altogether 60 young people will benefit from the two trainings, out of which 20 will get the opportunity to take part in a blended mobility and complete an internship abroad. In this way, the success of their participation in the training beforehand can be measured and the web application can be tested in practice. Another target group are educators, in particular VET teachers, for whom a guide will be developed and who will be able to use the training module directly with their students and adapt it to their needs. To reach the projects' objective, the “InMobVET” project will develop three intellectual outputs: 1) A Guide for educators/ VET teachers. This guide will on the one hand include empowerment activities and motivational strategies to work with young people in difficulty. On the other hand it provides information and materials about the importance of intercultural learning and the benefits of a mobility stay abroad for young people in difficulty. The aim of the guide is the motivation of the educators to encourage their students regarding a mobility stay abroad. Some of the materials will also be used with the parents of the young people in order to inform them about the benefits of intercultural learning and a mobility stay abroad and to include them into the whole process. 2) A training module "Interculturality" to enable a better understanding of cultural differences among young people. This training will also prepare the young people for a mobility stay abroad, which is intended to motivate the students to continue their education and training in their home country. It will consist of different activities to raise awareness on cultural differences, stereotypes, preconceived ideas, as well as common points, empathic communication, reflection on the facets of each culture, knowledge of the other through diversity and cultural elements, understanding and respect for different behaviours and possible actions in intercultural situations. The goal is to involve the parents as well in this process. 3) A web application "Move in Europe", which contains video sequences of professional situations to support the acquisition of professional and language skills (technical vocabulary) and to facilitate a mobility stay abroad for the target group. The videos will be accompanied by interactive exercises to apply the newly acquired knowledge from the videos. Due to the sectors of the vocational high schools and training centres represented in the project, the professional video sequences will focus on the sectors electrical engineering/ electronics and gastronomy. In general, the impact on local, regional, national and European level will be raised awareness on the issues of young people in difficulty and the importance of overcoming these difficulties in order to improve their education and training. The project will also disseminate the possibilities a mobility stay abroad can offer for this target group. Therefore, the project develops ready to use tools for teachers and trainers in form of a guide, a training module and a web application to support young people in difficulty during a mobility abroad. Long-term targets of the project are the reduction of the dropout rate and the increase of the success rate for exams, further studies and employment of young people with difficulties in vocational education and training.
The projects’ objective was to follow an intercultural approach resulting in a mobility stay abroad for young people in difficulty to remove obstacles to training and by this increase the rate of education and employment among these young people and promote their success in training. EU mobility is seen to have a positive effect on learning performance and motivation, support the further development of the personality and significantly improve the chances on the labour market. However, as mobilities also entail risks, especially for lower-performing and disadvantaged learners, which would have an opposite effect on their further learning pathways, the project aimed to develop resources for teachers and learners to minimise these risks. Teachers should be supported in the organisation and practical implementation of mobilities, a training programme for intercultural preparation should intensively prepare for stays abroad and a web application should additionally prepare for the working environment in a foreign country and for working and learning in another language.
The main aim of the InMobVET project was to promote the inclusion of young people in difficulty in Europe through VET with an intercultural approach resulting in a mobility stay abroad. The EU set an EU-level target stipulating that the share of early leavers from education and training should be less than 9 % by 2030. In 2021, an average of 9.7 % early leavers from education and training was identified within the EU. However, there were differences between Member States. Among the partner countries, Cyprus, Germany and Spain currently exceed the limit set by the EU, according to the latest statistics from 2021. These numbers are partly increasing in comparison to the statistics used for the project application so that the topic is still very current. Education is an increasingly important factor when employers are hiring employees. Leaving education early can therefore have significant consequences for the individual but also for society, in the long term.