Through this project, the school wanted to find answers to their 2 stated objectives: - Strengthen the practical-technical directions. We want to make the courses more attractive so that the number of students increases. - Introduce students to the professional field and technological evolutions in the workplace (EU). We had an agreement with 4 different companies in the Czech Republic, our partner school acted as back-up when there were practical problems (language, communication, ...). For our students we had provided an internship of 10 working days under the supervision of two teachers. It was planned that the supervising teachers could do a job shadowing themselves in the partner companies during the internship. The planned internship and job shadowing fully responded to the needs of the school. School teachers need to continue to adapt their learning content to the latest technologies. Unfortunately, these national in-service training courses are limited and teachers have little taste of the modernization of technologies. Supervising students on an international internship involves experience. This allows the teachers to share their experience with the students during the lessons. Linking the theoretical knowledge to real industry stories enhances the attractiveness of the lessons. In addition, the students can share their experience with fellow students, which increases the interest in the field. The school is convinced that the offer of technical training in which we have close cooperation with industry is beneficial for everyone's competences. It was/is important for the school that the entire team continues to professionalize. This was the reason why the supervising teachers would alternate after a week. This allowed 8 teachers to gain experience in the form of viewing internships and workshops. By preparing this project, we were able to establish international contacts to set up learning-oriented exchange projects in the future. We cannot achieve all this in a national refresher course, the European context is clearly a great added value here! Fortunately, the internship was able to continue this year (after 2 years of corona), as a team we have built up a good relationship with the companies, so that we are sure that we will be welcome again for an Erasmus+ VET internship in the future.
As an organization (school) we looked for how we could strengthen our electrical installation techniques/mechanical techniques. Although the vacancies for these profiles remain open, we see limited interest in these fields of study. As a school, we want to guide and prepare students from these disciplines for the labor market. In order to achieve this objective, the school has put extra effort into cooperation with the companies in the region. In this way, the pupils can achieve certain curriculum objectives that the school can't achieve or that are difficult to achieve with the classical curriculum within the school walls. This cooperation runs smoothly and the commitment of the companies is great. The local companies also have their limitations and their specific offer. This is due to the internationalization of the industry. Belgian companies are relocating their plants and investing in other countries of the European Union. The know-how usually still comes from Belgian companies, but the latest technologies are found in the delocalized departments. In order to perfect the pupils' learning path, the school wants to allow sixth-year students to do an internship in modern foreign infrastructures.