Because our pupils have rarely been outside of Genk, we have opted to send a number of final-year-students abroad. Germany was an obvious choice: not too far from home, not too different from home, and in cooperation with a school we have know for many years and which we trusted. The Finnish colleagues were reliable partners from previous projects who could teach us a lot of things in the field of care and education in general. For the students of Sales, Spain was a valuable option because we’ve built a fine relationship with a school in Alicante and a former student of our school could be a role model for them and wanted to support them in this exciting adventure. In the long run, we want to offer all our final-year-students an internship abroad and encourage our colleagues to further increase their professional skills with the help Erasmus projects. This application was of course therefore part of our European development and professionalization policy.
Vocational Training Abroad - Pushing boundaries We live in difficult economic times, in a region that has been struck by massive unemployment, especially after the corona crisis and the current military conflicts in the world today. The descendants of the immigrants who once came to Genk to work in the coalmines and once dreamt of returning to their country of origin, are facing different problems than their parents once were. Our school is situated close to the city centre of Genk, a village that was once a mining village. Our pupils often live in poverty and mainly have a migration background. They work on the side to support their family. They lack motivation and often drop out of school early without the necessary skills to do well on the job market. We are trying to formulate an answer to these changing conditions, by trying to find ways on the one hand to enhance their motivation but at the same time also increase their chances on the job market.