With our participation in this 2020 project, we intended to achieve the following objectives: 1/-Offer 8 short mobility scholarships for FCT internships in hotel companies in Germany and France for students of catering, cooking and bakery services and 2 scholarships for Administrative Management students in Malta. We were especially interested in the latter participating in Erasmus+ projects since they had never done so before. 2/-Offer 2 training scholarships for personnel (job shadowing) to HWK Lübeck (Germany), a partner with whom we have collaborated for years but who we had not previously visited. 3/-Consolidate our relationship with partners of previous projects: the Lycée Jacques de Romas in Nérac (France), the Château Le Stelsia, the Vinivore or the Trattoria Corte Sconta, in addition to starting to work with the intermediary company Edutravel World. 4/-Welcome incoming mobility of staff and students from our partners. 5/-To stimulate the employability of our students and to improve their competences in foreign languages. 6/-To promote innovation and modernization of our institution. 7/-To support the professional development of teachers.
The request for the project is part of the internationalization strategy of our institution. Our participation in Erasmus + programs begins in 1997 when we carried out the first mobility with Higher Education students. In 2011, we joined the Leonardo Program with intermediate VET mobility. Since then, Erasmus projects have been an essential part of our institution life. Every year we perform mobilities for students and staff within the KA102 and KA103 projects. In 2021 we've been awarded with the ECHE chart and this year we obtained the KA120-VET Accreditation. Currently, we've just closed a 2020 KA103 project (2020 call) and have been provisionally awarded a KA131HED (2023 call) project and another KA121VET (2023 call). Joining the Erasmus + program has brought an international dimension to our institution increasing the value of our courses, enhancing student employability and future job prospects and promoting equal opportunities, the inclusion of the most vulnerable, transparency in processes, respect for democratic values, active citizenship and the development of European identity. The impact of the program has been so positive that applying for this project was a natural choice for us.