The PRIME project aimed to: -improve career learning in primary schools to prevent ESL and school disengagement in 4 Southern and Eastern EU Countries with high rates of ESL and youth unemployment -develop training paths for teachers, educators, school counsellors and representatives of the labour market at EU level -provide coherent and usable tools and resources for teachers, educators and school counsellors in 5 languages for learning Career Management Skills in primary schools -develop engaging tools and resources to help children understand the socio-economic context, explore careers and the labour market -promote the integration of career learning activities, tools and resources within the school system -build and develop inclusive education communities where schools and local stakeholders such as enterprises and public organisations work together to make the students' educational journey meaningful -promote a cultural change towards a preventive and community approach to societal issues such as school disengagement and ESL. -promote a new paradigm of career guidance which moves from advices in transition times towards a learning paradigm to enable citizens to manage their careers-
PRIME was a collaborative effort to prevent early school leaving (ESL) and school drop-out, through the development of career-related learning in primary schools and the improvement of teaching skills of teachers and educators. The partners’ countries show some of the highest rates of early school leaving in Europe together with high youth unemployment rates. Career learning in primary schools is known to be a powerful strategy as it impacts educational outcomes and promotes social mobility while raising aspirations, challenging stereotypes and broadening horizons. Primary schools are in fact pivotal in preventing ESL as career stereotypes and aspirations are shaped in the early years of education (Kashefpakdel et al., 2018). In many EU countries, early career education is still fragmented if not existing at all. Holding biased assumptions and having narrow aspirations influence the academic effort children exert in certain lessons, the subjects they choose to study, and the jobs they end up pursuing. Therefore, the PRIME project worked to empower teachers and schools in creating effective early career education activities with the development of tools and resources for schools.