Rationale

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Number of drop-outs in vocational training is too high in Finland. Phenomenon is a problem especially in vocational training and during the shift from basic level to vocational school. We are moving towards know-how based information society and working life presumes good vocational skills as a condition to get a job. This qualification-conscious society has a challenge to catch drop-outs and those who are in risk to become disadvantaged.
The culture in education has been higly teacher-orientated but rapidly changing society presumes that also education system should change towards more flexible and more user-orientated direction - we could call it learner-centered pedagogy. The aim of the project is to emphasize learning-by-doing as a method to add motivation. Life-management skills are the basis for young people to be able to think about getting a profession and so quidance and counselling have an important role in integrating young people in educational system.
Basis for effective activities is close cooperation between vocational institutes, work shops for young people and local authorities.

Objective

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To test and develop pathways to complete qualification for instance partly attending the normal teaching, partly (mainly) practice based learning activities, strengthening the status of learning-by-doing as a way to get a profession.

To promote the informal learning and to documentate, evaluate and measure it in order to increase possibilities for accrediation of previous learning (studies) and to make existing skills and know-how visible.

Enhance the individual counselling in vocational schools and cooperation between schools, third sector organizations (youth workshops) and local authorities.

Improve the shift from basic to vocational school in order to decrease early school-leaving and dropping out.

Innovation

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The task of the project is to develop new kind of integrated education, where learning and getting a profession is based mainly on learning-by-doing. Also instruments for measuring and evaluating existing skills and know-how will be developed in order to heighten the status of informal and nonformal learning.
Extending cooperation between local educational institutes, youth workshops, authorities and working life.
To make threshold lower to move from vocational training to workshop and vice versa.
To blow up the curricula of vocational shcools and make it possible to accomplish them partly in youth workshops (learning by doing).

Budget Action 2

1 000 000 – 1 500 000 €

Beneficiaries

Empowerment

 With beneficiaries

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The members of the target group are themselves charting the special feature of the needs that are crucial for motivating, empowering and planning their own future. One of the aims in the project is that the learner is a master of his or her own learning process and the teacher or trainer has a role more like a coach.

In the beginning of the project the desing of functions are mainly produced by the operating people but when the target group has been cought, their experiences will be one basis for planning upcoming acts.

 Between national partners

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In the national level there are three areas represented in the project. In those areas the existing cooperation is the basement for the work and so the working models will be a bit different in all cases. Every subproject has freedom to formulate themselves the actions. The implementation depends always from real needs and caracteristics of the target group.

Transnationality

 Linguistic skills

• English
• suomi
• italiano
• français

 Percentage of the budget for transnational activities

• 12.0%

 Transnational Co-operation Partnerships

Background

 Involvment in previous EU programmes

• Two and more partners involved in A&E

National Partners

Agreement Summary

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Opequal-project has its partners from Holland (Workskills, NL 036) and Belgium (Janus, BEnl-7). All partners have parallel main target of to decrease the amount of truancy and to develop alternative pathways to obtain vocational qualifications.Partners are committed to exchange, develop and disseminate effective and concrete methods in order to influence political and structural decisions in involved countries.

The task of transnational cooperation is to develop together following acts:

1. Cooperation between regional or local actors who will be working together during and after the project in the field of getting young people to start or continue their studies or to get a job.

2. Training of trainers and councellors in cooperating organisations.

3. Developing methods and activities that are involved in the process of guiding and instructing: social guidance and skills, workskills, coaching and informal learning methods.

National Centre for Professional Development in Ecucation

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Opeko is an expert organisation for continuing education in the field of teaching and operates on networking principles. We arrange supplementary and continuing education and provide consultancy and development services primarily for teaching personnel in the pre-school and comprehensive education, in secondary general education, vocational education and training, and adult education.

Contact person(s)

National Workshop Association

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National Workshop Association (NWA) is a non-governmental organisation in the field of employment, training and rehabilitation of youth, long-term unemployment, socially disabled and multi-disciplinary clients. NWA works as a trend-setting, development and information organisation of employment. NWA has 150 member workshops. Organisation runs development projects, delivers campaigns, events and training.

Contact person(s)

Omaura ry

Contact person(s)

Triple F