Project title: tune in! Combating drop out
Programme: LLP, Leonardo da Vinci – Transfer of Innovation
Co-financer of the project: Nationalagentur OeAD from Austria
Content of the project:
The project tune in! Combating drop out contributes to the European challenges of high youth unemployment rates and the comparatively high drop-out rates during initial VET training. The main aim of the project is to transfer and implement approaches, prevention methods and materials in Southern and South-Eastern European countries. These good practice methods were developed by production schools in Austria and Denmark and are based on labour market-oriented work-based learning and constructive attempts for better development of social and basic skills.
It aims to transfer the successful drop-out prevention methods and approaches (ie competence and labour market-oriented work-based training, development of social and basic skills, self directed learning approaches and guidance and counselling measures) which have been developed and implemented in the Austrian BFI production schools, to 4 partner countries in Europe.
Work-based training while producing real products for real customers for the local and regional market is a powerful means of engaging and motivating young people, enhancing and enabling the learning process and preventing drop-out and reintegrating young drop-outs into formal VET. Success rates are high at the production schools for young people entering the labour market, other VET schools, and training and further education.
The consortium consists of 7 partners in 6 European countries. BFI from Austria, the coordinator is one of the biggest Austrian VET providers with extensive experience in integrating young people into the labour market (more than 600 trainees / Lehrlinge per year). BFI has established six production schools in Upper Austria in the last 10 years.The Association of Danish Production Schools counts 82 member schools (all Danish production schools) with approximately 15000 young participants per year. The association provides legal, pedagogical, and political advice and offers in-service training for teachers and development projects for schools. The association works on establishing joint principles of good practice. These two organisations are responsible for the transfer. IFA from Austria is the internal evaluator. FMA from Spain, ISQ from Portugal and ENAIP Veneto from Italy are big and well established (i)VET providers and OZARA d.o.o. from Slovenia focuses its work on training and labour market integration for disadvantaged groups. These four partners are implementing the transferred products within their national systems and their own organisations. All have very good connections to the national, regional and local stakeholders needed for implementation.
The project:
- transfers successful drop-out prevention methods and measures taken from the Austrian and Danish production schools’ approaches, to four partner countries in Europe,
- gathers the adapted methods and materials in a tune in tool box for European drop-out prevention and drop-out reintegration together with further materials and methods developed during the project’s lifetime,
- develops a “combat drop out!” guidance tool for iVET teachers and trainers,
- develops a European ‘train the trainer’ course for drop-out prevention in iVET which is based on constructivist, learner-centred approaches implemented within production schools,
- implements ‘train the trainer’ on a European scale and in each partner country,
- implements suitable drop-out prevention approaches, curricula and/or methods in the partners’ countries.
Project partners:
- Berufsförderungsinstitut Oberösterreich
- IFA Steiermark (Institut für Arbeitsmarktbetreuung und –forschung Steiermark)
- PSF Produktionsskoleforeningen
- Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade
- FMA Fundación para la Formación, la Cualificación y el Empleo en el Sector Metal de Asturias
- ENAIP VENETO
- OZARA d.o.o.
Duration of the project: 2013 – 2015