Project Title: Step towards development, a step towards Europe

Duration: 12 months

Partners: Zespol Szkol Centrum Kształcenia Ustawicznego im. J. Poniatowskiego w Czarnocinie and Georgikes Ekmetaleuseis & Training Services

The main objective of the project is to strengthen the attractiveness and quality of vocational education and obtaining additional qualifications by students, which in the near future could help to improve their capacity for future employment and self-employment in Poland and throughout the European Union.

The project is also aimed at:

• Raising to a higher level of education in the district;
• Gaining valuable work experience in an international environment by the project participants;
• Increasing the practical skills of students in order to increase their potential attractiveness on the labor market;
• Increasing the competitiveness of the students on the European market;
• Increasing the mobility of participants by promoting European countries;
• Increasing efficiency in the search for new experiences and continuous expansion of knowledge and skills needed for self-improvement of their skills;
• Forming a European awareness;
• Adapting the content of vocational education to the needs of the changing labor market;
• Strengthening the confidence of the project participants to assist in free movement in the European labor market;
• Increasing practical skills and social competence, language and cultural school students, and this can result in a faster possibility of finding a job;
• Deepening the European integration process among students by increasing the probability of establishment of friendly relations with the Greek peers, and this can result in finding common ground to build international friendships;
• Improving knowledge about the culture and customs of the Greeks, and the countries of the Mediterranean region;
• Establishing long-term cooperation between the Group of High Schools and foreign companies;
• Enriching the school and raising its prestige in the local environment, which may result in increased interest among young people and acquisition of new students who want to develop in the direction of vocational training.

As part of the planned activities are the project activities Preparatory (October-December 2017), to prepare the participants (January-March 2018), 2-week mobility in Greece (April 2018), certification, monitoring activities and evaluation of partial (April-May 2018) and the final phase of the project including dissemination activities, evaluation, settlement of the project and prepare a report (June September 2018).

Among the methods used will be the entire range of practical activities, using learning by experience and approaches of non-formal education, during which the participants will be able to see in practice how to work and use the knowledge they gained so far in the school. Additionally, it is planned to use various tools for evaluation, validation of learning outcomes and to evaluate the progress of the work and effectiveness of the project.

Participation in the project can have a positive effect on the career prospects of participants, making them more attractive candidates in the labor market. Students will be better prepared to meet the needs of the labor market, contributing also to the development of enterprises, where they would find employment. Given to them the idea of lifelong learning will contribute to their development, transferred to local communities, will exert greater influence and add value for the greater part of the population than just the school and its surrounding environment young people have become a role model and set an example to their peers and immediate, motivating them to take action and contribute to the development of their region.