An educational project aimed at implementing foreign professional mobility entitled „Experience and passion are the key to success” [PL: “Doświadczenie i pasja to klucz do sukcesu”] within vocational training abroad is an opportunity for mobility participants to improve their professional skills and to pursue their passion related to their profession. The main goal of the project is to enable students of the Zespół Szkół Gastronomiczno-Hotelarskich in Warsaw to undergo professional apprenticeship in Greece. Thanks to the opportunity to work in an international environment, participants will have the opportunity to develop and improve their language competences, especially in the field of English, but also new to them – Greek. This will increase the attractiveness of future graduates of the school on the professional market in Poland or abroad. The goal of the project is also to cooperate with a foreign partner, while enriching the learning process with new methods. The idea behind the implementation of the initiative is to exchange not only professional, but also social or cultural experiences.

All activities undertaken as part of the project are directed to a total of 60 students of the Zespół Szkół Gastronomiczno- Hotelarskich in Warsaw, including 30 third-year technical high school students in the field of nutrition and catering services and 30 third-year high school students in the field of hospitality technician. Two 2-week mobility for participants are planned as following: first group of 30 (15 nutrition and catering services technicians and 15 hospitality technicians), assisted by 3 school supervisors, will go to Greece in the first half of May 2021, while the second 30-person group (15 nutrition and catering services technicians and 15 hospitality technicians) will take part in their professional mobility in Greece in the second half of September 2021. As part of the internship, each participant will take 80-hour apprenticeships and will take part in a prepared educational and cultural program. Participants will be selected to participate in the project on the basis of a recruitment procedure that allows the selection of the best candidates, it means students who stand out from other high achievements. By taking into account the so-called fewer opportunities, it will also be possible to involve young people with hard life-situation, such as difficult family or financial circumstances.

We believe that gaining professional experience and improving students’ work skills is a chance for them to succeed in the labor market. During their stay, project participants will prepare materials that will then allow them to share acquired experience with peers, while promoting the idea of projects of foreign apprenticeships. Comprehensive project evaluation will allow constructive conclusions to be drawn from the implementation of the initiative and will affect the decision to continue professional practice outside of Poland and expand cooperation with other foreign partners, as well as improve further initiatives undertaken by the school.

Thanks to the professional practice in another country, the participants will enrich their knowledge and professional skills, improve practical skills within the profession of nutrition and catering services and hospitality, which will increase their chances of employment and make the portfolio of the ZSGH graduate more attractive. In addition, professional practices will allow participants to broaden their knowledge of international cuisine, service to a hotel guest in another country and improve their foreign language skills, especially in the professional field. Additional benefits for mobility participants are: gaining independence, increasing self-esteem, a lesson in tolerance and cooperation in a multicultural environment. In addition to raising standards in vocational and social education, all project participants will broaden their knowledge of European projects and the values guiding the functioning of the European Union as a community.

The implementation of the project will make the educational offer of ZSGH more attractive and contribute to the improvement of the quality of vocational and language education and promotion of the institution’s activities. Innovative, empirical and activating teaching, such as foreign professional practice, is to adapt educational processes to the needs of the modern student, the developing world and the labor market. As a result, it will reduce unemployment among ZSGH graduates and encourage them to improve their future work skills. Students will be motivated to learn by teaching that we can set the limits of our own activities. Project implementation will also provide valuable experience for our school employees.