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Skills for Employability was a British Council project developed in 12 countries in Europe. Its aim was to support economic and social development by providing skills and enterprise training in vocational schools. The project addressed the demand for skills in a global economy so that the national educational and training systems were better able to respond to labour market demands and learner needs.
Skills for Employability used the UK expertise in innovative, high-standard training and applied this knowledge to the Romanian setting. The employers, the social partners, the governments as well as the training providers participated in identifying the national approach and needs. By helping develop abilities that were highly valued on the international market, the programme supported the economic and social development of the country and offered young people more chances to find employment on the global labour market. Besides, cultural exchange and promotion of global citizenship were other significant assets of the programme.
Through seminars, conferences and policy dialogues, the project brought international agencies and governments together to facilitate the exchange of ideas and good practices in the domain of training and skills attainment. Skill gaps were identified and addressed in order to increase employability. Unemployment and social exclusion were expected to decrease as a result of fostering innovation and enterprise among the participants.
In Romania we developed the project New Skills for Jobs of the 21 century in partnership with the National Vocational Centre. Our proposed country plan activities for 2010-2013 lead to the design of a Skills for Employability competencies index, curriculum and classroom activities in relation to the domain of rural tourism and agritourism. The project was developed by teachers in vocational schools, employers and representatives of institutions in the area of tourism. They worked under the guidance of a UK consultant and Romanian National Vocational Centre experts. The results of the project was widely disseminated among teachers, students and business representatives in Romania and other countries in Europe.
Another strand of the project was Skills for Employability Entrepreneurship Award that we ran in partnership with Junior Achivement and Microsoft Romania. Students from 60 vocational technical schools in Romania entered a competiton on an entrepreneurship topic given by the business partners. This participation provided them with a valuable entrepreneurial experience, encouraging them to use their skills in enterprising and innovative ways, ultimately increasing their employability and entrepreneurial flair.
The local phase of the competiton involved approximately 500 students and took place between 22-28 February 2011. See which were the best projects selected at the local finals. (Word, 811 KB) for competing in the national final of the Skills for Employability Entrepreneurship Award.
The national final involved approximately 165 students and was held on 18 March 2011. The 33 teams participating in the national final had to try to persuade investors and public administration institutions to invest in their business plans for viable tourist attractions.
The winning business plans were:
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1st place: Muzeul Satului Banatean (Liceul Teoretic ‘Nikolaus Lenau', Timisoara) |
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2nd place: Legenda Sezatoarei’( Liceul de informatica ‘Tiberiu Popoviciu’, Cluj) |
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3rd place: Cetatea Carsium - Harsova (Grupul Scolar Industrial de Electrotehnica si Telecomunicatii, Constanta). |
See here (PDF, 196 KB) the classification for the first ten projects.
The local competition took place through the Live@Edu service while the national final was run on Microsoft Live Meeting.
For more information about the Skills for Employability project, please contact Ruxandra Popovici, Project Manager: ruxandra.popovici@britishcouncil.ro.
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