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Description
Csiky Gergely High School, located in the city of Arad, serves the Hungarian community in the city and county of Arad from pre-school to high school students. At high school level, our educational offer includes, besides the specializations in the theoretical field, two specializations in the technological field: economics and tourism.
The objectives of the project are:
- to improve relations between companies and our school
- to make VET teachers more responsible and efficient through the model exemplified in the VET project
- to provide change in the attitude of the partner company towards the students internship.
Participants in the project will be all teachers of VET subjects.
The 5 days study visit from the project is going to involve 2 teachers specialized in economics, 3 teachers specialized in catering and tourism, 1 teacher with double specialization in economics and tourism, 1 english teacher, as well as the headmaster of the school and 2 reprezentatives of partner company.
Tangible results:
-2 curricula at local decision, one for economic specialization and one for tourism and food.
-2 guides for practice tutors, including: worksheets, initial, mid-term and final assessment sheets for trainees, model practice notebook for students, model training agreements between school, economic agent and trainee, model memorandum of understanding, model CVs and cover letters.
Summary of project results
The project was necessary because the school encountered difficulties with student practice. The biggest challenge was finding partner institutions that offered a suitable environment for professional learning, both in terms of staff and qualified training. The school have had consistent shortcomings in terms of the quality of student training, which leads to lower levels of preparedness, bringing a disadvantage in the labour market over time. Another challenge has been the indifference of the companies to adequately engage in the training of students. Most of them cite a lack of staff to deal with trainee students as practice tutors and very few are willing to accept to help students, even if it would be an opportunity for both sides. Because of the pandemic this problem has worsened, students have been turned away by many businesses.Another difficulty has arisen among teaching staff, which is reflected in the fact that theoretical training is of good quality, but practical training needs improvement and modernisation. Unfortunately there are situations where the teacher has to take over the whole of the practical training, but this cannot provide the same level of experience, the pupils need contact with the outside world.The technology labs have the necessary equipment to carry out the practice, but what our institution lacked was a new, innovative perspective that would capture students'' attention and desire to learn and apply theory. In this project we wanted to improve the relationship between the economic agents and the educational establishment, to provide a suitable framework for the instruction of students and to improve the quality of teaching and the acquisition of skills by specialist teachers. We wanted to increase the level of motivation of the students during the course of the specialist practice and to change the attitude of the economic agent towards the students coming from our school, to provide the students with help and detailed explanations of the work tasks during the practical training.The project is aimed at teachers who teach specialist modules in economics and tourism classes as well as our internship partners at Concord Media SA.
The main activity of the project was a study visit in Grece. From the promoter school school, 6 specialist teachers of economics or tourism subjects, the head teacher and an English teacher participated in the study visit. On behalf of the partner company, 2 persons with responsibilities as internship tutors participated. During the 5 days of mobility at the 2nd Vocational High School, participants visited the institutions and economic agencies where our partner in Greece carries out its internships, as follows: Ktima Bellou: Boutique Hotel in Agios DimitriosVelonis Tourism AgencyMaxi A.B.E.E. - Maxi Paper Mill&Converting Athanasaki Accounting Office. On the occasion of these meetings, were presented the main activities that the students carry out during the internship and good practice discussions were held. The Romanian participants discused with VET teachers from 2nd Vocational High School of Katerini several topics on teaching strategies for the organization and evaluation of internships at economic agencies based on the practical experiences had during the internship. After these discussions the Romanians were able to formulate the strengths and weaknesses of the two schools related to the way the internship is carried out.The evaluation was carried out by the host institution, which at the end of this meeting gave us the certificates of participation in the mobility which prove that we have acquired the specific competences which were the objective of this project.
The products of the project that have been achieved are:- two new curricula at local decision, one for economic specialisation and one for tourism and food,- a guide for trainee tutors, including: worksheets, initial, mid-term and final evaluation sheets for trainees, model trainee workbook, model training agreements between school, economic agent and trainee, model CVs and letters of intent, three new contracts/learning agreementsIn the realisation of these project products, we worked together with the partner economic agent in the project.The main tangible and intangible outputs of the project are:- Project products;- 6 specialist teachers, 1 head teacher, 1 English teacher, 2 economic partner agents acquired new skills;- the internship guide developed with all the information and paperwork necessary for the efficient organisation of the pre-academic internship;- Creation of a close relationship between the educational establishments and the economic agent in the project for a long-lasting collaboration;- The perception of the traineeship from another point of view on the part of the economic operator. This is how they began to assign tasks that were more appropriate to the students'' level of preparation, tasks that required more responsibility. This makes the internship more attractive to students;- The creation of a common CDL helped to bridge the gap between theory and practice;- The cohesion of our team of teachers who teach the specialist subjects in the technology classes: economics and tourism and food;The importance of the project lies in the long-term improvement of several needs identified in our school:- Increasing the motivation and responsibility of the teachers coordinating the parctic internship in our school through their participation in this project, through the study visit and the products made after their return;- The realisation of project materials/products will be a long-term help for the optimal running of the internship;- Improved relations between the school and the placement partners;- Improving the knowledge and methods used during the internship through the example learned from the project and broadening the professional horizon of our teachers;- Increasing the confidence of the economic partners in our school and in the ability to prepare students adequately in the economic and tourism field;