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Description
Our project aims to unleash the potential of NEET young people between the ages of 17 and 29, suffering from multiple discrimination (i.e. Roma, LGBTI, refugees, single mothers, disabled) by applying an experimental model for youth education, based on progressive pedagogy, integral and gamified methodologies. It promotes the values of diversity and inclusion in the labor market concerning race/ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and global and digital citizenship by providing a market-specific IT training program in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Italy, Slovenia and Portugal.
The project partners are NGOs, social cooperative and non-profit educational institutions with track record in working with the target groups mentioned above. An expert partner from Ireland provides the quality assurance for the project.
We provide a comprehensive training program that underpins modern and interactive IT training and an individualised approach, tailored to the needs of learners. Specially selected trainers and employers will play a key role in the training program design and delivery process.
As a result, the program is expected to contribute to reducing youth unemployment, as well as integrating young people from vulnerable groups into the labour market, making a career in one of the most competitive and fast-growing sectors, namely the IT industry.
Summary of project results
The problem of youth unemployment has been an important challenge, being at the centre of the EU policy agenda for the past decade. Although youth unemployment rates are seemingly improving, a lot still needs to be done, and very few initiatives focus on supporting youth from minority groups in their struggles in the labour market.
For example;
*In Bulgaria: 53.5% of all ethnic Bulgarians aged above 15 y.o. are economically active, compared to 45.4% of the Bulgarian Turks and only 38.8% of the Roma people(NSI, 2015; National Roma Integration Strategy, 2015).
*In Lithuania: 38% of transgender respondents from Lithuania have experienced discrimination at work during the last 12 months, while 52% felt discriminated against while looking for employment (LGBT* survey by FRA).
*In Portugal: the share of unemployed people younger that 25 y.o. is the highest with 28% and increasing (Pordata, 2016).
*In Slovenia: According to the Report on education and training, 2016, 5% of youngsters (18-24 y.o.) are drop-outs.
In Italy: The NEETs represent an increasing element of fragility in Emilia-Romagna, particularly with the consequences of the crisis post-2008. They are formed of young people (15-34 years old) who are not part anymore of any scholar or training path, the share of unemployed people younger than nor engaged in professional activity (Employment, unemployment and social security cushions in the Emilia-Romagna region, 2016) Additionally, the flow of migrants and asylum seeker (with 123 370 applications only for 2016) increase the share of NEET youth in the region.
The project aimed to unleash the potential of NEET youth from Bulgaria, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovenia suffering from multiple discrimination (i.e. Roma, LGBTI, refugees, migrants, single mothers, people in poverty) by applying an experimental model for youth education based on progressive pedagogy and integral and gamified methodologies.
The Direction Employment project provided proof that young people-NEETs from marginalised groups can take a big step towards labour market inclusion in the most competitive high technology industries if they are provided with the right kind of support understood holistically as individual skill-building and professional training.
The partners have explored the best local practices for empowering and including marginalised youth in the labour market. The new profiling, training and mentoring techniques and ongoing liaison with potential employers helped to build bridges between the teaching space and the labour market.
The interventions encompassed ex-ante needs assessment, designing 4.0 training curriculum, and organising business pitches and presentations. The Partners tested the model and equipped the classrooms as a part of the capacity building workpackage. The consortium implemented two educational workpackages, consisting of ToT mobile classroom trainings, and IT trainings. The ambassador info-days and 4.0. DE summer camps were also organised.
The project succeeded in:
- Increasing the percentage of young women in the ICT industry in Portugal, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Lithuania
- Bridging the gap between migrants/refugees and the labour market in Italy, empowering migrant women to find jobs that require basic computer skills
- Enhancing the workplace inclusion of LGBTI people in Lithuania
- Increasing the visibility of the need for coming out at the workplace (Lithuania)
- Reinforcing the human rights-based approach in the selection, training, and on-the-job coaching of NEETS from vulnerable groups.
As a result of the project, 556 former NEETs enhanced their career orientation and IT skills; 181 of them started new jobs, and four became self-employed.
The project had a direct positive effect on increasing the awareness of diversity and inclusion at the workplace in the project partner countries. The employers who were directly engaged as partners of the project in the project countries (over 40 different companies) have improved their attitude towards young workers from vulnerable groups, and improved workplace practices for inclusion by providing tailored support and mentorship based on individual needs.
The positive effects of empowering NEETs from vulnerable groups range beyond the individual well-being. The interventions positively impacted the young people''s families and helped the communities they belong to.
The transnational aspect of the project facilitated the exchange of practices in applying the experimental educational model and enhancing its effectiveness.
The project activities proved adaptable and may be continued after the project''s end. Some of the partners identified additional funds to continue the work in the same sphere.