Nowadays it is essential to have a link between vocational education and training systems and the labour market, given the high rates of unemployment, especially youth unemployment. Several EU countries have already implemented measures to carry out practical initiatives in companies as part of the vocational training system. Many of these initiatives have a regional scope and are pilot experiences, or are at an early stage of implementation and still need to fine-tune some aspects. This results in a fragmentation of models, not only at the European level but also at national level, making it more difficult to benchmark and assess the impact of different strategies.
This diagnosis led four partners of a previous European project of innovation transfer in the textile and fashion sector to prepare the present proposal in order to benchmark existing resources and build more effective tools that can contribute to the solution of the present situation. The partnership was extended to five other partners, who worked together for the first time. The participating countries are Spain, Italy, Portugal and the Czech Republic, for whom the textile industry is an important pillar of their economies.
The partnership counts with experts in vocational education and training, members of the sector representing the textile industry, as well as educational institutions with responsibilities in regulating and implementing vocational education and training programmes.
MODATOP Project (Fashion Training on Practice) will be developed based on the educational and vocational training framework of the participating countries that include practical vocational training sessions in companies, with the aim of benchmarking the resources and methods used in vocational training schools and textile companies that underpin the efforts of trainers and tutors in practical training sessions.
Tools will be created to complement existing resources for trainers and tutors in the textile and fashion sector, including: (i) Recommendation Guide for trainers and tutors; (ii) an online recognition tool that acknowledges the learning outcomes obtained in practical sessions, in collaboration with vocational training schools.
The project intends to directly involve around 150 stakeholders who will participate in the development of the project's intellectual outputs and help promote the results during its lifetime, with the aim of reaching 2,500 representatives from 3 target groups: trainers and trainees from vocational education and training schools participating in dual certification systems in the textile and fashion sector, companies in the sector that receive or are interested in receiving vocational education and training trainees, policy-makers and institutions responsible for designing and implementing vocational education and training systems with a practical component in companies.
MODATOP is a European project funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme, with a duration of 24 months, from November 2016 to October 2018. The results of the project can be found at:
http://www.modatop.eu/
https://risorse.conform.it/Ambienti/Modatop/PT/story_html5.html
For more information, please contact international.mx@modatex.pt.