School-to-Work Transition Network – Guia’t Fair

Title

School-to-Work Transition Network – Guia’t Fair

Affiliation(s)/ Institution

Consell Comarcal del Vallès Oriental

Email addresses

sp@vallesoriental.cat

Project funded by

Diputació de Barcelona – Generalitat de Catalunya

Promoter name and country

Consell Comarcal del Vallès Oriental (España)

Partner(s) name and country (if applicable)

Municipis dels Vallès Oriental (España)

Type of provider

public

Area of implementation

• urban
• local

Context and motivation of the project - legislative background/obligations, institutional policy, institutional structures

The Vallès Oriental School-to-Work Transition Network (Xarxa de Transició Educació Treball del Vallès Oriental; TETVO) was created with the aim of sharing, exchanging, strengthening and improving the different aspects that help young people make the transition from school to the workplace and a new social environment. The Network is made up of 20 municipalities, two supra-municipal bodies and two trade unions, and receives support from Barcelona Regional Council.

Aims of the project

The Network strives to strengthen relations between the different bodies to improve the processes of social and labour insertion for young people in the region. The aim is to join together the efforts of the different bodies, work that has resulted in the Guia’t Fair.

Target group

• students
• ESL
• parents
• Guidance practitioners

Description of the target group

The Guia’t Fair is an exhibition that showcases the full range of professional training on offer. Its target audience is students in their fourth year of compulsory secondary education and baccalaureate students, especially those who fail, give up their studies or are unsure of the training route they wish to pursue.

Staff (selection, evaluation, training, promotion)

The operation of the Network and the organisation of the Fair is performed by in-house technical staff from the Personal Services Department (from the Education and Youth areas) of the Regional Council, technical staff from the Education area of Granollers City Council and technical staff from the Education, Youth and Economic Promotion areas of the other councils that belong to the network. The network also includes external people and/or companies, service providers for organising the Fair, for providing academic guidance services.

Methodological approach, activities implemented

The work methodology is firmly based on the transversal relationship and institutional interaction between the councils that make up the TETVO network. This involves joint efforts to better meet the needs of the young people that are identified. These joint efforts can be seen in two lines of action: Firstly, in the participation of agents that provide information and guidance at the Fair; staff from the different councils and local authorities that form part of the Network and who are directly responsible for the task of dealing with, guiding and advising the young people who visit the Fair and the participating exhibitors. Secondly, the professionals that participate in the Fair come from different work areas: employment, education, youth, etc., making it possible to have a very global approach to young people’s needs and to the ways of meeting them.

Results and impact - data of program internal/ external evaluation, beneficiary satisfaction, the impact of the didactical practices at individual and institutional level

As regards qualitative results, we can highlight the fact that during the three days of the Guia’t Fair, more than 1,193 young people visited the Fair and practically 80% of them took part in the parallel activities that were organised. The qualitative evaluation of the Fair by the different groups involved (career guidance offices and other professionals taking part, exhibiting centres and visiting centres) was very good, scoring 8.5/10. For many of the centres in the region, the Fair was an accessible, approachable resource as well as a showcase for the centres that are in the region and their training offering, in addition to representing the opportunity for the exhibitors to display the activities undertaken at the centres. In terms of providing an educational experience, the Fair was attended by students on the Granollers Training and Insertion Programmes (PFI), who were responsible for providing general information and receiving visitors. This empowered the young students on the course by giving them responsibility and security in their tasks, while also largely contributing to the smooth running of the Fair.

Conclusions, lessons learned

This year saw the sixth edition of the Fair. The experience in organisation, knowledge of the region and of the centres, etc., was key in this respect. The work as a network and the involvement of the technicians were two essential factors in the smooth running of this activity.

Directions of further development/ Transferability, replicability

The transferability of this Fair is especially important in regions similar to our own. In other words, we do not aim to hold a large-scale education fair, but rather to exhibit the local professional training offering within the region (or the offering closest to the region) to the young people of El Vallès Oriental and to show them the resources available to them in terms of academic guidance and advice.

Type of ESL (early school leaving) practice

• Prevention

Parameters on which the practice is applicable (check those appropriate)

• Governance and coordination
• Accessibility
• Measures and profiles
• Competences and skills for practitioners