Yesterday European Entreprenerus CEA-PME, EU-DualS leading partner, hosted the project’s final conference in Brussels. The event had for a theme “A fast-track to better professional training” and wanted to show the potential benefits of expanding the German Dual System for vocational training to other European countries based upon the results and experiences of EU-DualS.

The conference started with a presentation by Mr Stefan Moritz, CEA-PME Managing Director. He discussed the reasons that lead partners to set up this project, chief among which the mismatch between the need for skilled labour that many medium and small-sized companies in Europe have but cannot fulfil and the training and formation of students in schools.

Analysis showed that countries using a Dual System often experienced lower youth unemployment while companies have better access to trained professionals. The system, grounded in work-based learning, is designed to ensure students can receive training that is perfectly fit to the needs of the market, while firms can access a steady pool of formed young personnel. The project was set up to explore how it would be possible to export such a system from a successful application, like in Germany, to other European countries, like Spain and Italy.

Following the introduction to the project, Mr. Norbert Schöbel, Team Leader for ‘Skills for the Young’ in Unit E.3 – VET, Apprenticeships, Adult Learning at DG EMPL of the European Commission took the floor. He provided an overview of the plans of the Commission for future training and formation programs, with a particular focus on the proposed extension of Erasmus+ for the years 2021-2027, when the program would also receive twice as much funding as it did for the period between 2014 and 2020. He also had the opportunity to discuss the impact of the European Alliance for Apprenticeships, which has shown real results as proven by the satisfaction of the beneficiaries of internship programs.

The next speaker was Dr Matthias Kohl of the Research Institute on Professional Training F-BB in Nuremberg. Starting from a general overview of the key elements of the Dual System, he extrapolated what key actions would be needed to export it to other countries, based on the results of EU-DualS. These would include a strong and active participation of SMEs, developing new national strategies for this training model, preparing the trainers that would engage in the system and work on improving the perception of traineeships.

The last speaker of the first part of the conference was Dr. Christine Mertens, Deputy General Manager of Technifutur and representative of EVBB (European Association of Institutes for Vocational Training). She showcased the success story of Technifutur, a new training centre in Belgium that provides a form of Dual System training, even allowing kids to star learning by engaging in fun, practical activities like using building blocks to construct something functional. This approach has shown to be a win-win for both companies  and student/jobseekers in Wallonia.

Following the showing of EU-DualS videos presenting the perspectives on the project of companies and schools , the participants were introduced to a new panel of speakers composed by Italian project participants and chaired by Mrs Isabella Condino of CONFAPI, the Italian project partner. Teachers and students of the professional institute Andrea Ponti in Gallarate spoke of the impact of the project, with teacher praising the highly positive feedback received by companies and stating new opportunities should be built on the success of EU-DualS, and with students stating how working in companies in Italy and then, for a month, in Germany was a real formative experience and helped them prepare for the employment world but also understand better what they studied.

The conference then moved to look at the experience in the Basque country, which was discussed by Mr. Paul Liceaga of ADEGI, the project Spanish partner.  He remarked how the project fit in the new framework for vocational training of the region and helped fine tune it based on the experiences of students and professional schools involved.

Following a Q&A with the audience, with questions concerning the future of a European Dual System and possible alternative approaches, the closing political remarks were provided by Mr. Michael Detjen MEP(Germany – SPD/S&D) and Member of the EMPL Committee. he observed that there clearly is an alarming lack of skills matching jobs in Europe, which means the EU will need to provide more training of skills fix this situation. To such endeavour, both lifelong learning and vocational training are vital.

The event closed with a  networking lunch where panellists and the audience had the occasion to exchange opinion in a relaxed atmosphere.

Photogallery: