The Italian students of the Andre Ponti technical institute in Gallarate have just returned to their families in Italy after spending one month working in companies in Germany as part of the EU-DualS project; the students were extremely happy of their experience, which they thought was a true introduction to the professional world and gave them a very good idea of how to put in practice the theoretical notions they had learned at school.

This was an intensive month of work, as they lived together and shared chores in their accommodation while have to wake up very early in the morning to reach their workplace. These, they felt was also part of their learning curve: “holding the pace was tough,” explains Mirco Cozza, one of the 11 students, “I’ve been in a tin-smithing and welding company, where I was also working on the building sites.”

Omar Achache, another one of the students,  instead worked on a factory that produced servo presses, dealing with both  hardware and software. “The first week they showed me the software, the second I followed the design of a new car. At the third week I worked on quality, product and process control, and in the last I went to the sales and marketing department. ” But the hard work also paid off, giving the students a real sense of accomplishment: “the owner asked me if I wanted to stay” concludes Omar.

This is exactly what EU-DualS wants to show: a dual system does not simply introduce trainees to work, but it wants to help them become true professionals, part of a community that is identified by a very specific set of technical skills in the professional sector. This is highly welcomed by SMEs in Italy, Germany and not only which have a constant need for well trained and highly skilled employees.