Needs Mapping of the VET

In order to identify the realities in the labor field for the VET at the end of the school cycle, as well as the true needs of the employers regarding she skills that a VET must have, the partnership will develop an in-depth study on those issues – a detailed analysis on employment skills needed in VET as well as in other business sectors in Europe and the partnership countries (RO, IT, CY, PT)

The objective of the output is to deliver a clear picture of collateral skills needed for education in the VET sector as well as in other sectors at European and national level (RO, IT, CY, PT). The end result of the output, the map of the VET needs, will be directed to be used by both VET educators – for providing the identified skills to their pupils, and by learners – in order to orient themselves in seeking on their own the achievement of those skills. For VET Educators, the output will provide a detailed analysis that will support them in planning their teaching methods among their students and apprentices, offering them a useful tool in understanding the skills required by the employers from their graduates or apprentices. For VET learners, this mapping will provide an easy to use schematic of the soft skills required from them by their potential employers, enabling them to seek to obtain those skill until the moment of their employment.

The main source for practical information of this document will be composed of VET employers as well as VET graduates currently in employment. This output will collect and analyse information about the current situation in VET sector concerning the collateral skills needed to be possessed by VET employees, with an accent on the three types of skills presented in the project, the Business Etiquette skills (BE skills), the Learning How to Learn skills (LHL skills) as well as the Professional Digital Literacy skills (PDL skills), usable in the context of the VET employment and labor. This output will also explore the training tools that experts and specialized companies use for developing the above mentioned skills in their employees, in order to adapt and apply those techniques, if possible in the Trainer’s kit developed in the OI2.

The main interests of the study will contain:

  • Effective techniques of professional communication;
  • Professional behavior and attitudes;
  • Personal development and learning;
  • Organizational culture and teamwork;
  • Usage of electronic devices;
  • Strategic planning;
  • Conflicts and their management.

The mapping will include practices and pathways to develop successful professional relations, as well as the main employment channels usable for VET in the partnership countries as well as at European level as well as the skills needed for VET, categorized by each VET employing industry in the respective countries . , Finally, it will provide the basis in order to develop up-to-date and useful courses because it will be linked to the development of the O2 materials.

The Needs Mapping of the VET will become a new element to update current information and studies about soft skills applicable in VET sectors across Europe and partnership countries (RO, IT, CY, PT), since available reports and papers are not as new and up-to-date as they could. This output canbe used as training support material for VET educators, and it can also be adapted by mentors and trainers in other educational (youth work, school education and higher education) or business fields (other fields of activity that do not involve VET).

The Needs Mapping of the VET will be a complex document, which will include a triple approach to the employment needs of the VET:

  • Part 1: Desk research. Will constitute a comprehensive analysis on collateral skills education in VET in Europe and in partnership countries. It will also include the analysis of educational tools applied in teaching the soft skills to the VET.
  • Part 2: Field research. Will be elaborated only at national level and will consist in the distribution of one questionnaire to 20 VET employers on one hand, and one questionnaire to 20 VET employees on the other, in order to complement the desk research with real live information from persons in the labor field. In total, questionnaires will reach 80 VET employers and 80 employees. In total, the field research will reach 160 people.
  • Part 3: Employment guideline, 1 per country: RO, IT, CY and PT (4 in total). It will contain additional information facilitating the employment of VET in the partner countries as well as at European level.