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Higher education student and staff mobility projec..
Higher education student and staff mobility project
Start date: Jun 1, 2015,
End date: Sep 30, 2016
PROJECT
FINISHED
The background of the Erasmus+ Traineeship Consortium “BET for Jobs”, coordinated by the University of Calabria, is mainly based on the long and positive experience gained through the implementation of projects in previous EU programmes such as LdV, Socrates, Erasmus and LL for the mobility of students and recent graduates in European companies.
These pilot experiences, through which university students and graduates were able to apply their theoretical knowledge to real traineeships on the job and to share their experiences with people working in other organisations and countries, were fundamental for our final decision to applying for a new Consortium in Erasmus+.
This decision was also reinforced by the fact that youth unemployment rate increases more and more in Europe and especially in Italy, therefore the basic need for students and recent graduates is the attainment of a better qualification through specific traineeships abroad based on "learning by doing "also in order to increase their future employment opportunities. It is our conviction that the provision of quality traineeships in companies abroad can satisfy this need.
The main objectives reached have been to
a) improve the quality and increase the volume of cooperation in Europe among universities, other organizations and companies;
b) better the linguistic, professional, social and intercultural skills of trainees in order to facilitate a more qualified entry in the labor market;
c) increase the offer of Erasmus Traineeships in the Consortium Universities.
The mobility numbers achieved, as reported by the data registered in MTool, have proved to be higher than the ones foreseen and financed in the grant agreement and the overall very good results have exceeded our expectations.
In fact, the Consortium has sent out 264 students, out of which 54 recent graduates. There has been an increase both in the number of students sent on mobility (264) and in the total months awarded (more than 736) that have far exceeded the financed ones.
For what concerns undertaken activities, also with reference to the commitments assumed with the Erasmus Charters for HE’s, the Consortium Universities have made great efforts in order to
• select, according to academic merit criteria, its own students and recent graduates;
• guarantee a high quality level in organising traineeships and each university was responsible for the correct development of the project itself;
• guarantee quality traineeships through the search of opportunities that fitted beneficiaries’ needs;
• support selected participants in the preparation of necessary documents for mobility and give appropriate guidance on the linguistic, cultural and social aspects of hosting countries;
• inform participants about the opportunities to attend to free online language courses provided by the EC OLS system or to take advantage of a preparatory course held by the language centers of the Universities;
• monitor, through e-mail or other means, the proper development of the traineeship programme by the student and by the host organisation;
• awarded recognition to beneficiaries for the developed activities/learning outcomes according to the LA for Traineeship signed by the parts (student , home and host institution) before departure and to Traineeship Certificate issued by host organisation upon completion of mobility.
Furthermore, in project implementation consortium universities have applied the Erasmus+ financial and management rules and have sent to the coordinator all information concerning their trainees and the relevant mobility documents.
In line with the institutional strategies, the Erasmus Policy Statements of the Consortium Universities and the Education Modernisation Agenda the Impact of the project was positive for all targets involved :
• Universities have enlarged their educational offer for students with traineeship opportunities in companies and other organisations abroad, strengthened their internationalisation policy by collaborating with different European partners in the economic and business sectors and not only with Universities;
• Companies have both enjoyed the benefits arising from the comparison with the academic culture of trainees thus taking advantage of their work and strengthening their cooperation with Italian universities;
• Students and graduates have bettered their linguistic competence, cultural and professional experiences in order to be more facilitated in entering the job market andsome of them have found a job in companies;
• Italian SMEs recruiting students with such experiences take advantage of their expertise gained abroad both in terms of contacts and of "good practices" on the workplace.