Developing inclusivity and new skill sets in secondary vocational education

Vocational education and training (VET) is an essential part of secondary education, offering students the opportunity to gain practical skills and knowledge in specific sectors and professions. With approximately 50% of young people participating in VET programmes in OECD countries, these pathways play a critical role in preparing individuals for the workforce. This article explores Erasmus+ projects that promote inclusive approaches, digital skills and measures against early school leaving for VET learners and teachers.

Inclusive VET: ensuring access for all

Several projects aim to ensure that vocational training is accessible to all, including the most vulnerable learners, to ensure that no young people are excluded from finding the right educational path because of who they are.

The inclusion of LGBTQI+ students in VET programmes was the key aim of the UNIQUE project. It provides tools for educators to create more welcoming and inclusive VET environments. Project outputs include a model curriculum, an online course for teachers, and policy recommendations for reversing negative perceptions of and giving support to LGBTQI+ learners.

It is crucial that students with diverse backgrounds receive adequate support and can study in a safe space. This project aimed to improve the skills and competencies of VET teachers to detect and understand racism.

The HABILITAS! project used game-based learning to engage students with special educational needs (SEN) or learning difficulties in the personal caregiving sector. It produced 25 microlearning courses using a gamification strategy, 25 themed tutorial videos, 25 inclusive web-quest educational resources and a dedicated platform with a gamification methodology.

The OSCAR project supported students facing mental health challenges . It sought to enhance the skills of VET staff in this area by sharing best practices and developing a series of online activities and train-the-trainer materials.

The GIVE project (Governance for Inclusive Vocational Excellence) helps to promote the social inclusion of individuals belonging to disadvantaged groups. It has collected practices and produced guidelines on inclusive training, tutoring and educational support and work and transition to work.

Innovating against early school leaving 

One of the persistent challenges faced by VET programmes is that many students drop out before completing their qualifications. To combat this, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) has developed a VET toolkit for tackling early leaving, which includes various resources for students, VET teachers and policymakers.

Dropping out can also be tackled by strengthening young people’s key and technical-professional competences. The Early School Workers (ESW) project did so while investigating the transferability of the English University Technical College model into German, Spanish and Italian contexts, aiming to contribute also to the system-level transformation of the VET programmes.

The Beyond NEET(D)s project focuses on supporting young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEETs). The project provides opportunities to individual people, based on their needs and personal situation by applying a motivating gamification approach. Through this, NEETs and those currently disengaged can access VET offers and the labour market.

Digital skills development across VET

Various projects aim to strengthen VET students’ and teachers’ digital skills.

The CASINO project used gamified, challenge-based e-learning to enhance VET, with a focus on promoting social inclusion and equal opportunities. The project created 192 challenge games, an in-service training programme for VET professionals, an online platform featuring games and a portfolio of competences and open badges for NEETs.

The increasing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) skills in the VET sector and labour market was addressed by the AI in VET schools project. The project developed innovative study materials with the aim to have the study unit integrated into national education systems.

By developing and testing augmented, virtual and mixed reality and 3D printing content for the teaching of chemistry, painting and floristry, the Digi4VET project aimed was to enhance learner motivation and provide trainers and teachers with new methods for visualising complex topics. The project offered blended learning courses, hardware training, an object database, examples of best practice and didactic guidelines for teachers and trainers.