Future Makers mobilises local community to bring new skills to schools

Everyone has a skill they can teach. That is the underlying idea of the Estonian Future Makers initiative, which encourages community members and professionals to engage with learners both in schools and in workplaces.

Towards informed decisions on study and career paths

According to a PISA study from 2018, a staggering 85 % of recent Estonian graduates did not believe they could get a professional position or hold a management role in their field. Lack of guidance in making informed choices on further studies can create uncertainty and instability in terms of chosen career paths. To tackle the issue through local community engagement, a platform called Tuleviku Tegijad (‘Future Makers’) was created. The goal of this platform is to provide students from years 7 to 12 with first-hand experience from experts in different career paths and fields.

Future Makers – how does it work?

The platform has a database including contacts from schools, professionals, and organisations. A teacher can add an invite to the platform linked to a topic, either based on the curriculum or the result of student popular vote. The system looks for a suitable match and forwards the invite to relevant organisations and professionals. Once the invite has been accepted, the organisation or professional will lead a lesson as a guest lecturer, talking about their field of work, career path, opportunities, training, and so on. Besides lectures, the platform helps to organise job and student shadowing and study trips to companies.

In 2022, over 5000 students participated in activities in over 360 events organised between schools and professionals. A student who recently participated in job shadowing said, ‘I liked learning that the field of work is more diverse than it seems at first and having direct contact with potential employers. During my high school years, I will take every learning opportunity available through Tuleviku Tegijad.’