The European Commission has launched a new pilot initiative aiming at enabling vocational education and training (VET) colleges in the EU to set up student and staff exchange programmes with colleges in the Western Balkans, Turkey and Africa.
Besides student and staff mobility between colleges, these mobility partnerships will also share good practice in their countries and regions, and create networks and partnerships for exchange.

 

Objectives
The general objective is to contribute to the improvement and modernisation of VET systems in the Enlargement countries and Africa, as well as reinforcing the links between VET and the labour market.
More specifically, the aim of this call (EAC/S34/2018) is to enhance the capacity of VET providers in the Enlargement countries (Lot n°1) and Africa (Lot n°2) by promoting mobility activities aimed at improving the skills and competences of VET teachers, learners and managers and the occupational prospects of young students.
 

Expected results

Lot n° 1 Enlargement countries: Western Balkans and Turkey
– exchange programmes between Enlargement countries and European VET providers implemented;
– the knowledge, technical and pedagogical skills of VET teachers is improved;
– the knowledge of VET managerial staff is improved;
– the transversal, generic and subject-specific skills of learners are enhanced.

Indicative activities 
Mobility arrangements (identification of target groups, development of individual programmes and action plans for schools and teaching staff, implementation of mobility in the EU), document best practices, dissemination at national and regional level, creation and institution of networks and partnerships for exchanges.

 

Lot n° 2 Africa
– Exchange programmes between African and European VET providers implemented;
– The knowledge, technical and pedagogical skills of VET teachers is improved;
– The knowledge of VET managerial staff is improved;
– The transversal, generic and subject-specific skills of learners are enhanced;
– Best practices, teachers’ and students’ inputs are integrated into curriculum and training reform in the participating schools;
– Improved quality of training offered by African VET providers.

Indicative activities
Mobility arrangements (identification of target groups, development of individual programmes and action plans for schools and teaching staff, implementation of mobility in the EU), capacity support for curriculum development and consultancy support for management, development of new/revised trainer offer and contents, document best practices, dissemination and national, regional and continental level, creation and institution of networks and partnerships for exchanges.

 

Who can take part
Lot n° 1 Enlargement countries: Western Balkans and Turkey
Any public or private organisation in the field of vocational education and training (VET), any consortium or a company involved in VET, any public or private organisation active in the labour market, organisations active in the labour market or in the fields of education, NGOs, local authorities, Small and Medium Enterprises, etc.
They must be legally registered in a European Union Member State or in one of the Enlargement countries (Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey)

Lot n° 2: Africa
Any public or private organisation (or subsidiary/branch) in the field of vocational education and training, consortium of public or private VET providers, any public or private organisation active in the labour market.
They must be legally registered in a European Union Member State or in an African Union Member State.

 

Who can apply
Public or private VET organisation (or subsidiary/branch) active in the field of vocational education and training and legally registered in a European Union Member State, a consortium of public or private VET organisations.
The applicant (or lead applicant in the case of a consortium) must be established in an EU Member State.
 

Lot n° 1: the proposal must include in total at least 6 organisations of which at least 3 organisations from 3 different EU Member States and 3 organisations from 3 different Enlargement countries targeted by this action 
Lot n° 2: the proposal must include in total at least 13 organisations of which at least 3 organisations from 3 different EU Member States and 10 organisations from 10 different African countries targeted by this action and covering the 5 regions of Africa (North: Mauritania, Tunisia; West: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone; Central: Cameroon, Chad, Gabon; East: Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan; South: Angola, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa.)

 

FOR BRITISH APPLICANTS
Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the European Union during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the European Union ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of the relevant provisions of the grant agreement on termination.

 

Eligible activities
Mobility arrangements including the identification of the target groups of staff, managers and students, preparation of training programme and learning outcomes and selection of participants;
Mobility activities consisting of:
– Learners’ mobility in VET providers and/or companies abroad, from 2 weeks to less than 3 months;
– Learners’ longer-term mobility in VET/providers and/or companies abroad (ErasmusPro-type mobility13) from 3 to 12 months;
– Staff mobility (maximum duration of 3 months).
Lot n° 1: Mobility activities will focus on learners and staff incoming to the EU rather than outgoing from the EU (which will be limited to staff only).  
Mobility for training and retraining purposes is only eligible for staff from non EU countries. Furthermore, individual learners from Serbia, Turkey and North Macedonia who have benefited already from mobility under the Erasmus+ programme are not eligible for mobility under this pilot scheme. The same applies for training and retraining of staff.
Lot n° 2: Mobility activities will focus on learners and staff incoming to the EU rather than outgoing from the EU (which will be limited to staff only). Mobility activities (in VET schools and/or industry) will focus on learners and staff incoming to the EU rather than outgoing from the EU (which will be limited to staff only).
 

Thematic areas
Proposals must focus on three priority fields of study:
– Engineering, manufacturing and construction (with particular emphasis on 0712 environmental protection and technology, 0713 electricity and energy and/or 0721 food processing);
– Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Veterinary (with particular emphasis on 0811 Crop and livestock production);
– Services (with particular emphasis on 1013 Hotel, restaurants and catering and/or 1015 Travel, tourism and leisure).

Implementation period
The maximum duration of each project under Lot 1 and Lot 2 is 42 months;

 

Deadline to apply: 28^th May 2019, 12.00 noon CET.

 

Read more here.