Students’ and Pupils’ Practices
25th August 2015
Tag list
Location / Country / Region
Bulgaria
Time frame
2012 – 2015
Short description
The project was initiated in response to the current need to improve the quality of training in vocational schools and universities by providing work placements on the basis of university/school-business partnerships. The practices are open to school students from 16 to 21 years old, who follow vocational trainings in all types of institutions (vocational schools, general education schools with classes for training, etc.) and who are not involved in a labour contract during the practice period. Since the beginning of the project 403 schools have registered in the web-based platform (praktiki.mon.bg) and 13 510 students applied for participation. There are 15 568 registered employers and 4 687 of them have published 10 401 offers for a total of 59 210 placements. Practices are offered to university students as well. The training corresponds to the speciality studied in the university/ higher education school. The duration of the practice for both groups is of 240 astronomical hours.
Actors Involved
Actors involved include:
- The Ministry of Education and Science is the initiator and coordinator of the project.
- Schools from the secondary education system
- Universities
- Enterprises
- School and university students
Target audiences
The target audience of the project was school and university students and employers.
Relevant links, websites, etc.
Background
Economic and Technical dimensions
The project implementation has allowed the testing of a model for school/university–company partnership which responds to the needs both of the education sector of ensuring real work conditions for practical training and of the business sector which needs employees with well-developed skills. The further implementation of the model for longer periods will no doubt contribute to the improvement of the quality of practical training in the education system.
Analysis
Innovativeness
The project was innovative thanks to an e-platform that facilitated the contact between the education institutions and the companies.
Key success factors
The project was a success thanks to its design that ensured a common interest for the education institutions, the learners and the employers.
Sustainability
The project’s sustainability is assured by the satisfaction of both the education institutions and the business sector as well as by the experience it provided in finding financial resources for the continuation of the actions after the project ends.
Contact Details for Practice
Website – praktiki.mon.bg contact person: Emilia Valchovska, Ministry of Education and Science, Head of Department “Vocational Education and Training”, e-mail: e.valchovska@mon.bg