The critical issue addressed by the “SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE” project is the unsatisfactory level of influence that labor market signals (employers’ and enterprises’ expectations) on the content and execution of educational curricula of higher education institutions. Employers and professional organizations are only slight drivers for curricula reforms in EU countries.
The main aim of the project is to increase the quality of higher education institutions services to satisfy labor market needs.
During the project we have already covered the following phases:
Research on Entrepreneurs' Expectations
This phase was developed during the first quarter of 2010, with the objective of determining the fundamental enterprises' needs from higher education systems and indicating the most necessary actions aimed at better satisfying those needs, through the four countries survey.
Development of Competition
This phase was developed during the second quarter of 2010, with the objective of organizing a competition among higher education institutions on how to satisfy business (employers') needs in the best way. This aim was fulfilled in the form of a contest - "TEST FOR THE BEST. EUROPEAN SKILLS ACHIEVEMENT CONTEST"- a public contest conducted in the four project participating countries, for last term students and graduates. The test checked how students/graduates fulfill business expectations determined by the survey. The main aim of this contest was not only communicating business expectations but also promoting those institutions which satisfy business needs better.
Building Strategy for Better Cooperation
This phase has been developed since October, 2010 and addresses the problem of lacking cooperation attitudes between higher education institutions and enterprises and intends to support new management approaches in shaping educational offer.
As part of this, the four participating countries organized workshops with academia, enterprises and business organizations representatives. The aim of those workshops was to establish a common assessment of the cooperation between business and science. The participants of each meeting were also asked to identify obstacles in this cooperation and to suggest solutions to develop a better cooperation between the market and academia.
This issues are the themes covered in this Network Forum.
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“SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE” is a framework of Erasmus, funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme, DG Education and Culture.
This project has been developed in four countries:
- Poland (Institute for Private Enterprise and Democracy - leading partner)
- Portugal (Gestão Total - partner),
- Italy (E.Ri.Fo. - partner)
- Turkey (AHİ EVRAN ÜNİVERSİTESİ - partner)
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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. All content in this web.site reflect only the views of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
