Eunice hasn´t been the only storm hitting the Netherlands these past days. 2 students from Oteitza Lizeo Politeknikoa and 3 students from La Salle Berrozpe have participated in a simulation of skills competition in mechatronics and 21st century skills, organised in the framework of an Erasmus+ project, bringing the trophy home. Together with students from Finland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, they have faced the challenge proposed by a group of teachers and have been successfully assessed by a jury formed by teachers and companies. More importantly than the result, the overall experience has been enriching and unforgettable for all participants, including the teachers, Itziar, Jon and Beñat. Congratulations to you too because the success is also yours!  

The first Transnational Kick Off Meeting of e-VET4AI, took place on January 20th, 2022. Due to social distancing and travel restrictions (COVID-19 pandemic) the meeting was carried out online with the participation of our project managers, from Germany, and our partners from Italy, Spain, Greece and Belgium. The aim of the project is the development of digital competences for teaching to create online learning materials and the use of digital tools for learning. Partners analysed the project’s aspects in detail, developing their ideas for the activities that will follow in the coming months, drafting the project’s roadmap. In a nutshell, project partners discussed about:        The project’s aims        The project’s results        The implementation activities        The timeline of the project etc. Partners, after setting their next steps, agreed that the main goal, is the high quality of the project’s results and scheduled their next meeting in February 24th,2022.  

This morning HETEL has provided a training on international projects and the new Erasmus Programme 21-27 to 23 VET teachers from our member schools (Zulaibar, La Salle Berrozpe, Egibide, Maristak Durango, PI Txorierri, UGLE, Oteitza Lizeo Politeknikoa, Goierri eskola, Jesuitak Indautxu, Angeles Custodios, Sopeña Bilbao, MGEP, Salesianos Deusto, CF Somorrostro, Lea Artibai and Centro Formativo Otxarkoaga). The new VET Law considers internationalization as one of its pillars, together with digitalization, sustainability, entrepreneurship and lifelong learning. Counting with people from VET schools able to participate and implement international activities is part of our strategy as association and this is our small contribution to it. Thank you to all the participants and abantean with your internationalization!

Last week, HETEL and Maristak Durango hosted a group of 14 participants from the Italian VET organization ENGIM, the University of Bergamo, the University of Bremen and the business association Confartigianato Imprese Bergamo, in the framework of the Erasmus+ project DualECOsystems. The participants visited the Basque Country to get to know in more detail the vocational education ecosystem of the region, in particular who are the stakeholders and how they relate and cooperate with each other. Along 5 days, HETEL and Maristak shared with the group different examples of cooperation and their contribution to the regional development, such as the Berrikuntza Faktoria of Bilbao, promoted by Mondragon University, initiatives promoted by Tknika (the Basque Institute of Innovation in Vocational Education), such as Tkgune (to provide technologicasl services to companies from VET schools) or Urratsbat and Ikasenpresa, to promote and support entrepreneurship in vocational schools. They also share the dual VET model existing in the Basque Country, with a particular focus on the specialization programmes, co-designed and co-delivered jointly by VET schools and companies. Lastly, Egibide (VET school associated to HETEL) also shared their experience working with Deusto University in the co-design and co-deliver of a dual degree on digital industry. In a final evaluation exercise of the cases seen during the 5 days, the group highlighted the cooperation among different stakeholders and the innovation capacity of the VET system as the 2 main elements which makes Basque vocational education an example of excellence recognised by the European Commission. The next visit will be in January in Bergamo. We are looking forward to visiting our Italian partners to learn from their experience!

This week the EuskoSkills competition is taking place in the Basque Country. With the aim to pursue excellence in vocational education, this kind of competitions take place in the national and international level in different skills areas (hairdressing, construction, cooking, mechatronics, industrial design…). HETEL does not stand aside of this reality and since October 2019 is involved in an Eramus+ KA2 project where colleges from Finland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Netherlands exchange their good practices in the organization and preparation of teachers and students for skills competitions. Precisely, this very same week, the project partners met in the college Salesianos Deusto, in Bilbao, to work in the programme of a competition which will take place in January in the Netherlands, involving teachers and students from mechatronics, cooking and business. Although not so popular yet as in the rest of the countries in the consortium, HETEL is committed to involve more of its associated schools in skills competitions. Because it´s not about the competition, it´s about being excellent in what you do. More information about the project: https://sites.google.com/view/skillscompetitionproject/home  

In the whole EU, only around 3-5% of VET students have the opportunity to participate in international mobility through the Erasmus+ Programme. This raises the question, what happens with the rest, with the vast majority of VET students? They don´t have the possibility to develop international competences. As the mission of VET colleges is to offer an integral education, which includes citizenship and global competences, to all students, the partners in the co-funded Erasmus+ project “Build @ Home” are working to produce tools and resources for VET teachers so they will be able to embed these competences in the regular VET curriculum. Last week, HETEL international and a teacher from Zulaibar Arratiako Lanbide Ikastegia, joined the project meeting in Denmark to start working in the definition and selection of international competences and the possible tools to train them. In the upcoming months, we will go on with this work, don´t miss our progress following HETEL´s website and social networks!

The INTENT project is an Erasmus+ funded project coordinated by the Department of Vocational Education of the German region North-Westphalia where HETEL participates as a partner. The project tries to build a comprehensive approach to vocational education, promoting interdisciplinary cooperation among VET programmes in line with organizational models 4.0, where supply chains follow an interconnected structure, with more flexibility and shorter response times to the market demands. Along 5 days of training, a group of teachers from Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal and the Basque Country are learning how to develop interdisciplinary materials based on the ones already developed by the project partners. 3 teachers from HETEL´s schools participate in the training: Antonio Pinillos (Sopeña Bilbao), Maider Lizarralde (La Salle Berrozpe) and Asier Merino (Zulaibar).