Project relevance and the expected cross border impact

The objectives of the CBC-Practice Firms project are according to (TO2) SUPPORT TO EDUCATION, RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION, Priority 1.1 – Institutional cooperation in the educational field for increasing access to education and quality of education of JOINT OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME ROMANIA – UKRAINE.

ENI 2014-2020, having a valuable contribution to improving the economic situation in the area, in the context of cross-border collaboration, by improving the professional skills and abilities and, implicitly, the living conditions of young people from Tulcea county and the Odessa region. The project proposes to promote closer business links for young people across the border through practice firms, increase the employability ratio, harmonize the theoretical knowledge of young people with practical skills to meet economic needs and cross-border innovation; increasing access for young entrepreneurs in the cross-border area to new opportunities for bilateral promotion and interaction; developing collaboration and contacts between educational units on both sides of the border and developing the educational act by organizing new training courses for teachers and endowing the educational material base.

Given the economic situation of the two countries and the importance of bilateral cooperation in the field of education in such situations as well as the capacities of young people (accumulation and learning, self-motivation, openness and risk-taking), it is necessary to support quality entrepreneurship education for young people and to stimulate and facilitate access to job-seeking courses and creating of new businesses by young people.

Improving the quality of education in the project area by developing cross-border partnership between educational units in Romania and Ukraine, exchanging best practices, development and innovation activities to increase the competitiveness of graduates, diversifying educational offerings and developing employment alternatives for young people in the project area will be achieved by harmonizing the theoretical knowledge of young people with practical skills to meet the economic and innovative needs in the cross-border area, increasing the access of young entrepreneurs in the cross-border area to new opportunities for promotion and creating new job opportunities and independent perspectives.

The general objective of learning through the practice firm is to develop the entrepreneurial spirit by: familiarizing students with the specific activities of a real company, simulating real business operations and processes specific to the real business environment, improving the business language, developing the skills and attitudes needed for a dynamic entrepreneur.

What are the needs of the target groups that will be tackled by the project?

Ukraine

The current economic crisis has aggravated the general socio-economic situation in Ukraine, where several economic sectors have recently experienced a 30-70% decrease in revenues. One of the most affected populations is the youth, less experienced and fairly vulnerable. Currently, there are 24% of the young people unemployed in Ukraine, and their number continues to increase. In view of the above, it is necessary to support the economic education of young people and their implications in business and thus to stimulate the creation of SMEs by young people, which will lead to increased socio-economic development and reducing youth migration .

Although in the last decade Ukraine has made effective progress in the process of transformation and transition to a market economy, the incomes of the population remain low; the emigration process has increased; while the inflation rate, the bureaucracy, the tax and administrative burdens and the recent economic crises continued to impede the level of entrepreneurship and the development of the private sector (in Ukraine there are only 12 SMEs per 1000 persons) compared to the 45 SMEs to 1000 in the EU).

The most affected by the economic crisis population are young people who, besides the “normal” difficulties usually encountered on the labor market (associated with lack of experience and mistrust of potential employers), they have suffered greatly due to job cuts and salary reductions. At present, there are 19% of the young unemployed population in Ukraine (although unofficial statistics indicate 32%). Unfortunately, the economic situation in Ukraine stimulates young people to emigrate from the affected regions, for example in Ukraine 42% of all migrants are younger than 30 years old. At the same time, given that the migration flow will decrease due to the worsened economic situation in migrant destination countries, competition on Ukrainian labor markets will increase, which will further increase the youth unemployment rate.

Romania

The statistical data provided by NIS on 31.10.2014 showed that the unemployment rate among young people aged 15-25 was of 17.91%, compared to 23.89%, which is the long-term unemployment of the total number of unemployed under 25 years old. The unemployed with secondary and post-secondary education represent 20.32% of the total number of registered unemployed. The highest levels of the unemployment rate were reached in the counties: Tulcea (9.83%), Vaslui (9.61%) and Galati (8.99%). The unemployment rate among male youths rose to 5.79% and the female unemployment rate fell to 5.71%. These data demonstrate that during the economic recession, the lack of jobs affects especially young people, whose insertion on the labor market after graduation is reduced.

At national level, due to industrial restructuring and the economic crisis, there is a long-term unemployment rate among both adults and young people. Low tuition – is one of the factors that make it difficult to integrate graduates into the labor market.   In Romania, the number of unemployed and unemployed graduates is on the increase, the degradation of the labor market becoming a chronic process. Although our country is significantly below the European average in terms of participation in education in 2015: 56.1% of the EU-27 average of 63.9% (Source: Key Data on Education in Europe, 2014), the dynamics of increasing participation in education has been particularly accelerated over the last decade. Approx. 36% of young people recognize extracurricular and extracurricular learning as appropriate to their professional development needs, and only 12% of young people consider them inadequate (Youth and Workers’ Guidelines for Work and Care, ANSIT, 2014). Of course, such an accelerated growth in the participation rate of young people in education has been accompanied by negative side effects. One of the worst is the decline in the quality of education, especially the quality of higher education, which is particularly noticeable by a significant reduction in the capacity of university centers to cope with the growing numbers of schoolchildren. Only 16% of young people believed in 2016 that the school responds to the labor market to a large or very large extent (ISE, 2016).

The needs of the target group were identified by all partners in the A0 activity where methods of recruiting the target group members on a fair basis were established, respecting the criterion of equal opportunities without discrimination. The target group of the project will be made up of high school students and students enrolled in high school, postliceal and university education systems in Romania and Ukraine.

The main common need identified both in Romania and Ukraine is to prepare future graduates to meet the demands of the labor market and future employers as they face labor market integration difficulties. The information gathered from entrepreneurs and employment agencies from the targeted areas showed the needs of young people related to entrepreneurship, career steps, business failures, methods of getting money to start an own business..

From the data related to the needs identified by the teachers at the level of the target group, reveals the need for organizing new training courses for the jobs required on the labor market, the development of innovative company-type learning programs and their development at cross-border level, the development of some counseling and professional guidance activities, experience exchanges and relevant entrepreneurship promotion activities to facilitate the transition from school to active life. In this respect, the solutions adopted by this project include: supporting students in developing knowledge to acquire the necessary skills and aptitudes on the labor market through  practice firms specific activities , providing professional counseling and guidance, specific information, ensuring participation in fairs and experience exchanges at cross-border level.

The main issues that will be addressed by the project are: high migration flows among young people; the extremely low level of youth involvement in community life and their insufficient participation in decision-making at all levels; the small number of enterprises initiated and managed by young people out of the total number of SMEs; the redundant educational system in both countries that is not focused on competences and qualifications sought on the labor market; underdeveloped infrastructure support; young people’s access to information resources on economic legislation, financial management, opportunities and investment potential; the discrepancy between the theoretical and practical knowledge of young people in order to meet the economic needs of the two countries; ineffective cross-border cooperation between young people on social, cultural and economic issues; non-existent cross-border cooperation between educational units.

What is the solution proposed by the project to tackle the respective problems?

The objectives and activities of the project support the members of the target group, meeting the specific needs identified in both countries. In establishing the project’s activities, it was taken into account both the current deficit of entrepreneurial competences among pupils and the need to combat and prevent socio-professional marginalization of the target group on the labor market. In the current context of the labor market, young people have the real need for professional training and career training as early as secondary education. The proposed project addresses the theory of inoculation of entrepreneurial spirit and practically since secondary education through the proposed activities. In this respect the target group approached by the project consists of high school students, postliceal school students and students. Exercise training through CBC-FeRoUa platforms is already an integral part of the learning process, thus laying the foundations for developing the knowledge and skills needed to integrate into a modern, flexible, and dynamic labor market. For young people, these training sessions represent a real chance for themselves to acquire and develop, through direct learning, applicative professional skills. Also, training sessions offer the possibility of obtaining a permanent job in the chosen field of study, after completing the studies. For the target group participating in these training stages, besides the benefits of direct learning, theoretical and practical training, the project creates situations where young people have the opportunity to discover and manage their innovative potential by applying the theoretical knowledge acquired within the practice firms in concrete situations, in the field for which the target group is prepared. Consequently, training sessions will help to increase their adaptability to the requirements of the first relevant job. However, in order for the target group to benefit from a comprehensive and complete training for insertion into the labor market, in the context of the current requirements of potential employers, the members of this target group will participate not only in training programs but also in counseling and professional guidance, online, through the e-CPO platform, specific experience exchanges  organized bilaterally. Through professional counseling and guidance, future graduates will be able to become aware of their own resources, skills, abilities and skills, and will be able to get acquainted with the demands of the labor markets. The main advantage of professional counseling and guidance services is the provision of essential information about the “first step route”, the possibilities of career development and the identification of the psychosocial profile. Also, participants in online modules will gain knowledge about the drafting of a Curriculum Vitae or letters of intent adapted to each job application, as well as how they have to prepare themselves and present themselves with a potential employer . The added value of the project is reflected in: – realization of specific activities for setting up the companies and carrying out transactions within them, concretized through organizing and participating in 2 Cross-Border Experience Exchanges of Practice Firms; – innovative courses offering personalized training programs through courses on the labor market in Romania and Ukraine; – increasing the number of participants in real-time business training programs; – Combating inequalities in the labor market by involving people with a difficult situation to programs of learning, information, counseling and professional orientation.

Consequently, the implementation of the project will bring the following benefits for the implementation area and the target group:

For the target areas: increasing the participation of young people in vocational training courses for job seekers, improving cooperation in the educational field between educational units in the cross-border areas, stimulating economic and social development in the area of implementation, limiting the migration of graduates, creating modern generations of entrepreneurs and employees; stimulating the competitiveness of the project area; stimulating the competitiveness of the areas covered by the project; the possibility of creating new jobs and businesses; improving educational infrastructure.

For target groups: Improving access to business information resources, modern counseling and guidance services; developing the spirit of initiative and results-oriented approach to youth; enhancing cooperation and the exchange of knowledge among young people on both sides of the border; facilitating sustainable dialogue and experience exchanges between teachers in both countries.

Partnership and budget

Beneficiary #

Project beneficiary name

Country

Budget per beneficiary [EUR]

1

LUNCAVITA VILLAGE

Romania

120000

2

Izmail State University of Humanities

Ukraine

64000

3

“SF. LUCA” POSTLICEAL SANITARY SCHOOL TULCEA

Romania

80000

4

Youth Public Organization “New Europena Generation”

Ukraine

66000

Implementation period:  10.12.2019 – 09.06.2021

Project context

This project is based on state strategies and action plans in Romania and Ukraine, thus contributing to their implementation at state level.

The necessity of this project is justified in the light of country specific recommendations for Romania from 2014. Thus, Recommendation no. 5 of the COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of July 8, 2014 refers to the need for the Romanian State to ensure “increasing the quality and access to vocational and technical education, apprentices, tertiary education and lifelong learning and adapting them to the needs of the market workforce; to provide better access to education services to all categories of pupils “.

The necessity of this project from the perspective of supporting lifelong learning and increasing the quality of education is justified by the need to support the development of the work skills of the target group through the practice firms and consequently to improve their insertion into the labor market. In the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy, Romania has set a target of 70% employment for 2020. The present project contributes to achieving this by supporting pupils and students in developing the knowledge and skills needed to integrate into the labor market. (http://afacerieuropene.mae.ro/node/490)

In order to promote the development of high quality, flexible and correlated study programs with the labor market requirements, the National Tertiary Education Strategy 2015-2020 recommends strengthening the capacity of tertiary education units to develop and deliver relevant programs for the labor market – ensuring transversal competences but also for developing the necessary skills in the economic sectors with competitive potential identified in the National Qualifications System (http://www.tvet.ro/index.php/ro/harta-site/128.html).

The project focuses on the needs of pupils and students who are an important element in coordinated approaches aimed at ensuring an increased number of graduates leaving the education system with relevant skills. Current generations of young people must be as well prepared for the challenges of learning in higher education and be able to make a well-informed choice about the curricula offered. The National Strategy for Tertiary Education 2015-2020 recommended diversifying the supply of study programs that respond to labor market requirements, including by focusing on non-tertiary education programs, offering a chance for employability, including to high school graduates who do not have passed the baccalaureate exam. In the process of designing and using innovative / attractive study programs, quality teaching staff is an essential prerequisite. Therefore, the interventions supported in the project will also focus on the development of pedagogical and attractiveness of study programs, including through targeted opportunities for staff specialization in pedagogical training and enhanced cross-border cooperation. (http://www.edu.ro/viziune-0)

Among the state strategies and action plans implemented in Ukraine must be mentioned Strategy  for  State  Youth  Policy  Development  for  the  period, which is the main policy document in the field of education (http://pjp-eu.coe.int/documents/1017981/9038134/Ukraine_Country+sheet_2016.pdf/492169a9-0ba0-44ab-ae00-).

The project necessity is justified from the perspective of the general objectives of the program:

– Ensuring the sustainable development of the educational system in order to form an integral, active, social and creative personality – the main factors of the human development and of the socio-economic progress of the country;

-Providing access to quality education for all children and young people by providing a friendly and protective school environment and by consulting pupils, students and parents in the decision-making process;

– Improving the learning outcomes by investing in teaching staff, the educational process and the infrastructure of educational institutions;

-reaching the efficiency of the educational system, expanding and diversifying the educational offer by capitalizing on the opportunities offered by the information and communication technologies;

– the structural and qualitative compatibility of the national education with the European education area.

The project is part of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Romania’s Horizon 2013-2020-2030, including the direction of “deepening youth training for lifelong trains in order to achieve socio-emotional intelligence and the ability to adapt to the competitive labor market ” (http:/strategia.ncsd.ro/docs/sndd-final-ro.pdf).