1st project meeting (Onesti, Romania)

The first project meeting took place in Onesti, Romania, from the 11^th until the 13^th November with the participation of the following project partners:

• Technical College “Petru Poni” (host organization and coordinator).

• Avelar Brotero Secondary School (Portugal).

• Izmir Electronicians' Chamber (Turkey).

• Center of Vocational Training “Aegeas” (Greece).

The following activities took place within the framework of the 1^st project meeting:

• Presentation of the project partners.

• Introduction to the project objectives and activities.

• Definition of each partner’s activities and the period for each project meeting.

• Workshop: Project implementation plan.

• Workshop: Project evaluation plan.

• Workshop: The project’s blog.

• Measuring electrical sizes through direct methods – Classes assistance.

• Debate on the classes’ assistance.

• Study visit to the Gutinas electrical transformer station.

• Workshop (Using an advanced e-learning platform in teaching electrical measurements).

• Workshop-Evaluation of the project meeting.

• Awarding of certificates to the participants.

The following project meeting will be organized in Naples, Italy, in February 2011.

The partners – Center of Vocational Training “Aegeas”

The Center of Vocational Training “Aegeas” (CVT Aegeas) was established in 1993 by a team of experts, in order to provide quality vocational training to various social groups, in an effort to combat unemployment in the Region of Thessaly and provide much needed skills to professionals from various fields.

The goals of the Center are the following:

• Provision of continuous vocational training.

• Application of new and innovative technologies in the field of vocational training.

• Linking occupation and vocational training.

• Fostering and developing close links among businesses, the local society and local authorities.

• Organizing professional seminars for business staff.

• Planning and implementing EU programs on themes such as employment, vocational training and equal opportunities

The Center works on a regular basis with the following target groups:

• Professionals in need of specialized skills.

• Long term unemployed individuals, regardless of educational level.

• Groups of individuals at the risk of being socially excluded, such as single parent families, long term unemployed women, refugees and immigrants, former prisoners, individuals from remote mountainous regions etc.

The main fields of activation and expertise of the Center, are the following:

• Technical occupations.

• Management of natural resources.

• Waste management.

• Sustainable local development.

• Regional development projects.

• Tourism and promotion of alternative types of tourism (eco-tourism, agro-tourism ect).

• Mass media and communication.

• Cultural heritage.

Partners - Izmir Electronicians' Chamber

Izmir Electronicians Chamber is a public entrepreneurs’ association established according to the the Law nr. 5362 “Tradesmen and Artisans Occupational Institutions Law”. The Chamber, IRETO, was established in 1958, in Izmir. Its first name was Radio Repairmen Chamber. The Chamber is still going on activities with more than 1500 members after 52 years.

The chamber acts with the sense and responsibility of its mission in its last 4 year period to struggle against the unfair competitive methods of hypermarkets. The President and Board Members have made contacts and interviews with İzmir Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Handicrafts, Turkish Tradesmen and Handicrafts Confederation, Turkish Electricians and Electronicians Federation and Turkish Ministry of Industry and Trade for this aim, because hypermarkets take place of the handicrafts and have dissolved more than 85 professions in recent decades.

The Social Security and General Health Insurance Law, was published and according to this Law, retired tradesmen and handicrafts who are still working had to pay approximately 200 Turkish liras for social security premium which is equal to % 33 of their salaries. The President of the Chamber Ali Üstün is a public opinion leader in Aegean Region who produced print media and TV programs on this subject.

The Chamber has undertaken interviews with opposite parliamentarians to defeat this Law at Constitution Court with the President of İzmir Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Handicrafts, Mehmet Ali Susam. As a result of these activities, the Constitution Court recognized the claim of our Chambers and rejected this Law. All the tradesmen and handicrafts in İzmir and all over Turkey had an acquisition, so they wouldn’t pay 200 liras from their salaries.

Partners - State Technical Industrial Institute “Alessandro Volta”

The school “Alessandro Volta” was established in 1886 in Naples, Italy, as a municipal technical school under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In 1915 however, it became an industrial institute under the Ministry of Education. It offers 4 educational courses: mechanics, smelter, chemistry and electricians. It is divided in two sections: there is the two year course common to the different courses the students choose for the three year period.

The three year period has different specializations:

• Electronics and automation.

• Informatics.

• Abacus informatics: this one has innovative programs and new didactical methodologies.

The main objective of the school is to train skilled workers and to enhance the products of the industries in Naples.

During the years of its operation the school tried to develop new interventions for teachers throughout updated courses focused on the didactic for foreign students, didactic for problem solving, education focuses on the student and so on. The school also intends to realize projects to develop the competencies of its students, recognized in the wider European labour market.

The partners – Avelar Brotero Secondary School

Escola Secundaria de Avelar Brotero (ESAB) was established in 1884 in Coimbra, Portugal, as an Industrial /Technical Drawing School and it started its teaching activities in 1885.

From 1885 up to 1971 this school gradually turned into a vocational technical and artistic school.

Nowadays, ESAB comprises almost all types of secondary school education:

• General secondary education leading to university level studies.

• Vocational/technical secondary school certifying professional technicians in fields like civil engineering, mechanical engineering, automotive engineering, mechatronics, electrical engineering, electronics, automation and control, refrigeration and air conditioning, solar energy, information technology, computer science etc.

• Education for adults, allowing the certification of secondary level studies through a combination of courses to be taken and recognition and certification of competences already developed through life experience.

The school has around 200 teachers and 2.000 students.

The partners - Technical College "Petru Poni"

The Petru Poni Technical College is a high school, which has been preparing working personnel for the industrial platform of Borzesti for 50 years, but it also additionally educates specialists for top economic and technical domains, for both theory and research. The college takes pride in its graduates,, many of them graduating its classes of foremen or its post high school classes, which are a tradition in the school. The college has vast experience in preparing adults through evening classes, post high school education or foremen classes.

At the same time, the school can boast of a considerable infrastructure, as it is one of the biggest schools of the country. Approximately 1337 students attend the high school and evening classes and all together enjoy the school’s campus. 102 qualified teachers work at the school. 54% of the college’s students come from rural areas and socio-economically disadvantaged families.

Moreover, the college is situated in an economically disadvantaged area, as the industrial platform of Borzesti finds itself in a serious economic recession. This is the reason why a lot of the citizens of Onesti, Romania currently remain unemployed, thus presenting a serious risk of being socially excluded.

The school offers classes with electronic and electronics profiles, in which most of the students come from rural areas and very poor social environments. By involving the students in the project, the school can offer them the chance to acquire the required competencies and make sure that they are not socially excluded.

The project - activities

Project VET ELM- Integration of Innovative Methodologies foe Electrical Measurements proposes an opening to innovation, creativity and diversity for the participants, representing a formal but also a non-formal framework for the education of the European Citizen today, with the purpose of equipping him/her with the skills needed in order to succeed in the particularly demanding labour market. The project wishes to achieve an exchange of good practices in the field of electrical measurements.

Some of the project activities, which will contribute to achieving the project objectives, are the following:

• Exchange of didactic materials among the project partners
• Elaboration of studies regarding measurements methods, including work safety rules
• Implementation of open classes with applicative character
• Realizing of workshops for the use of specialized software
• Implementation of e-lessons
• Realizing of study visits to specialized factories and institutions
• Organizing scientific symposia
• Organizing activities in order to promote the culture of each participating project partner

The project - Objectives

The overall objective of the project is to raise the quality of the professional formation process in the electric and electronics fields by ensuring access to innovative learning methods and professional formation and investing in abilities connected to the use of information and communication technologies.

Some of the specific project objectives include the following:

• To lead to the formation of specialists with superior competences and abilities in the field of electric measurements
• To raise their interest for education and professional formation
• To raise the mobility of the workforce in Europe, by promoting adaptability and flexibility in the labour market
• To ensure a compatible preparation of the students for the countries involved in the project partnership
• To use specific techniques and tools and modern practices in the field of education and professional formation among the project partners
• To develop the abilities of students with respect to self-formation, team work and critical analysis
• To encourage the sharing of ideas and resources among the persons involved in the forming of specialists in the field of electric measurements
• To encourage the development and integration of key skills in vocational training
• To develop relevant abilities for the use of the applications of Information Technology
• To establish new links among between schools, the local communities and any other potentially relevant organization
• To develop the English language and communication skills of the students
• To broaden the students’ cultural horizons in learning more about the countries participating in the project

The project - A brief summary

The project VET ELM – Integration of Innovative Methodologies for Electrical Measurements aims at the implementation of innovative didactic strategies used in the field of electrical measurements, through which it is possible to develop competencies, values and attitudes, which will help the students in the electric and electronics field to adapt to the needs of the labour market and to the dynamics of technological progress.

Through the project, the partners aim at developing superior competences and abilities in the field of electrical measurements for their students, but also general key competences such as utilizing IT skills and working knowledge of languages (mainly English), which should be recognized in the European labour market and which should eventually lead to the increase of the mobility potential of the work force in Europe.

Through the project, the partners also wish to encourage the sharing of ideas, methods and resources among the professionals involved in the forming of experts in the field of electrical measurements.

The funding of the project comes from the Leonardo da Vinci partnership scheme, which falls under the Lifelong Learning Program of the European Commission.