SKILLS+
YEAR: 2018 - 2021
INTERNATIONAL
PARTNERS:
National Training Centre (NTC) (BG), LUV (SL), Euroface Consulting s.r.o. (TSJ), New Service srl (IT), Fundacion Siglo22 ( SP), JKVG (BL), INSTITUTE IED (GR), DANTE (KR), NTSO (TU), Stichting kennis centrum Pro Work (NL)
MOTIVATION:
In many countries, organisations need to comply with established quotas and must employ people with a disability. In the Netherlands for example, the Participation Law is introduced in 2015, but it seems to be difficult to reach the targets stated in this law. Next to that, the Council of Europe created an Action Plan (2006-2015) to promote the rights and participation of people with disabilities in society. The EU has adopted the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020. But people with disabilities still face many difficulties in finding jobs, due to negative stereotypes, which make the labour market reluctant in employing such people.
PURPOSE:
The SKILLS+ project supports the goals of these political priorities, and addresses some of the key issues leading to what is, in effect, an open discrimination. To realize this, we want to:
• To improve the knowledge and basic skills training of disabled people and provide them with the skills to enter the open labour market; skill assessment must become fully transparent by use of a INGOTS certificate, which is awarded by ECVET to allow flexibility on the job. People with a labour disability have many skills, but are often poorly certified or not certified at all, due to early school leaving or other social and medical reasons. This enlarges the gap with the labour market, whereas ECVET-compliant and EQF-referenced certification increases the chances on the labour market.
• To increase the number of working people with a labour disability on the sheltered market by exchanging and sharing knowledge on methods and strategies on a larger scale in EU, preparing these people for the open labour market. This concerns skills training, and connecting and motivating employers.
RESULTS:
• Expansion of opportunities for participants with a labour disability (increase hard/soft skills) to get better access the labour market instead of working in a protected area like a sheltered workshop, because they have shown that they are competent in real work based work requested by the SME’s, thus the labour market.
• Increased cooperation between labour market and the Sheltered Workshops
• Growing usage of competence based methods/competitions of assessment in VET. The project will enable sharing good practice among the different European countries. One example of ECVET compliant assessment method will be presented and used
• A diversity management handbook, which includes a guidance for SME’s and other interested organisations for the so-called “Corporate Social Responsibility”. By including this kind of entrepreneurship in their policy, support and awareness is created throughout the organization with regard to the added value with regard to including this target group in the SME’s. Cooperation’s must realize that there are opportunities to build a diverse employee population and to make use of all possible talents that are available in a society. The group of people with an (labour) occupational disability is so diverse that there are possibilities within every organization.