A European Project for Measuring Employability Skills for Young People

Who are our Guests? Your interest in Measuring and Assessing Soft Skills? Teachers/trainers Managers Policy Makers – local/regional/national/European Academics/researchers Other

WHAT IS THE MASS PROJECT?

MASS Partnership Angus College, Scotland Adult Learning and Employment, Sweden Roc Aventus, Netherlands Bureau Zuidema, Netherlands Second Chance School of Neapolis, Greece Teacher Training Centre Of Bucharest, Romania

WP1 – Project Management WP2 – EQF Mapping WP3 – Preparation and Transfer of Products WP4 – Needs Analysis and Piloting WP6 – Employer Consultation and Piloting WP8 - Website MASS Project – the full picture

A Leonardo da Vinci Transfer of Innovation Project

Unemployed In initial vocational education/training Experiencing disadvantage – – Drug/alcohol abuse – Low literacy skills – Social or emotional problems – At risk of drop out/social exclusion Target Groups

What do you think soft skills should be?

MASS Project Soft Skills

Individualized approach Creation of a safe environment Deliberate development of soft skills What does MASS Methodology Offer?

Online and paper resources Placement of assessment on EQF Website project.orgwww.mass- project.org Dissemination strategy Report of pilot study Employer soft skills report Participation of 49 teachers/trainers Participation of 213 students Project Results, Outcomes & Impacts

Student improvement towards self & soft skills awareness Active participation and evident interest Very good feedback on resources Very good feedback from teachers/trainers on the adaptability of resources and coverage of soft skills needed in vocational education and training Results, Outcomes & Impacts of Pilot

High quality learning and teaching material New approaches Improvements in soft skills and thereby employability skills More enthusiastic trainers and teachers Benefits to Learners & Staff

EU 2020 AND HOW MASS CAN HELP YOUNG PEOPLE INTO EMPLOYMENT...

EU Three key priorities Maintaining employment, creating jobs and promoting mobility Upgrading skills and matching labour market needs Increasing access to employment – Knowledge, skills and competences acquired during initial education and training can help movement into employment and adjustment to change – Vital that adults and young people continue to learn and adapt to change for access to employment and participation in society – Important to make education and training more relevant to work.

Few or no qualifications Low level technical skills Poor soft skills Little self awareness History of failure Low aspirations Bleak future Employability Prospects – a young person’s perspective

Challenging job market Few vacancies Rising unemployment Rise in experienced adults looking for work Poor skills match Attitude of employers Employment prospects

MASS helps link employee to employer through development of soft skills Linking to Employment

Employer Consultation – UK, SW, NL

How do these frameworks enhance our ability to transfer this methodology?

SCQF Level 4 = EQF Level 2

registered users across Europe and beyond

Personal Success Stories?

The Partnership