DEVELOPMENT UNITS START USING CAREER ORIENTATION TOOLS FOR NEW COMING STUDENTS

DEVELOPMENT UNITS START USING CAREER ORIENTATION TOOLS FOR NEW COMING STUDENTS

What do you want to become when you grow up? This is an everlasting dilemma for all students in the nowadays dynamic labour market.

Many pupils who finish secondary education are not aware of their career interests or informed of the professions that are better fit for their skills set. Even those who enrol in the 10th grade in vocational schools usually are not well-informed of the career opportunities that the chosen direction may offer to them. For this reason, S4J supported vocational schools to develop ‘Career Orientation Tools’, which will allow students to discover in which profession they see themselves in the future.

The tools will enable students to get to know better one’s self, school direction, profiles and related career pathways, in order for students and parents to take informed decisions. Receiving proper career orientation is essential so that students feel more certain regarding their vocational choice, thus influencing in lowering the number of students who drop out.

Before the start of the 2018-2019 academic year, S4J provided training to Development Unit teachers and school psychologists on how to use these tools with their students. During September and October, DU teachers and psychologists of ‘Kolin Gjoka’ school in Lezha and ‘Hamdi Bushati’ school in Shkodra organized a series of career orientation for 486 new-coming 10th grade students, to help them understand better the opportunities offered by each vocational direction and profile. The exercise also started in Tregtare and industrial ‘Pavarësia’ school in Vlora.

An assessment to measure the impact of the career orientation services will be conducted within the first trimester or 2019 by S4J experts and teachers. Based on the results of this process, the Career Guidance tools will be adapted so they can be used in the next academic year in all S4J partner VET providers for students that want to enrol in the VET schools.

Developing clear and relevant content for career guidance is in the project’s focus for the remaining of the phase. We will keep you posted for further updates!