It’s Students’ Turn to Speak!

It’s Students’ Turn to Speak!

‘Ç’kemi?’ (What’s Up?) is an initiative launched by ‘Skills for Jobs’ in January, where S4J staff members meet online 3 times a week with students from project partner schools. The aim is to get to know these students, any challenges they face, relations with teachers, discuss opportunities to improve their experience in school and apprenticeships, their interests, and future plans. These talks help understand whether VET offer is relevant to its beneficiaries, students, and any needs for changes.

So far, 50 meetings have been held with students randomly selected. We will share some main findings of these conversations, hoping to stimulate reflections.

  • Most students highly appreciate apprenticeships in companies and see them as the strongest point of VET over general education.
  • Several students have moved their apprenticeship to a different business, due to lack of company’s commitment or because they wanted to do something more significant at work.
  • The Development Unit or Career Center and its functions are not recognized by most students. A few of them recognize their existence in the school environment, but have not benefitted from its services.
  • Most students state that online learning is conducted via Whatsapp.
  • Some ICT students wish for an updated ICT curricula.
  • Most students know English and German; the latter mainly because they plan to go to Germany after school.
  • Most students say they would like to have more activities in school, such as competitions, where to express their talent and compete with other students and other schools.
Students during online meetings with S4J team