"Apprenticeships at Rybnik TYGIEL as a chance to appear at the European labour market" – the project implemented by the Group of Technical Schools in Rybnik within the framework of the Erasmus+ programme, sector Vocational Education and Training, Action 1. Educational Mobility (ContractNo. 2019-1-PL01- KA102-062656) is just coming to an end....

From 01.10.2019 to 30.09.2022 students from Rybnik TYGIEL studying within specialisations:

• IT technician,
• freight forwarding technician,
• renewable energy devices
• systems technician,
• motor vehicle technician,
• automation technician,
• mechatronics technician

went on month-long apprenticeships to European Union countries. The project was originally planned to last 24 months, but was extended for another year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first mobility was a month-long internship in Lisbon, Portugal. Eight future shipping technicians and eight renewable energy equipment and systems technicians travelled to the Portuguese capital on February 16, 2020 to gain their first work experience at Brico Depot and CINEL - Centro de Formação Profissional da Indústria Electrónica, Energia, Telecomunicações e Tecnologias da Informação. The students also improved their English, learned about Portuguese culture, monuments and customs. Here's how the future RES specialists recall their time there:

The month spent in the Portuguese capital was an amazing experience for us: we got to know the Cinel company, where every day, except Saturdays and Sundays and the Carnival holiday, we participated in classes devoted to the installation of photovoltaic panels, and learned how to design photovoltaic installations on different surfaces. Our tutor was amazing... We were sad to part with him.

In addition to the internship, we also had the opportunity to learn about the amazing sites and monuments of Portugal, taste Portuguese cuisine, and even participated in a soccer match: Benfica-Lisbon versus Shakhtar-Donetsk. It was an unforgettable time for us. We are glad to have made it home just before the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, our apprentices returned from Portugal on the last plane, March 14, 2020. The next day the lockdown began...

The second group's trip for overseas internships was scheduled for April/May 2020.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this mobility did not take place, and the students recruited to participate in the  internships in Grenada, Spain, unfortunately remained at home. They carried out the month-long internship in the form of an educational project. A similar fate met another group of students recruited for this mobility – sixteen  IT specialists –  October 2020, remote learning began again and strictures made it impossible to go on foreign internships.

Hope emerged in May 2021, when we gradually began to return to full-time learning.

At that time, the students were recruited for the third time to go to Spain, but this time not to Granada, but to Seville, due to the need to change the partner organization. This time the trip was successfully organized! Among those participating in the internships were students from the 3iG class. Internships in Seville lasted from 13.09 to 8.10.2021. Some students created store websites as webmasters, while others did computer hardware diagnostics and repair. All were very satisfied with their work.

The site of the next mobility was again Lisbon, Portugal. Here, in turn, future motor vehicle technicians and shipping technicians from 18.10.2021 to 12.11.2021 had the opportunity to work in car repair shops belonging to MForce and at Brico Depot. The boys and girls were very satisfied with the internship sites. In the garages, they did all the work that was scheduled for the day, for example, seasonal inspections including changing the oil in the engine, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, tire service – replacement, wheel balancing, repairs related to electrical equipment such as alternator, starter, repairs and inspections of motor vehicle lighting, repairs related to the suspension system. Forwarders, on the other hand, were involved in sorting goods, arranging them, and describing them.

The fourth mobility for foreign internships was scheduled in Malaga, Spain. Here a group of five boys: 2 automation engineers and 3 mechatronics engineers, on 25.04.2022 - 20.05.2022 served internships at companies engaged in electric bicycle rental and repair. The apprentices applied their knowledge of automation and mechatronics during the internship, diagnosing the electronic controllers that control the operation of the entire bicycle and charging the lithium-ion batteries. They also engaged in customer service, improving their Spanish and English, developing key competencies.

Is it worth to organize internships abroad? Is it worth applying for funding for this very purpose? The answer is clear: of course it is. The vast majority of participants in foreign internships unanimously say that they have developed primarily practical skills, but not only. Crucible students also demonstrated entrepreneurship, awareness of preferred learning styles, and technical and scientific knowledge.

Our foreign project partners – employees of the intermediary company Casa da Educação in Lisbon and Escuela de Idiomas Carlos V in Seville, Spain and Malaga, as well as employers unanimously stressed that the ZST apprentices are doing a great job. Teachers-tutors listened with pride to the very positive feedback. Our students were praised for punctuality, reliability in performing tasks and high personal culture.

In addition to professional skills: theoretical and practical, the participants of the foreign apprenticeship also developed their linguistic competence – they used their knowledge of English in practice and learned Portuguese and Spanish. An added value is also learning about the culture of the countries where they stayed for a whole month. Students and teachers visited the sights of the cities where they lived, but also took part in excursions to other interesting places in Portugal and Spain. They had the opportunity to taste typical Portuguese and Spanish cuisine, and even – to cheer on the Lisbon football team – Benfica.

The project "Apprenticeship in the Rybnik TYGIEL as a chance to appear on  the European labour market" ends on 30.09.2022. Due to the pandemic, its implementation period has been extended by 12 months. It is a very good thing that this has happened, because all the planned mobilities have been completed. Thanks to them, 53 students received support in the form of preparatory courses in the language of the mobility country, vocational English and classes with a psychologist and a career advisor. Support was also provided for travel costs, accommodation and meals, city transport costs, excursions budgeted by the sending organisation and intermediary organisation. The remaining amount from individual support and travel costs was paid to the participants as 'pocket money'.

Each student also received certificates confirming the placement abroad and a Europass placements abroad and a Europass Mobility document. The implementation of overseas apprenticeship as part of the aforementioned project is coming to an end. But really, does all good things come to an end quickly? Well, no!

TYGIEL students have the chance to take part in further mobilities to European countries, where they will gain or polish their professional skills. The accreditation obtained by ZST from Rybnik in 2020 in the Vocational Education and Training sector of the Erasmus+ programme gives the school the possibility of simplified fundraising for the organisation of foreign internships for students and job shadowing for teachers for the next seven years. There is nothing left to do but to become a student of ZST in Rybnik and, after three years of schooling, take part in the recruitment for foreign internships.