GENERAL INFORMATION

NEW VET AND ECHE LETTER FOR COURSES 2021-2027!

WHAT IS ERASMUS? WHAT DO WE INTEND TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS PROGRAM? 

ERASMUS POLICY STATEMENT 

The IES Valle del Cidacos is an institute located in Calahorra, La Rioja, in the north of Spain. The population of the town is about 24.000 population. The main economic activities are both agriculture and manufacturing sectors. The branches of VET taught at the center are from the health families, business administration and management, Computing, early childhood education, mechanics, as well as others that we hope will be implemented in the future.

By participating in the Erasmus program, our students are expected to carry out internships in EU companies for a period of two or three months. Not only will student internships be carried out in a workplace, but also mobilities of staff for teaching or observation in other institutes in Europe will be carried out.

Our efforts are focused on increasing the number of partners in the E.U.. Until now we have been working with different countries of the EU.: Germany, France, Italy, UK and Romania. We choose our partners so that our students receive quality training, Of course, but there are other aspects that we consider really important as well as: language, accommodation, culture and a global vision of how important it is to have a feeling of belonging to the European Union.

It is also noteworthy that students think about mobility as part of their future career. Now we can move between countries and find a job or study there. This change in mindset is positive, especially now that we can move freely between countries and find work or study within the EU. This is not emigration, it is integration and globalization, And this is the right way to move forward in our lives and it is what we try to instill in them.

We have some personal contacts in the countries mentioned and, in the future, the hope is to manage new ones (Finland, Ireland, Greece, etc.). In this way, These new partners could help us find companies from different sectors to carry out this training in the workplace. In fact, They could help us by welcoming our students and offering them whatever help they need.

We look forward to the same opportunities for our staff. It would be beneficial if teachers could travel to other countries both to learn about their academic order and to work with our colleagues.. These two factors are essential in our work to communicate to our students what the world is like today and to learn about other ways of working and studying different ideas., projects and to get to know the variety of cultures of the U.E. Our institution is prepared to welcome students, as well as teachers and staff.

The expected impacts of our participation in the Erasmus + program with the intention of promoting our institution are: 

1. Increase the number of VET students who carry out mobility. During the last years, there has been a very important growth, which has contributed to training our professionals in different environments, thanks to the mobility of the students. The enthusiasm and commitment of the teachers allowed the program to be launched, and policy makers at European level joined in this type of project. This phenomenon is so outstanding that it deserves to be highlighted:
   • Erasmus is based on the philosophy of the founding fathers of Europe, whose objective was to bring people together to foster a sense of belonging, pool knowledge and create networks.
   • Erasmus is a pioneering program that has been followed by other mobility programs in primary and secondary school, vocational training and adult education.
   • The fundamental work is done and the application works, it's time to speed up the process.
2. Improve the quality and importance of higher education in the U.E. The Erasmus + program promotes and facilitates compliance.
3. Strengthen quality through mobility and cooperation between countries that connect educational frameworks. The general objective of the Erasmus program is to improve the quality of European higher education, improve and enhance the professional prospects of students, promote intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries and contribute to the sustainable development of third countries in the field of higher education.
4. Connect education and business: Thanks to the Erasmus program, students can put into practice all the knowledge acquired in the academic world, that alone are insufficient to acquire the global vision that is the European reality in the business world. This union (education and business) It will open the doors for them to join any labor objective that society currently demands.
5. Improve management and financing: Regarding the management, the involvement of all students is essential, teachers and staff. Regarding financing, it could be very important to increase funding at this time of economic crisis because financial resources are not sufficient to cover expenses.
6. Based on our experiences in previous projects, We believe that in this Erasmus letter our students and staff will have the opportunity to:
   • Enhance the skills and abilities they need to enter the global world of work.
   • Develop your personal autonomy, as well as their language skills and cultural awareness.
   • Increase their professional value by offering them the opportunity to work in other European countries.
   • Intensify their intellectual and emotional ties with the concept of Europe.
   • Increase your interest in going abroad as part of your professional apprenticeship.
   • Respond to the growing need that our companies have to hire personnel with the necessary linguistic knowledge to promote international relations.
   • Promote the creation of links with schools and companies in other countries.

In this sense, It should be noted that our school has welcomed a large number of students from different countries, which have received the necessary attention from qualified and experienced personnel. We also have adequate staff to meet the different requirements of students with disabilities and there is full accessibility to any corner of our center because architectural barriers have been eliminated.

As a whole, This letter will contribute to our institutional objectives because we are a bilingual institution where the feeling of belonging to Europe is extremely important. The main factors that contribute to strengthening our international strategy are civic responsibility, cultural awareness and the use of digital tools that will have a direct impact on our ability to become an international institution.

If you wish, you can download the English version from the following link: Erasmus Policy Statement.

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