“Palmeros in Europe 2017” was an Erasmus+ “Higher education student and staff mobility within programme countries” project, whose beneficiary institution is IES Virgen de Las Nieves, that took place between the 1st of July 2017 and the 30th of June 2019.
IES Virgen de Las Nieves is a state school, certified in the standard ISO 9001 and with the ECHE charter, which teaches:
- VET of eight professional groups: Physical and Sporting Activities, Administration and Management, Agriculture, Commerce and Marketing, Electricity and Electronics, Hotel Industry and Tourism, Health and Transport and Maintenance of Vehicles.
- Intermediate Special Regime Sports Education: Rescue and Lifesaving, Football and Sailing.
The educational offer includes training courses of Initial Level VET and Adapted VET Cycles (ISCED2), Intermediate Level VET Cycles (ISCED3), Intermediate Special Regime Sports Education (ISCED3) and Higher Level VET Cycles (ISCED5).
It is located on La Palma, one of the non-capital islands of the Canary Islands Archipelago, from where access to the mainland and other places in Europe is quite complicated. The majority of the students, who come from all the municipalities of the island, belong to families that work in the sectors of agriculture and services or who are in a situation of unemployment.
This project has taken place with the aim of permitting students of the VET cycles at IES Virgen de Las Nieves to take part in the stated projects in the Erasmus+ programs. The actions taken had the aim of achieving the following goals, coherent with the Erasmus Policy Statement of the beneficiary institution:
· To get a better understanding of the European project and of the values of the European Union.
· To compliment professional skills through experiences taking place in centres that have a different style of training, manufacturing and approach to business.
· To improve foreign languages.
· To learn about other cultures and to become more independent, mature, to gain confidence and to encourage ambition.
This project gave grants to 22 participants:
- 21 students, 1 of Initial Level VET Cycles, 2 of Intermediate Special Regime Sports Education and 18 of Intermediate Level VET Cycles. They all did student mobilities for traineeships in between Programme Countries: Latvia, The Netherlands and Portugal.
- 1 teacher that acted as companion for the group of students with less experience.
The participants were chosen through a transparent and rigorous selection process, and they were prepared to take on the responsibilities of the proposed activities.
In the long-term, the project will have an impact upon the development of the island of La Palma, as the participants have been able to share, on the island’s business sector, the knowledge and experience she acquired in their mobilities.
The media and diffusion process during the entirety of the project have allowed for raising awareness with respect to the Erasmus+ program, also for encouraging future participants.
