The European Commission visits the Basque Country to learn about the Basque VT model

European Commission representatives are currently in the Basque Country to learn about the main features of its vocational training (VT) system. Headed by Joao Santos, the European Commission's Vocational Training Head of Unit - attached to the Directorate General for Employment -, the working group is made up of Community officials, along with members of 14 European States, with training for employment policymakers from Finland, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Lithuania, Estonia and the United Kingdom, among others.

This morning, the delegation was welcomed by the Basque Government's Deputy Minister for Vocational Training, Jorge Arévalo, at the Tknika premises. The Deputy Minister and the European representatives spent the morning holding roundtables and sessions to exchange views on vocational training. One significant point in these sessions, and which sparked the interest of Europe in terms of the Basque VT model, is the way that the Basque model is responding to the needs of the companies - particularly SMEs - in the field of innovation. The work by the Basque institutes to foster the entrepreneurial culture and create start-ups in the VT centres themselves, and the introduction of new learning and teaching methodologies in the classrooms were likewise showcased.

The afternoon session will be more hands on. The Community delegation will visit in situ the classrooms that implement the innovative network-based collaborative learning methodology. This methodological change, which even embraces a new layout of the physical facilities, seeks to incorporate new contexts to the classroom that allow the professional skills of the students to be better developed in their learning process (both cross-cutting and technical skills). The European representatives will also learn about how the Basque VT is working in the areas of robotics and manufacturing using 3D printers.