Learn to work

Apprenticeships are a particularly successful form of work-based learning which combines company-based training (periods of practical work experience at a workplace) with school-based education (periods of theoretical/practical education in a school or training centre), resulting in a much more practice-oriented way to deliver formal vocational education and training programmes leading to a nationally recognised qualification.

Attentive to what research has been pointing out regarding the potential of apprenticeships to overcome the skills mismatch and tackle youth unemployment, the European Union (EU) has been launching initiatives, such as the European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA), a multi-stakeholder platform to strengthen the quality, supply, image and mobility of apprenticeships in Europe through national commitments and voluntary pledges from stakeholders.

Learntowork.eu is an initiative of the SAPS project funded by the Erasmus+ Support for Policy Reform programme, which aims to:

·        improve the perception of SMEs of the benefits of engaging apprentices from Professional Higher Education (PHE) Institutions;

·        lower the barriers to cooperation between PHE Institutions and SMEs; and

·        establish more regular and structured cooperation between the umbrella organizations for PHE in Europe (EURASHE members) and organizations representing SMEs