Knowledge Exchange Program for the Adriatic School System
KEPASS aims to integrate the Adriatic School systems for a more competitive secondary education and to create opportunities for students’ mobility and for reciprocal recognition of secondary school programs and diplomas, thus contributing to increasing connections between the educational system and the Adriatic labour market. Specifically KEPASS will create a program for students’ mobility at secondary school level. This will give students aged 17/18 the opportunity to attend a school in another Adriatic country for one or more terms, thus being exposed to different cultures, languages and curricula, with an incredible transformational effect in terms of flexibility, intercultural competences, overcoming ethnic prejudices, new skills and languages acquired, ability to operate in different labour markets. In order to participate in the program and thus send and receive students on mobility, a secondary school will need to be “accredited” within the KEPASS system. Only schools offering a real added value to students in terms of education offer, afternoon activities, additional “international modules”, languages, mutual recognition of competences acquired and tutorship to students in mobility will receive accreditation. Accreditation will therefore become a tool for schools to become more attractive and have access to additional funding, while for public authorities it will be an incentive to drive schools towards best practices and continuous improvement. The first group of schools applying for accreditation within the KEPASS program will be assisted in their upgrading efforts by experienced tutors nominated by the project partners. Their principals and teachers will participate in training sessions and workshops which will help them play the role of Pilot schools within the program. Teachers will also be involved in designing common “international modules” to be then added to the ordinary curriculum of each school receiving accreditation in the KEPASS system. The mobility program, launched by the project, will then be supported with ordinary funds for school projects of the partner authorities, which already provide funding for school projects within their institutional activities. A Technical Group and a Decision Makers Committee will define ways to assess the competences acquired by students during mobility and to mutually recognize vocational diplomas in specific sectors of interest (ie tourism). The tools created will have the potential to be extended to a more comprehensive mutual recognition of school credits and diplomas in the Adriatic region. A more integrated Adriatic school system, offering cross cultural and multilingual experiences, rooted in the quality local tradition but open to international European contents and qualifications and able to give mutually recognized qualifications and diplomas, will make the secondary school experience in the Adriatic region more attractive, competitive and useful for access to the labour market.