'Resource and Recommendation Guide'
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PALMOS ANALYSIS PFC 18 G Papandreou St. 54645 Thessaloniki Telephone: 2310 555545, Fax: 2310 555549 URL: www.palmosanalysis.com Email: [email protected] ‘Resource and Recommendation Guide’ "ESPY - Experimentation on Social Policy for Youth AWARDING AUTHORITY Regional Development Fund of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Table of Contents 1 ESPY Project - Experimentation on Social Policy for Youth ....................................................... 3 2 "Resource and Recommendation Guide" ................................................................................ 6 3 Literature Review .................................................................................................................. 8 4 School Drop-Out / Early School Abandonment in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace .................. 16 4.1 Research Tools ......................................................................................................................... 16 4.2 Research Results ...................................................................................................................... 19 4.2.1 Secondary data ................................................................................................................. 19 4.2.2 Quantitative study of young people aged 15-25 .............................................................. 35 4.2.3 Qualitative study (focus group) of educators and instructors ......................................... 40 5 Youth Employment and Unemployment in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ........................... 42 5.1 Research Tools ......................................................................................................................... 42 5.2 Research Questions .................................................................................................................. 44 5.3 Research Results ...................................................................................................................... 45 5.3.1 Secondary data ................................................................................................................. 45 5.3.2 Quantitative study of young people aged 15-25 .............................................................. 53 5.3.3 Qualitative study (in-depth interviews) of representatives of institutions dealing with youth employment and unemployment issues in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ......... 75 6 Bodies / Institutions dealing with youth Employment / Unemployment issues in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ......................................................................................................... 80 6.1 Manpower Employment Organization [M.E.O.-OAED]............................................................ 80 6.2 Counselling & Vocational Guidance Centers ............................................................................ 82 6.3 Career Office - Democritus University of Thrace ...................................................................... 84 6.4 Career Office - Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology ................................. 86 6.5 Europe Direct - Xanthi .............................................................................................................. 87 6.6 Europe Direct - Komotini .......................................................................................................... 89 6.7 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit - Democritus University of Thrace .............................. 91 6.8 Institute of Labour of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (INE GSEE) of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ............................................................................................................ 90 7 Recommendations for initiatives on combating youth unemployment and school drop-out... 93 7.1 Increase of Employability and Training of Young People in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace .. 93 7.2 Preventing and Combating Early School Abandonment .......................................................... 96 8 Final conclusions - Recommendations by ESPY Project .......................................................... 98 8.1 Suggestions and Recommendations for combating premature school abandonment in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ............................................................................................... 98 8.2 Suggestions and Recommendations for Combating Youth Unemployment in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace .......................................................................................................... 102 9 Evaluation - Feedback on the" Malaga Experiment" .............................................................105 9.1 Introductory remarks ............................................................................................................. 105 | 1 9.2 Communication and Coordination Improvement between Schools and Social Services ....... 108 9.3 Initiatives Involving the Families ............................................................................................ 110 9.4 Areas of Innovation Spaces for Professionals ........................................................................ 111 9.5 Dual Internship System .......................................................................................................... 112 9.5.1 Dual internship system interventions ............................................................................ 112 9.5.2 The dimension of intervention sector selection............................................................. 117 9.6 Capacity Building Pathways .................................................................................................. 119 9.7 Training in Management, Management Practices and Marketing and Business Support Service Initiatives for Youth................................................................................................... 120 9.8 "Work Experience" ................................................................................................................ 122 9.9 Job Club ................................................................................................................................. 124 9.10 Participation Workshops ....................................................................................................... 125 9.11 “Optimistic Youth” Meeting .................................................................................................. 127 9.12 Training and communication 2.0: Acquaintance with social networks for training and employment .......................................................................................................................... 128 9.13 Evaluating Elements of the " Malaga Experiment" .............................................................. 130 9.14 Some concluding remarks ..................................................................................................... 134 | 2 1 ESPY Project – Experimentation on Social Policy for Youth The main objective of ESPY project is to develop, test, disseminate and implement pilot innovative actions concerning employability of young people, with a view to reducing youth unemployment and social exclusion, in particular of young people living in rural, remote and underprivileged areas. To this end, the Project will be following a holistic approach aiming at adopting new social programmes and policies. The specific objectives are summarized as follows: Consolidating a multidimensional and holistic approach between the project partners, regarding Social and Educational Policy as well as Employment and Young people. Establishment of local councils by local authorities (social partners, non- governmental organizations, representatives of civil society, beneficiary groups, etc.) so as to combat youth unemployment through their participation in various actions that include representatives of both sexes. Promoting innovative and creative measures to tackle the rising youth unemployment rates, so that young people be fully informed about the new social challenges. Implementing and evaluating small interventions that are to be developed in rural areas of Malaga (Spain) in collaboration with local authorities, with the view to improving the social and employment situation of young people 15 to 24 years old. Ensuring mutual training, dissemination and capitalization on results at a transnational level, as well as replicating successful models in the regions of the other EU partners. | 3 Promoting the exchange of experiences and know-how for assessing the project impact on a national level. Creating social policy recommendations regarding the successful experiences gained through the project and their adaptation to new strategic policies for Youth Opportunities. The project is structured in five individual Work Packages (WP). The first Work Packages focus on the implementation and testing of a small-scale social experiment, which primarily focuses on the testing of a social model. This model focuses on three levels of intervention: training, employment and an innovative methodology on the socio-educational development of young people. WP3 focuses on the evaluation of the social experiment, conducted by the County Council of Malaga along with the University of Malaga, by the other project partners, while WP4 focuses on capitalizing the feedback results among the partners in order to inform the stakeholders at a regional level. WP5 is about communication and dissemination of the project actions and results. The following