Deelnemers Leonardo da Vinci-programma vragen Commissie om uitbreiding aantal stageplaatsen in EU (en)

Five participants of the Leonardo da Vinci programme visited the Directorate-General for Education and Culture in Brussels at the end of March. They brought forward the demand that more should be done to offer training placements to apprentices and vocational students in Europe.

The young people were straightforward in their demands: "The EU supports only 6% of the trainees, but 20% of the students - that's not fair! We need more mobility, and it must not stop at Europe's borders", said the five, who travelled together with their project supervisors from Bremen, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt to Brussels. The group also called for the recognition of vocational qualifications throughout Europe.

But the Leonardo trainees also gave praise: their time abroad made it possible to attain work and personal experiences in enterprises in Finland, Hungary and the Netherlands. That has tremendously enriched both their training pathways and themselves.

Good preparation and immediate support was key for the learning success of the trainees. However, the group criticized the heavy paper work they had to go through when applying for the project and the poorly performing databases.

The young people are active "ambassadors" in their vocational training schools. "Grab the chance - vocational training is international" and "Learn a new language - being in the country is the best way to do it"are some of the key messages, with which they try to motivate other young people to train abroad.

Next step: the five young people will meet a German member of the European Parliament in order to further emphasize their demands.