PCTO projects: functioning and advantages

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In our news "PCTO: synergy between school and company for young people", we have already explained the concept of PCTO (Percorsi per le Competenze Trasversali e l’orientamento lit. Paths for Transversal Skills and Orientation). Furthermore, we have underlined the importance of an interaction between schools and companies, which is essential to create incisive project works for students. Thus, how to do it?

The learning experience of PCTO is efficient when it reaches its principal goal: allowing the student to acquire professional expertise while achieving both personal growth and working skills. Throughout these internships, students have the chance both to put school teachings into practice and put themselves out there concretely in the world of work to understand the career to take up in their future.

How to organise a PCTO project?

An orientation project does not come to be and finish just within a company. At its base, there is structured planning, which includes:

  • The education of both school and company tutors concerning PCTO projects throughout courses held by training institutions;
  • A concrete project for the students, which the company creates in collaboration with the school;
  • The collection of helpful information and the realisation of this project at school with also the support of external trainers;
  • The on-site learning within the company, where the student puts school project into practice while understanding the approach of the company concerning the analysed activities.

In the last months, we have joined a PCTO project in cooperation with Primo Levi High School of Sarezzo and TEM PLUS, which followed the structure listed above. Starting from the information provided by our company and with the guidance of TEM external trainers, students have analysed the market to create a project concerning business internationalisation processes. At the following stage within the company, they have had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of our business while implementing school learnings and participating in internationalisation activities.

Why are PCTO projects so important?

These projects are fundamental because they create value for young people; a participating student explains it:

This project has been an important experience because it has allowed me both to know the work world for the first time while enhancing both interpersonal and job skills. Furthermore, I have also understood better which work course I would like to follow in the future. I have learned to manage many tasks independently and improved my organisational ability. This project has made me even more self-confident in a field which was previously unknown to me.

Furthermore, significant thoughts have arisen from the class discussion, which clarifies how the project does support students:

  • The education on the job provides them with the chance to meet businesses tangibly while understanding better their job skills;
  • Throughout these educational paths, companies can instil the importance of an ethical business approach in the “workers of the future” while showing them the chances of growth - both personal and professional - that the local businesses may offer to young people.
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