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project info
Start date: 1 April 2025
End date: 31 July 2027
funding
Fund: European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)
Total budget: 247 199,64 €
EU contribution: 203 989,14 € (82,52%)
programme
Programming period: 2021-2027
European Commission Topic
European Commission Topic

‘Social dialogue in youth education’ – development of curricula and educational pathways for secondary schools.

The proposed actions are a continuation of the cooperation between the Applicant and the Partner in the field of education on social dialogue undertaken as part of the completed ETUC project "Time 4 Quality Jobs", which aimed at analysing the situation of young people on the labour market in EU countries, developing recommendations for improving the quality of youth employment, raising their awareness of labour rights and their protection, including in particular the preparation of postulates regarding the necessary changes in the curriculum base of education for schools, extending the scope of teaching to include labor rights and the practical functioning of the labour market. Recommendations prepared for Poland, including proposals to supplement the core curriculum with content related to work issues, were submitted to the Ministry of National Education in March 2024. Young Polish women and young Poles face the challenges of the labour market, which affect their life stability and development prospects. These include youth unemployment, which, despite the general downward trend, still needs attention (the unemployment rate in PL in total 2.7%, among people up to 25 years of age). 8.6% -data VI 2022, Eurostat); difficulties in finding a stable job, especially without professional experience or education; lower earnings of young people than older colleagues in similar positions (Generation Z - born after 1996 - earns the least) (‘Generations on the labour market 2022 Grafton Recruitment’); women's disadvantage - the pay gap between K and M in PL is 4.5, in EU countries 12.7 (Eurostat SDG_05_20, 2023). Employment insecurity and financial instability make it difficult to plan for the future. In many cases, young people are forced to accept contracts on worse terms that do not provide social benefits or career prospects, which further leads to a loss of motivation to develop. Only 35% of respondents aged 18-24 feel prepared to enter the labour market (Study ‘Generation Z at work’, III.2024, ARC Rynek i Opinion na zlec.Pracuj.pl). In Poland, there are a number of unfavourable phenomena experienced by employees, e.g. pushing them to garbage contracts, undeclared work, ill-treatment, lack of social dialogue or obstruction of trade union activity. Young people are often confronted with prejudices and stereotypes from employers, who may perceive them as unstable or incapable of engagement. Young people have little knowledge of social dialogue, its institutions, workers' rights and obligations, job security or the labour market as such. The way to overcome the above-mentioned problems is, among others, to supplement the educational path that young people go through before taking up their first employment. They need information about the consequences of taking up different forms of employment, the relationship between workers' rights and human rights, the importance of the role of social organisations, including trade unions, and the protection of workers' rights. In addition, there is a need to include in education the content of the need to develop social dialogue. It is necessary to provide opportunities to improve teachers' skills in teaching these issues and their cooperation with, for example, trade unions or PIP. In connection with the existing recommendations of NSZZ "Solidarność", the National Commission and the National Secretariat of Science and Education decided to prepare this project, lasting 28 months (KD2), where a curriculum for secondary schools with educational paths will be developed, to be implemented in the course of existing subjects or as additional classes. The programme will be piloted to verify its assumptions and complement it with lessons learnt. Five trade union trainers will be prepared to teach teachers about social dialogue. Next, 5 trainings for 90 teachers will be carried out in the field of conducting lessons in accordance with the developed program. It is also planned to carry out a campaign to publicize the introduction of the program to schools. C.d. see justification under budget

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