Drop In (Erasmus+)

This project has it's own dedicated website at: https://dropinproject.eu/ Please see this website for the latest updates.

• About the Project

  DROP-IN is a timely, youth-led project that has been constructed with objectives that are fully in line with Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership (Youth), while focusing on Early School Leavers (ESLs) and "drop outs", one of the most disadvantaged youth groups in Europe. The strategic partnership includes 4 other partners, namely KMOP (Greece), InEuropa (Italy), CARDET (Cyprus) and The Schottener Foundation Social Services (Romania).

   

  DROP-IN will develop and make available a modern, integrated and holistic e-learning and networking platform, tailor-made to the skills, capacities, earning and development needs of young drop-outs and ESLs across Europe. 

   

  It has its own project website where you can keep up to date: www.dropinproject.eu 



• Project Background

  Early school leaving (ESL) and dropping-out are often seen as the fault of young people. We see them as the results of disengagement towards the formal education system, mistrust in the ability of education for securing future employment and negative learning experiences (e.g. see Ten Steps to Equity in Education, 2008). As a result, certain groups of young people remain without basic qualifications and with low skills, which significantly increases the likelihood of unemployment or precarious work, exacerbated by the effects of the economic recession. In turn, the absence of young people from the labour market is a significant detriment to socio-economic advancements, evidencing on one hand a deficit in youth-related policies and on the other hand ponderous youth civic participation. 

  Throughout Europe, alarmingly high rates of dropping-out / ESL are observed making it more of an EU-wide phenomenon that extends beyond national boundaries. Existing good practices in each partner country will be identified (in addition to those already recorded by the consortium partners) analysed and further exploited by the proposed project, helping the consortium ultimately build an integrated learning curriculum and methodology under an EU perspective that would be easily adaptable to national EU context in order to respond to country-specific learning trends and local labour market needs. This learning will be combined with IARS youth-led model of project design.

   

  This approach has the potential to bring about the elaboration of a complete and effective cross-border capacity-building model, tailored to the needs of the targeted youth group, and consolidate a Pan-European approach in addressing the issue of re-skilling drop-outs and promoting their socio-economic inclusion.



• Theory of Change Model

  Our project is based around a theory of change model that we have created to ensure that the project has a positive impact on early school leavers.

   

  The theory of change model has been constructed using key building blocks to bring about our long-term goal. It is reviewed on a monthly basis throughout the project and is a context for considering the connections between the project mission, strategies and actual outcomes, while creating links between who is being served, the strategies or activities that are being implemented and the desired outcomes. This theory of change is depicted as a "pathway of change framework", a graphical representation of our progress:

   

  
  



• Project Updates

  The project was launched in October 2017 and partners are now working towards developing the curriculum for the online learning platform. Visit the website for more updates. 



• Get Involved

  If you would like to get involved in the programme please contact m.linnala@iars.org.uk



• How it fulfils our Mission

  User and Civic participation is one of IARS’ founding values. The project will develop user-led training with the beneficiaries. What is unique about our evidence-based programme is that young people and ESLs are directly involved in design and delivery of the training. Due to their own lived experience of labour markets in the UK, the young people are experts on the issues that affect them, and the project gives them an opportunity to have their voices heard. 

                                               GRANT agreement: 2017-1-UK01-KA205-035400