Includ-ed, red europea de educación inclusiva

The Union of Vocational Students of Finland (SAKKI) was organizing Next Step fair on 30th and 3th of January, 2013, in congress and trade fair centre Paviljonki in Jyväskylä. This job and education fair was primarily focused on students finishing their primary education studies and studying on secondary education institutions. The Next Step fair was held for the 24. time this year, it had 13,700 visitors. SAKKI Association is a lobbying organization for vocational students, founded in 1987 to defend their interests. It’s a significant part of society, which activities reach to all the way up to international level. In addition to influencing at the national level this organization is educating, informing, and organizing a variety of events and activities. The organization has almost 100 000 members.

At the fair were important issues that may be familiar in studying and working life even day after tomorrow. The main theme of the fair was that flexible learning paths should meet the flexible work life. How can companies are best able to reach out to young people in the open labor market. How can young people combine studying and work as individual solutions for different life situations? Working life and learning should not be not something you must do, but a creative opportunity to find your own way.

Next Step Fair presented different educational opportunities, jobs, and leisure-time in a wide Finnish scale. There were nearly 90 exhibitors at the fair, including representatives of secondary education and adult education institutions, as well as representatives of higher education institutions, employers, labor organizations, public authorities and non-governmental organizations. This year at the fair there was an exceptionally broad number of visitors from European student organizations, who wanted information about the Finnish educational system.

Students and professionals from different fields presented their expertise trough work demonstrations and various performances. The Union of Vocational Students of Finland presented its tutor training at the fair. By the tutor training students are trained to work as tutors.  One-day training topics include operational criteria and objectives, tutors make group work, prepare the annual calendar and other activities for students and their own institutions to make studying there more enjoyable. Tutors become also more prepared to hold demonstrations, for example about their own training field. The duration of training is about six hours.

The objective of tutor training and tutor activity for educational institution is to help consulting students, increasing comfort and sense of community, reducing dropout rates, committing new students and marketing institution and its educational sectors. An effective tutor activity is a truly significant impact on reducing dropout and increasing educational comfort.