| Project: | Youth Maker Club (YMC) |
| Term: | 01 September 2021 – 31 August 2024 |
| Budget: | EUR 431,326 |
| Donor: | LED Liechtenstein Development Service |
| Goal: | Enhanced tech skills and increased awareness about career paths in Maker/tech industry among YMC participants. Increased employment rate of VET graduates in Moldova. |
Outputs:
- Shared infrastructure is created to foster and to promote a community of tech enthusiasts to boost applicability of latest trends in innovation, such as prototyping, product design, etc.
- Improved non-formal tech vocational education and training for VET students through YMCs activities
- YMC and private sector partnerships are established to enrich the VET non-formal educational offer with evolving technologies
Description of the project
The project, targeting the VET students, will contribute to development of creativity, spirit of innovation, critical thinking, problem analysis, finding of solution and other important skills, highly accounted nowadays by labor market.
Within the project will be established Maker communities among VET students from 3 localities: Chisinau, Balti and Cahul, so there is space for all to join and, with the support and guidance of mentors, the young people can develop new maker/tech projects, products, express their creativity and novelty in different areas of daily life, using evolving technologies.
The YMC workshops, local and national makeathons, camps will diversify skillset of VET students with the in-demand ones – tech skills, highly required by companies, which use different technologies in their production process. This will contribute to formation of new generation of young professional, who are able to come up with solutions and innovations in tech and non-tech related processes.
Under the project will be carried out several orientation sessions, meetups with private companies’ representatives and promotion campaigns to achieve higher number of VET students informed about different career paths in the Maker/tech industry, which can be followed, requirements of the companies, looking for employees, and how they can easily be integrated in the new working conditions. This will contribute to conscious selection of potential employers and of skillsets to be developed and will contribute to a better insertion of VET graduates in the labour market.
Implementation of the above initiatives will lead to the diversification of the VET non-formal education through innovative, tech YMC learning opportunities. Due to the acquisition of competitive, relevant in-demand skills and to an increased understanding of the job prospects in the Maker/tech industry, YMC projects may contribute to the improvement of VET graduates’ employability perspectives.
The version in RO can be downloaded here.
2019 Results:
- Creation of pool of mentors for activities with VET students.
- 10 orientation sessions in VET schools in Chisinau about opportunities to develop tech and digital skills.
- Open Doors at Fablab – presentation of workshops within Youth Maker Club (over 30 students attended).
- 40 Workshops on 3D printing and modeling, Raspberry Pi, Arduino and woodworking have been organized, in which participated over 45 students.
- Meetup with professionals on November 30.
- 1st Makeathon for 21 students on December 14.