Batxillerat, Formació Professional, Cicles Formatius, Administració a Barcelona.

These are non-occupational programmes for secondary education students in companies with agreements near those centres where they study. These programmes are based on a collaborative agreement between the school and the company.
These apprenticeships are part of the educational (curricular) programme of these courses.

What do they represent for the student?

They provide knowledge about the employment market and about the company.

• Possibility of coming into contact with advanced technology.
• Completing their vocational training in order to be qualified to find a job.
• Obtaining training that is adapted to specific work centres.
• Being able to assimilate business culture.
• Experience in the employment market as a step toward a first job.
• Embarking on their professional career through the apprenticeship notebook.
• They allow students participating in training courses to obtain the Training credit in a company.

What do they offer the company?

The opportunity to obtain future specialised operators.

• Collaboration in the training of young apprentices.
• Offering young people access to their first job.
• Relating to educational centres.
• No remunerated services or employment contract involved.

What is a collaborative agreement for training in work centres?

This is an official agreement signed between the school and the company to allow students who have studied compulsory secondary education to work as apprentices, without receiving a salary, in order to complete their theoretical training.

Legislation

ORDER ENS/193/2002 of 5 June 2002, regulating practical training in work centres and collaborative agreements with companies and organisations (DOGC number 3657, of 14.06.2002).

How is the agreement established?

Once the terms have been established by the school and the company, it is necessary to complete and sign the official agreement form provided by the school. This agreement must be authorised by the School-Enterprise Relations Service of the General Vocational Training Directorate.  Each party involved keeps a copy of the authorised agreement.

Duration of the apprenticeships

The duration of the apprenticeships in work centres will be established in the training course curriculum and ranges from 300 to 700 hours, organised in intervals of 4 hours a day and 20 a week, if combining the apprenticeship with work in the centre or 7 hours a day up to a maximum of 35 a week, if carried out on an intensive basis.

It is possible to obtain extensions in accordance with the terms of article 4.2. of the referred order, in the “Legislation” section.

Students who can participate in these apprenticeships

All students registered for and studying mid-level and higher-level vocational training courses, training in Plastic Arts and Design and upper secondary education in any of the fields.

Schools and companies which can be part of apprenticeship agreements

• All public or private secondary education centres and art schools in Catalonia.
• All companies, professionals and organisations that are members of a chamber of commerce or a business group and have signed a collaborative framework agreement with the Education Department.

Control and monitoring of practical training in work centres

In the school

• A follow-up commission formed by parents, students and teachers.
  The vocational training coordinator.
• The vocational training tutors.

In the company

• A person (company tutor) responsible for monitoring the Plan of activities to be carried out by the student in the company, together with the vocational training coordinator or vocational training officer in the educational centre.

At government level

• The School-Enterprise Relations Service which is responsible for authorising the agreements and providing the necessary support for monitoring these apprenticeships.

Apprenticeship notebook

The notebook given by the school to the student and which must be carried by the student during the entire period of the apprenticeship includes the information about the school, the company and the student. Furthermore it includes information about the registration certificates, timetables, duration and attendance as well as the Plan of Activities, fortnightly reports and appraisal of the apprenticeship of the student in the company. The student keeps this notebook and when the apprenticeship is completed, it serves as a record of the student’s first experience working in a company.

Results obtained

Since this programme was started, 475,324 vocational training students have worked as apprentices in 213,531 companies in Catalonia.

Thanks to this 70% of students in vocational training courses were able to find jobs.