The main goal of the project, which is being developed and implemented by Bauersachs Foundation under the Plovdiv Municipality youth program, is to help children and parents in choosing a profession, by implementing a program for early career orientation and motivation. The program will be pilot implemented until December 31, 2018 in selected primary schools in the city.
Activities include holding meetings and providing parents and teachers with full information about regional industry trends and professional development opportunities. Within the framework of the program, students from VI and VII grades will have the opportunity to learn about the process of creating some of the most popular products in our everyday life, visiting established production enterprises in the Plovdiv region. They will also be able to learn how occupations will develop and what the role of people will be in highly automated and modern factories. The project also includes building sustainable partnerships and communication channels between employers and educational institutions.
Within the framework of the program, a study of the future trends of the labor market has already been conducted, the results of which unequivocally show that the industry in Plovdiv offers increasingly attractive conditions for career development. Plovdiv is establishing itself as a technological industrial center where companies offer professional training and opportunities for career growth in sectors with high added value. The processing industry creates more than half of the output in the economy of the Plovdiv region and one third of the jobs. For the last five years, the average annual growth of wages in the industry was 9.1%. In sectors such as machinery and equipment manufacturing, they are 48% higher than the regional average.
Over BGN 500 million are the purchases of durable tangible assets in industry in the last year for which data is available. These are mainly purchases of modern machines and implementation of new technologies that automate part of the activities, improve working conditions and allow enterprises to train new employees qualitatively and in shorter terms.
Interest in dual education is increasing. The number of open dual classes is growing, which will increase by another 6 in the new school year. Businesses are already openly expressing their willingness to support the educational process, showing interest in offering internships, organizing career orientation, delivering lessons “on site”, providing support in developing curricula and modernizing the educational process.