Under RA 10. 6, and under the above mentioned Lines 10.3 and 10.7, the following actions have been indicatively selected from those indicated in the Partnership Agreement:

Line 10.3

• Action: 10.6.2 Professional training actions connected with the needs of local production systems, and in particular the strengthening of Higher Technical Education & Training (IFTS), and technical professional centres in a logic of integration and continuity with initial vocational education and training and in close connection with the needs expressed by the production fabric;
   
• Action: 10.6.6 Internships/traineeships (also in other countries), alternating courses and laboratory actions.

Line 10. 7

• Action: 10.6.4 Qualifying interventions for the improvement of the training offer aimed at the development of transversal skills and competences for employment: entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial spirit, etc;
   
• Action: 10.6.11 Construction of the National Directory of qualifications and professional qualifications connected to the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and implementation of the national public system of certification of competences with the development and/or improvement of guidance services and validation and certification of learning outcomes achieved even in non-formal and informal contexts.

With reference to Line 10.3, the actions to be implemented aim to respond to identified training needs expressed by the production system, through the creation of territorial networks involving the education, training, university and business systems, as well as employment services. The strong link between a renewed system of higher technical education and training and the productive world is considered an essential element for the sustainable development of the regional territory. This is for the creation of a training chain capable of confronting and interacting with stakeholders and of identifying the opportunities that the productive sectors can offer, grasping their needs in terms of acquisition of skills and work orientation. Therefore, the realization of Higher Technical Education & Training (IFTS) and Professional Technical Poles paths will be promoted: they represent a model of intervention that integrates education, training, work, research, innovation and technology transfer in strategic sectors in the territory. Specifically, the technical-professional clusters are configured as organizational structures, thanks to which the various subjects owning the training activities, in network with each other, can share models and methodologies that take into account the educational paths, the needs of companies, the indications on the acquisition and certification of skills.

In addition, training and guidance placements, which will be part of a formal education or training pathway, and transnational placements, may be promoted: both types are aimed at encouraging the transition from school to work through training in direct contact with the world of work, to develop in children the essential knowledge and, together, awareness of their attitudes, skills and potential, through internship and work experience, including abroad, to guide, motivate and accompany young people in their choices of study and work. These are, in particular for internship activities abroad, actions already successfully tested in the framework of the 2007/13 European Social Fund (ESF) programming.

With reference to Line 10.7 System actions, the Region intends to invest in interventions aimed at consolidating the system of integrated regional training, through the strengthening of the training offer and technical and professional education. In line with the recent reorganization of the system of higher education and training and tertiary training, also following the instructions given by the European Union, the reorganization of technical vocational training helps to strengthen regional action, in order to overcome the fragmentation and precariousness of interventions. In this perspective, since 2010, the first 3 Higher Technical Institutes of Puglia have been set up in the technological areas of particular strategic importance for Puglia (mechanic-mechatronics, food farming, aerospace) and the new strategic sectors in which to invest in terms of specialist technical training have been identified within the last three-year programme. The main levers of regional development in the near future are considered to be tourism, transport and logistics, energy regeneration and technological innovation sectors, which appear to be essential for the construction of new economies and businesses, especially the young ones. It is therefore in these areas that the Region intends to strengthen the training offer, consisting of technical courses, which accompany basic teaching, for the development of skills and basic abilities, which can facilitate the transition into the world of work at the end of the training. In particular, the aim is to develop the propensity to entrepreneurship and the spirit of enterprise, also through the continuation of experiments already successfully, carried out during the 2007-2013 programming cycle. The actions may concern the training of trainers, the consolidation of studies aimed at detecting the needs expressed by the business system and the sustainability of new business initiatives, study actions dedicated to governing the processes of change, the support of organizations in the training system, etc.

Furthermore, in the context of reforms to strengthen the supply of technical and vocational education and training in connection with the world of work, implemented in recent years, a central role is played by the certification of skills. In accordance with the European and national strategies, the Apulia Region intends to continue along the path of strengthening the policies of lifelong learning, already adopted during the 2007-2013 programming period. All this, in order to guarantee all citizens better conditions of access to training and learning opportunities at any time of life, of participation in the labour market, of improvement in the level of employability and professional mobility.

Therefore, the necessary actions for the implementation of the Directory of Qualifications will be carried out, also with the aim of allowing its interoperability throughout the national territory.

Main target groups: students with lower and upper secondary school diploma; apprentices ex art. 5, D. Lgs. 167/ 2011.

Indicative type of beneficiaries: Region, Companies, Training Organisms, Patronage, Bilateral Bodies, Local Authorities, Public and Private Undertakings.

Reference territories: Apulia Region.