Erasmus+ Project: Making Europe through Agricultural Vocational Training

The economic crisis in the EU had a negative impact on the employment rate. The unemployment rate in Spain rose from 8.3% in 2007 to 19.2% in November 2016, with the youth unemployment rate at 44.4% (Eurostat, 9 January 2017). Therefore, rural areas in the EU in particular, and specifically in Spain, face a common challenge: the creation of sustainable, high-quality jobs that allow young people to live and work in these areas, contributing to social, cultural, and economic wealth. Although rural areas represent 93% of the EU's territory, per capita income is just over half that of urban areas. The EC proposes closing the employment gap in rural areas by fostering entrepreneurship and ensuring better education and training [COM(2006) 857]. For these reasons, it is essential to promote and invest in high-quality vocational training that covers cutting-edge subjects and can contribute to improving the situation described above.

In relation to our context, the agricultural sector of the western Almería region in the province of Almería, and its relationship with vocational training, we detect:

a) Lack of qualification of human resources in the agricultural and horticultural sector.

b) School failure is one of the main causes of social exclusion and is a problem that particularly affects the poorest, weakest, and most disadvantaged sectors of society, such as immigrants, ethnic minorities, the unemployed, and students with specific educational needs.

c) The importance of job placement as a mechanism of social cohesion.

d) The lack of a training offer comparable to that offered by the Vícar Agricultural School.