Skip to main content
European Vocational Skills Week
News announcement9 June 2020Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

The internship experiences set up by the Engim VET centres in Italy: learning remotely and helping their Communities

engim_lombardia.jpg

Students working on new hospital facilities or trying to “fix” tablets and laptops: these are the some of the stories collected from some of the 25 Centres of the Engim foundation - Ente Nazionale Giuseppini del Murialdo, which operates in Italy and abroad as an offshoot of the Saint Joseph Congregation, founded in 1873 by Saint Leonard Murialdo.

Owing to the sudden interruption of the face-to-face lessons and the simultaneous closure of the companies, students attending the Centres found themselves ”crippled” by the absence of lab and internship learning. In order to keep the apprenticeship experience alive, the Engim foundation has developed “the smart working internship” formula. Thanks to it, students could experience “true working sessions” remotely from their own house, following with the educational programs previously established in the labs of the VET centers.

Particularly noteworthy, because of the peculiar context where it takes place, is the experience made by the students from Bergamo, attending the Thermo-hydraulic systems operator course. Their project work, realized in collaboration with the Consortium of artisanal plumbing installers and the Association of craftsmen from Bergamo, consists in the realization of thermohydraulic diagrams for the new hospital built, in record time, by the National Alpini Association in the Fiera area to host patients affected by Covid–19.

On the other hand, the students attending the Electronic operator course in the ENGIM VET center Artigianelli in Turin came up with the project “Artigiani Digitali”, which consists in offering free remote counseling, to anyone needing to fix his computer, tablet, or smartphone.

On the topic of nutrition, the students affected by disabilities attending the cookery course are following their lessons in distance learning. Only the teacher has access to the cooking lab, from which he broadcasts his lessons online. However, the dishes he prepares are real. So, in order not to waste them due to the school closure, they end up on the table of the homeless every day, thanks to an agreement with the Red Cross. It is an example of circular economy as well as real solidarity amidst the Covid emergency period.

«In recent weeks – relates Marco Muzzarelli, the Engim foundation Director – students have taken part in lab projects, carried out remotely, showing such an incredible commitment, energy and enthusiasm, which will be very helpful to the companies in the re-start phase. Now that the companies open up, we hope both the internships and the apprenticeship experiences should be resumed. Obviously, only once the measures vital to safeguard our students’ well-being are taken, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and the Associations of the productive sectors».

Details