The Masters of Technics program was implemented by our European training partners to support the technical specialists of the future in their education.

The project was carried out by our partners in these European countries:

- SEA – agentúra pre vzdelanie a vedu, o.z. Bratislava, Slovakia
- Mali Majstor obrt, Osijek, Croatia
- Zavod TCTS, Slovenske Konjice, Slovenia

The focus is on practical technical education for students and the further training of teachers.

**Masters of Technics – Manual Skills Are Still Priceless (MOTI)**

**Project Priority - Horizontal, Main: Inclusion and Diversity in All Areas of Education, Training, Youth, and Sport**

**Additional Priorities:**

- Combating educational disadvantage, school dropout, and low competency levels in basic skills
- Promoting interest in, excellence in, and access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

**Topics the Project Focuses On:**

- Addressing the mismatch between offered and needed skills and considering the needs of the labor market
- Inclusion of marginalized young people

**Motivation for Creating the Project:**

In each partner country, there is a lack of employees with technical skills in the labor market – manual professions are gradually declining, and digital skills are preferred.

Parents often view technical subjects as supplementary and pass this view on to their children, who then fail to recognize the potential for developing creativity and technical skills that could be used later.

In all three participating countries, there are regions with high unemployment, so strengthening technical skills and competencies in primary schools will provide young people with more job opportunities. Everyone should have the same chance, which is why we selected Croatia as the model for the project – where the partner already includes girls and children with special needs in ongoing projects and activities. And they are achieving good results.

The subject of technology has ongoing problems with high-quality equipment or insufficiently experienced teachers. Primary schools in Slovakia are relatively well equipped. The situation is worse in Slovenia, where there is a lack of adequate equipment but good technical skills. And in Croatia, they have experience, a functional competition between schools, and engaged students.

The project will use small, safe machine tools for training technology teachers, as these represent a common feature in the subject of technology in all three countries. In each country, these machines are used to some extent in the subject of technology; the teachers are familiar with them, they are safe for younger children, visually appealing, and easy to handle. Most importantly, all children in the project's target group can work with them.

For all three of our organizations, this project is a challenge, as we are participating in the Erasmus+ program for the first time. We believe that the ideas, concepts, and experiences we gain through international collaboration will help us gain more credibility in our home countries and achieve stronger cooperation with government organizations and larger industrial companies, with whose help and support we would like to organize an annual international – European – Masters of Technics competition.

**Our Goals:**

**Main Goal:**

Training technology teachers in Slovakia and Slovenia under the guidance of teachers from Croatia so that they can include children from the target group – i.e., students with special needs, children from marginalized groups, children from Ukraine, or children with disabilities – in extracurricular education in the subject of technology and help them improve their basic skill levels.

**Sub-Goals:**

- Increasing the popularity of manual activities among female students through modern and innovative design-oriented principles and goals. The project's aim is for teachers to form teams in which at least 25% are girls.
- Supporting and learning to work in mixed teams (boys, girls, children with normal development, children with special needs, children from marginalized groups, children from Ukraine, etc.)
- Creating a universal platform (web) for the exchange of projects, tips, and curricula between the partner countries.
- Overcoming geographical barriers by involving teachers and students from different regions of the participating countries.
- Inviting representatives from employers in less developed regions to the evaluation committees for national competitions in the participating countries

**Results:**

- Training of technology teachers involved in the project in Slovakia and Slovenia by lecturers from Croatia
- Creation of training materials – manuals, video guides for safe work with small machines and tools, creation of an online database for projects created and used by teachers – in three languages – Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian
- Organization of national "Technical Masters" competitions in Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia
- Creating a foundation for the sustainability of national competitions and a common international competition – Slovakia, Croatia, and Slovenia, with the potential to gradually include other participating countries as a creative and innovative element to increase attractiveness and spark the interest of primary school students in technical subjects.