The Future of Education

Across Europe there are severe pressures on the domestic working sector. The increasing demands for workers in this sector is being driven by: demographic changes that reveal an ageing population, a steady decline in welfare provision and the challenge of balancing working life with family life in both urban and developed areas. In the near future, the demand for competent, qualified and trusted domestic workers in the area of long-term care is expected to grow dramatically.  According to UN World Population Prospects and Eurostat figures, by 2050 Europe’s working age population will decrease by 48 million. At the same time, the number of people aged 65 and over will rise by 58 million. One of the key responses to these challenges has been to directly address the needs of elderly people with the aim of improving the quality of life of the elderly and dependent population. Carer+ addresses the development of digital competences and digitally-supported professional skills for care workers, including actively into the process care recipients. The primary target groups addressed will be the relevant actors of social care sector: care workers and caregivers, their trainers within VET and Adult Education, older people, policy and decision makers, families, associations of care recipients and caregivers. There is a need to focus on training and retraining workforce, with particular attention to women, who constitute the vast majority of the workforce. The project brings together 14 partners from 8 countries of the European Union: France, Belgium, Austria, Italy, United Kingdom, Romania, Latvia and Spain. It will involve short-term 500 people in Europe. Iperia is responsible for the design and implementation of experiments, innovation in the field closer to the actors. Iperia center its efforts on the development of content and applications. The purpose of the CarerPlus programme is to deliver a coherent and comprehensive set of learning, teaching and training materials that target carers for the development of their competences and professional skills in the domain of social care with ICTs in relation to older persons at home. The programme acknowledges the important role of the carer as a key mediator between the opportunities afforded by ICTs to combat social exclusion and enhance quality of life and the older persons in care.

The key results of the project are: A repository of digital skills for trades in aid and assistance transition life, modular learning resources produced in 6 languages ​​available in an online bank of open educational resources and a dedicated learning platform and social networks. The project began in March 2012. It has a duration of three years (2012-2015). The project is co-funded by the European Union under the Programme for Competitiveness and Innovation, Policy Support Programme in the field of information technology and communication (ICT). The total project budget is $ 3.9 million funded at 50%.