Xcelence Project: Lamp is helping to train the specialists of the future
Apr 20 2022
Lamp is taking part in several of the activities that form part of the Xcelence-Escuelas Que Inspiran (Xcelence: Inspiring Schools) project, which brings the professional world closer to secondary school students.
The Orientación en Acción (Guidance in Action) initiative, which is part of the Xcelence-Escuelas Que Inspiran project created by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the NGO Empieza Por Educar (Start with Education), aims to improve training and vocational guidance for secondary school students. To do so, it puts students in direct contact with the professional world through a variety of activities, in order to give them a real vision of how it works, as well as the different training options and jobs currently available on the market.
Lamp is one of more than 65 companies, associations, and local councils participating in this initiative, which is being carried out in over 120 schools.
Lamp is committed to helping with the improvement of academic and professional guidance
The activities included in the “Orientación en Acción” (Guidance in Action) initiative are twofold. On the one hand, secondary school students visit different companies and join employees in their day-to-day work. And, on the other, managers from these companies come to the schools to share their experiences with the students. These visits help students to make informed decisions about their academic and professional future and, consequently, increase their chances of being successful.
Lamp has collaborated with this initiative by carrying out both kinds of activities. A large group of secondary school students visited the Lamp HQ facilities, and saw the showroom, offices, R&D centre, lighting laboratory, factory, and the logistics centre located in the city of Terrassa. There they had the opportunity to see what we do, how we do it and the different types of roles our workers have, both from a more general perspective and in more technical and specific terms.
Our Human Resources manager, Marta Puigdengolas, and our product development engineer Sergio Pizarra were two of our experts who shared their knowledge and professional experience with the students who visited our facilities.
In addition, Lamp has also taken part in the "Secondary and Baccalaureate Orientation Conference" organized by Escola Pia in Terrassa, which also participates in the Xcelence project. In these conferences, former students of the school, as well as experts from different sectors, shared their experiences with the Secondary and Baccalaureate students. Quico Escude, Lamp's purchasing manager and leader of the Sustainability Committee, as well as a former student of the school, represented Lamp at the conference.
"Orientación en Acción": key career guidance for a better future
The long-standing Bertelsmann Foundation, founded by the German publishing entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Prince of Asturias laureate Reinhard Mohn, has launched the "Orientación en Acción" (Guidance in Action) initiative, together with the Catalan NGO for educational equity Empieza por Educar. This action is part of the Foundation’s broader project, Xcelence-Escuelas que Inspiran (Inspiring Schools), which emphasises the need to work with vocational guidance in schools. The aim is to help students develop their full potential in the future, contribute more efficiently to the economy, and build better societies.
The "Guidance in Action" initiative runs during April and May, with more than 5,000 students in the 4th year of Secondary School in Madrid and Catalonia taking part in different activities, all with the aim of bringing the workplace closer to students who find themselves with crucial decisions to make regarding their academic and professional future.
According to an OECD study entitled "How youth explore, experience, and think about their future", students who have exposure to real-life working professional environments during their formative years are more likely to succeed in their professional careers. In this vein, Xcelence-Escuelas que Inspiran is being developed, which encourages schools to participate. According to Juan José Juárez, head of the project at the Bertelsmann Foundation, this will enable students “to have access to updated information on emerging professions and careers, sectors with high potential, as well as having experience of real working environments that can help them to plan their future more successfully".
Adequate vocational guidance not only helps students to make better decisions, but also offers a solution to early school leaving in the most disadvantaged socio-economic contexts (36% according to Save The Children). Quim de Gispert, manager of the Xcelence project for the NGO Empieza Por Educar, explains: "among the possible solutions for early school leaving, the OECD highlights vocational guidance, as well as training and ongoing support for the specialists who work directly with students". Therefore, in addition to helping and motivating students to discover the training and jobs they can apply for, the aim of the Xcelence project is also to "promote equal opportunities through guidance".
Among the activities included in the "Orientación en Acción" initiative are:
- Groups of students visiting companies.
- Job shadowing (accompanying a specialist for several days to see how they work).
- Talks and meetings with experts.
- Useful resource development for guidance counsellors, such as the series of videos entitled "Professionals who inspire", where different experts and specialists explain their careers and work.
The aim of all this is to awaken interest in these potential future experts by offering them the best possible information.
