VET: an attractive and viable pathway. Innovating in VET through guidance processes and exploring flexible and diversified opportunities in VET

The second stage of learning after completing lower secondary education — named upper secondary education — isessential for both pursuing further levels of education, or continue in education and / or training, and successful labourmarket integration (OECD, 2020). The development and strengthening of this educational level — particularly invocational — becomes a priority line of action to address equity in education and work towards more inclusive educationand societies, with lower unemployment rates (especially youth unemployment) and a lower rate of population that neithercontinue studying nor working. We cannot underestimate the potential of VET and the essential role that it can play in thecurrent social, economic, and productive context as an instrument and a way to successful labour market integration andsocial inclusion. According to OECD (2018), vocational programs are considered more effective in developing skills thatallow earlier access to the labour market and, as data show, countries with more developed and consolidated vocationaltraining programmes, they have been more effective in containing youth unemployment. In this regard, VET is introducedas one of the most attractive options to gain access to the job market (especially for the young population between 15 and19 years old), as well as for returning to training itineraries (especially in adulthood) that allow academic accreditation ofcompetencies in favour of better employability and to go forward higher degree training programs; that is, to enter tertiaryeducation. Nevertheless, despite having improved its social perception, VET continues to be the non-priority option,sometimes even marginal, in upper secondary education (OECD, 2020). In general, in all countries vocational pathwayhas a lower completion rate than in the general path. Mentioned reasons in regards with this fact are linked, mainly, tostudents’ profile — overall, the perception is that VET programmes continue to be the chosen option or alternativepathway for guiding those young people who, normally, present or have presented greater difficulties in the previouseducational stages and who are at greater risk of early leaving from upper secondary level — and the lack of an adequateguidance process (or orientation), as well as adequate orientation mechanisms and tutorial actions, processes, orstrategies — overall, most educational agents agree with the idea that educational and vocational guidance (ororientation) is very necessary in VET (Echeverría & Martínez, 2020; Olmos Rueda & Díaz-Vicario, 2019, 2020). Thecurrent lived pandemic situation highlights the need of developing proper educational and vocational guidance in VET, aswell as the importance of focusing on orientation and tutorial action strategies in this educational field as the way to tackleearly leaving and support young people on their transition towards VET and staying in VET. This framework gives VET anundervalued and unrealistic social image. The vocational pathway, particularly in upper secondary level, needs evidenceto demonstrate its effectiveness. Therefore, working on making access to vocational programmes in upper secondaryeducation more attractive, as well as strengthening and guaranteeing their permanence and completion, is presented asone of the educational challenges of today's society. Orienta4VET project will seek to work on and towards VET access,as well as contributing in and for staying and completing these programs. Its work lines linked to three of the specificpriorities of the KA220-VET program: (a) increasing visibility and attractiveness of VET; (b) increasing the flexibility ofopportunities in VET; (c) contributing to innovation in VET.