Integration of cyber security in initial VET-education (Cyber Clever)

Since the adoption of the EU Cybersecurity Strategy in 2013, the European Commission has stepped up its efforts to better protect Europeans online. It has adopted a set of legislative proposals, in particular on the network and information security, earmarked more than €600 millions of EU investment for research and innovation in cybersecurity projects during the 2014- 2020 period, and fostered cooperation within the EU and with partners on the global stage.
The Commission has further strengthened its approach in the past year by including cybersecurity at the heart of its political priorities: trust and security are at the core of the Digital Single Market Strategy presented in May 2015, while the fight against cybercrime is one of the three pillars of the European Agenda on Security adopted in April 2015.

Europe as a whole need more security experts and the need for cyber-security in all professions is thus apparent. Especially important is this in ordinary jobs where people normally are very uninformed about the field. In order to reach that aim we need to start with students in VET since they are the future backbone of Europe’s workforce, and since there is no such education incorporated in VET yet, we see a very clear need for this type of focus at initial VET level.

Objective:
Develop, implement and evaluate a training package for teachers in VET to increase awareness of Cyber-security inspired by the American GenCyber program.

Cyber Clever shall:
• Train teachers and students in cybersecurity
• Develop and test a European Cyber-security course for VET students inspired by the American GenCyber program.
• Evaluate and learn from this project so as to allow us to develop further courses and curriculums in Cyber Security in VET
• Increase Teacher’s and student’s awareness of their capacity to act as role models and curators of learning environments where cybersecurity is the main focus in all subjects
• Increase Teacher’s and student’s awareness of cultural differences in Cyber Security focus and the way in which different cultural norms may affect the way in which people act.
• Provide strategies and resources that can be integrated into education setting to allow teachers to provide an integrated school-wide approach to addressing Cybersecurity concerns.
• Provide support for students who are distressed about Cyber Security issues by training teachers to be better at focusing on these issues and better able to be support people or capable of providing relevant referrals.

The final objective – to promote awareness in key stakeholders and policymakers in VET of the impacts of Cyber Security deficits and why it should be an integrated part of VET education.

More information and access to the project resources: https://cyberclever.eu/resources

Partners:
Godalen Vocational College (NO)
BEST INSTITUT training center (AU)
MIDSTOD Adult training center (IC)
JÄRVAMAA KUTSEHARIDUSKESKUS (EE)
Necip Fazil Kisakurek Mesleki Vocational (TU)
Kristianstad University (SE)
Tartu Vocational College (EE)
NTNU University (NO)

Duration:
01.09.2020 – 28.02.2023

Project coordinator/contact person:
Andrei Atškasov (ph: +372 736 1894, e-mail: andrei.atskasov@voco.ee)