Educational Needs of Spanish Youths at Risk of Social Exclusion: Future Challenges before School Failure

Abstract

This paper addresses the strengths, needs and future challenges posed by the current training and education of youths at risk of social exclusion, focusing on those youths who are at risk of dropping out of school and have problems accessing the labour market. Its objectives are: to characterize, from a professional perspective, the education and training needs of young people who find themselves in situations of exclusion; identify strengths in current education and training activities available to young people, and; establish a resource bank for possible future challenges raised by professionals in this field to improve >the current situation. For this, we conducted an exploratory pilot research study that involved 34 experienced professional experts that was focused on describing the current situation in Spain in the field of education and training of youths at risk of droppingout of school or exclusion. This study concludes that the creation and consolidation of coordinated networks between the public administration, the private sector and social entities is a challenge that must be addressed within this field. Likewise, developing sustainable and inclusive training activities for young people involves creating more flexible, individualized and personalized training itineraries that address not only basic training but also transversal competences.