„Will this help me in real life?” I think every teacher has heard this question at least once. And honestly… it’s a fair one.
In today’s world—where everything is changing so fast, where students are surrounded by technology, AI, and an endless flow of information—we can’t limit education to content anymore. What really matters is helping them build skills they will actually use in life.
That’s why the eTwinning theme for 2025–2026, “Skills for Life”, feels so relevant. It’s not just a theme—it’s a direction. It focuses on essential competences like literacy, digital skills, critical thinking, and active citizenship—skills students need beyond school.
At the Centre of Excellence in Transports in Chișinău, this idea guided our work throughout the year. We implemented three eTwinning projects, each different, but connected by the same purpose:
• DriVETrain – Career Compass (founder project)
• UPSKILL ME!!! – Building Skills for Life Together! (partner project)
• Beyond Fake News: Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online (co-founder project)
Looking back, these were not just activities. They were real learning experiences—for students and for us as teachers.
DriVETrain – Career Compass: helping students find their way
„Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” — Confucius
It sounds inspiring… but for many students, it’s not that simple. They are still discovering who they are and what they can do.
This is where DriVETrain – Career Compass started from. The project brought together 22 partners from 5 countries with a clear idea: help students understand themselves better and connect that with real career opportunities. We didn’t want them to just talk about jobs. We wanted them to explore, compare, and reflect.
Step by step
We began with simple activities:
• introductions on Padlet
• surveys about expectations
• creating logos and visuals
Already here, students were using English, working digitally, and interacting internationally. Later, activities became more complex:
• a Collaborative Career Guide
• an e-magazine about trending jobs
• a debate on “Passion vs. Stability”
Everything was shared between partners, so each school had a role.
The turning point
A key moment was when students created:
• the Soft Skills vs. Hard Skills Mind Map
• their own Skills Passport
At that point, things became personal. They started asking themselves:
• What am I good at?
• What skills do I have?
• What future do I want?
When we brought everything together in the Map of Skills, it was impressive to see how connected they were, even across countries.
What changed?
• more confidence
• better communication
• clearer understanding of careers
• more responsibility for their future
The project will end with a Virtual Career Fair and a Career Compass Portfolio, but the real results are already visible—in the way students think.
UPSKILL ME!!! – growing as a person
„Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” — W. B. Yeats
If DriVETrain focused on careers, UPSKILL ME!!! focused on the person. With partners from 7 countries, the project aimed to develop soft skills—communication, collaboration, and self-awareness.
Simple activities, real impact – students worked on:
• “My Day in 3 Pictures”
• “My Life Skills Development”
• problem-solving tasks
These activities encouraged reflection and interaction. Slowly, students became more open, more involved, more confident. One student said: „I didn’t know I could work with students from other countries like this. Now it feels normal„. A simple sentence—but a meaningful change.
Beyond Fake News: learning to think critically
„A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” — Mark Twain
This is the newest project, but maybe the most urgent.
Students today don’t struggle to find information—they struggle to know what to trust. In Beyond Fake News, they explore:
• how news is consumed
• how misinformation spreads
• how to verify sources
Through posters, discussions, and even AI-generated content, students learn to question what they see. And this is more than a school skill. It’s a life skill—and a citizenship skill.
Final thoughts
When I look at all three projects together, one idea keeps coming back:
Students learn best when learning makes sense to them.
Not when we explain more. But when they experience more.
Through eTwinning, they worked with others, created real products, shared ideas, and reflected on themselves.
And maybe this is the answer to that question from the beginning:
„Will this help me in real life?” Yes. Because this is not just about projects. It’s about preparing them for what comes next. And in the end, that’s what education should do.