The group is comprised of the VTESS project team from the Lao PDR, Swisscontact’s consortium partner HSLU (University of Applied Sciences Lucerne), and members of Swisscontact’s ‘Coaching for Employment and Entrepreneurship’ (C4EE) project from Albania. ESS is the 2nd Component in the Vocational Training and Employment Support Services (VTESS) project. The focus of the project will be on the strengthening of the Integrated Vocational and Education Training (IVET) pathway in order to facilitate the school to work transition of early school leavers, to provide them with options for productive employment (wage and self-employment) and the opportunity to enroll in further education and training.