All 3 countries of partnership (COP) went through a transition period after the 80’s with the transfer of vocational education from companies to schools. The transfer led to weakening the links between schools and enterprises and the declining enrollment in vocational education and traning. Today they operate in a quite different VET framework with many specifics. The Slovak Republic, based on the Act on Vocational Education and Training No. 61/2015 Coll., is gradually evaluating experiences from the 5-year implementation period. Vocational education in Poland is based on two types of school: basic vocational schools (BVS) and technical upper secondary schools. Practical vocational training exists in the corporate environment but does not constitute the main direction of vocational education and training. At the same time, upon completing the practical training in the corporate environment, the apprentice receives a special certificate that differs from that obtained in VET schools. The Czech Republic uses elements of the dual system in the form of partial partnerships based on a contractual principle with employers. However, from the perspective of the education system, VET is provided by schools. Today economy of all 3 COP is industry-driven and industry oriented. Slovakia and the Czech Republic are strongly depended on the automotive and automotive-related industry, as well as on the machinery. In Poland, the construction and building sector together with machinery and IT are highly demanded. Nevertheless, not only qualified workers but also those who are less qualified are hard to find, often because of high labour mobility and better payment conditions in other EU-countries. Despite of that, the economy in 2019 in Poland achieved 4% GDP growth - the highest growth in the last 10 years. Slovakia and the Czech Republic tend to stagnate but were still growing up to 2% GDP (Eurostat 2019). Unfortunately, global Covid-19 pandemic affected the economies globally. Digitalization, globalization and teleworking are changing and challenging the whole society more than ever before. Entreprises of all kinds and sizes are challenged – although the peculiarities may differ. It is obvious that a competitive economy will force and challenge intensive and flexible VET systems. The approach to form the VET frame on the national level often stands against an open economy environment with an open labour market. To keep VET sustainable, it is important to adapt the training betimes and foster a broad consensus and cooperation between key actors: teachers, learners, VET providers, companies, social partners and chambers. PROJECT OBJECTIVES Reflecting the above mentioned economical and geographical links, Chamber of Commerce of the Moravian-Silesian Region invited partners to join project partnership and focus on the following objectives: 1. As all 3 COP are facing a lack of qualified workers in the technology sector. The aim of the project is to provide a comparison of the current VET systems based on the following parameters: methodology, legislation, funding, motivation. 2. Taking into consideration the lack of qualified workers in technology, the goal is to provide a comparison of 12 (min.10) occupations in each COP (the selection of relevant occupations is described in output 2). By using comparative analysis, better overview of initial and further education contents (outcomes) will be provided. 3. The occupational preparation itself does not give evidence of preparedness of graduates to handle the requirements of the employer. There might not be only differences in the curricula of vocational education in each COP but also different views on seemingly same competences. Therefore 8 significant employers in each partner-region from the COP will be identified. Subsequently, feedback on the level of the preparedness/readiness of graduates the moment of the job entering, will be defined by using a form of structured interviews including the possible impact of Covid-19 into current VET state. 4. Finally, a support of VET teaching staff: teachers, mentors, trainers, who are shaping interest in technical disciplines and technology among the young generation is in a scope of the project. VET teachers are often older and they are lacking methodological support and tech knowledge. In Poland, the schools were generally not involved in raising qualifications related to practical vocational training (which partly is related to advanced age vocational education teachers).To maintain a competitive and innovative economy, innovative learning modules in the fields of electronics, mechatronics and ICT will be developed and presented on 5 VET Days organized in all COP during the project. After the termination of the project, the outputs will remain freely accessible for possible implementation into the curricula.
The goal of the project was to improve the situation of cooperation between VET actors, in particular between vocational schools and enterprises. The intention was to support teaching and non-teaching VET staff as a key target group in terms of knowledge and skills transfer in the acquirement of competences during VET. The aim was also to deepen and directly support close cooperation between employers and VET providers and VET schools in terms of attractiveness and actual needs in terms of acquired qualifications with regard to employers' needs and shortage of technically qualified staff in all 3 partner regions of the project. The aim here was to provide new learning content. The contribution to ICT technologies was an important point in defining the topics of the learning content and also in providing the content in an open format, flexible for further updating and updating. An important task of the project was also to raise awareness of adult learning in the context of recognition of prior learning outcomes at national and international level. Important goal was to focus on the adult learning in terms of reginition of prior learning outcomes nationaly as well as in the international context.
The joint project was motivated primarily by the importance of vocational training with regard to its impact on the labour market, the competitiveness of companies and the social context in society. Considering the focus and activities of all project partners, the motivation for the project was the possibility to create and deepen connections and partnerships contributing to the improvement of the situation in the field of cooperation between VET actors, especially between VET school and companies. An important motivating element was the possibility and ability to create, in cooperation with employers, training modules for VET teachers, masters and instructors for subsequent use and processing in teaching.