If you believe the media, vocational education is broken. We are told that skills are declining, the amount of contact teaching is decreasing and insecurity is increasing. That is probably the case, but I myself do not recognize the reality that the journalists are telling. For my part, I tell the story of committed and competent teachers who care about their students.
There are problems, that cannot be denied. However, their real root causes are not listed in the newspapers. However, they have been discussed with our partners. It would be easy to list several unnecessary or contradictory regulations that directly prevent the high-quality implementation of degrees and force resources to be used for work that does not produce added value.
The Ministry of Education and Culture is preparing a series of amendments to improve the quality of education. The results of the study provide preliminary information. A critical factor for working life is the anticipation of skills needs. It affects degree requirements and teaching content. The drafts give the impression that anticipation is intended to be improved by abolishing it.
The same seems to have happened with the quality assurance of qualifications. There are no bodies involved that would identify areas for development, suggest changes or monitor operations. Is it true that there are no problems when you don't see them? Working life cooperation at the national level is becoming very general and multidisciplinary.
Nothing has been officially decided, but in practice national guidance is probably coming to an end. Fortunately, there are two sides to this. Hopefully, the fading of national guidance will push educational institutions and employers to cooperate more actively. That is the only way forward, the desired quality must be defined and produced locally.
The competence-based system was created three decades ago, and since then the operating environment has changed fundamentally. The present requires new – and above all local – solutions. In this work, we support our partners by all appropriate means.
Juha-Ville Mäkinen
Specialist
juha-ville.makinen@lvi-tu.fi + 358 45 899 9388LVI-Tekniset Urakoitsijat ry
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