The reputation of vocational education has taken a hit recently. However, the HVAC industry is swimming against the current here. According to the metrics used to evaluate the quality of education, the quality of degrees in the HVAC field has improved over the past year. In practice, it means that on-the-job learning and demonstrations in the field are more and more often successfully carried out in real workplaces.
Working life orientation at the center of quality
The goal of vocational education is to produce the skills needed in working life. That is why it is important that, as part of completing the degree, real work entities and processes can be studied at real workplaces. The degree is also completed by evaluating the student's skills in real work situations.
"The control of work tools and methods is important, but know-how is mercilessly left halfway if you don't learn to apply these knowledge and skills at work. As part of the quality of the implementation of the degrees, it is also necessary to mention the workplace counselors and competence assessors representing working life, who are ensuring working life compatibility", says the special expert Juha-Ville Mäkinen LVI-Technical Contractors from LVI-TU ry.
Quality is measured using performance data
The quality of the degrees is systematically evaluated every year, when the working life committees operating in connection with the Board of Education prepare a situational picture of the degrees that belong to their field. According to preliminary data, last year more HVAC industry displays were organized at workplaces than before. The proportion of evaluators representing working life has also increased significantly.
"The increase in on-the-job learning and assessed competence improves the quality of degrees and their compatibility with working life. At the workplace, on the screen, you have to perform in real work situations. Good behavior or memory alone are not enough, although of course the employer appreciates them too," Mäkinen assures.
Effective cooperation creates quality
The HVAC industry has a new partnership model between employers and training providers: HVAC-Työelämäkamppanuus network. It develops e.g. activities related to learning on the job and organizing displays. More than 30 training organizers have already joined the partner network, and information and insights are frequently exchanged between them.
"The orientation aimed at teachers and workplaces has also been active. Things have to be dealt with together if we want to see the effects. I also consider the peer support provided by the network to be important both for teachers and also for the management of the educational institution", sums up Mäkinen.
A look into the future
Improving the quality of education is an endurance sport, the goals of which must be set far enough. The young person who starts next fall will probably finish his degree in the spring of 2027. There are still many steps in the plans for the HVAC industry to ensure their - and the industry's - future.
"It is gratifying that the results of the cooperation can be seen so quickly. For that, big thanks go to the HVAC teachers and the educational institution management, who are very committed to cooperation and the quality of the degrees," praises Mäkinen.
More information LVI-Työelämäkamppanuus network.
More information
LVI-Technical Contractors LVI-TU ry
Special expert Juha-Ville Mäkinen phone 045 899 9388, juha-ville.makinen@lvi-tu.fi
Communications manager Pipsa Hiltunen phone 0400 287 939, pipsa.hiltunen@lvi-tu.fi