The cooperation forum of organizations in the real estate and construction industry is concerned about the future situation of supplementary education in the real estate and construction industry due to the cut in funding for other vocational training.
The role of the real estate and construction industry in our society is central. It corresponds to 83% of national wealth, 15% of GDP, 20% of employment and 60% of investments.
"As part of the reform of the funding model for vocational education, the Ministry of Education and Culture is proposing to completely remove funding for other vocational education as a funding model. This would be a big change for supplementary education in the real estate and construction industry. The change would cut, for example, additional training in real estate management, real estate brokerage, property maintenance, property development, circular economy, energy efficiency and various areas of the construction industry," says the chairman of the KIRA forum, CEO of Rakennustuðir Aleksi Randell.
The need for supplementary education in the real estate and construction industry is growing. The KIRA forum of real estate and construction industry organizations is concerned about the effects of the presentation, because training needs are growing, especially in supplementary training. In addition, the cut of 100 million euros in vocational education weakens continuous learning.
"Many responsible positions in the real estate and construction industry do not have a university degree, so the importance of supplementary education to strengthen skills is only emphasized. A property manager can manage housing association assets of 100 million euros, and a real estate agent can make housing transactions worth tens of millions per year, not to mention the budgets of construction sites," says Randell.
The KIRA forum sees that the exclusion of real estate and construction educations from state co-financing would endanger the availability of skilled labor in the longer term.
"The budget for other vocational education is only about 10 million euros, which is a really small share of the total funding of vocational education. With this funding, the training needs of a few industries have been met in a very cost-effective and precise manner. Therefore, there would be good grounds for maintaining this funding model," Randell points out.
Real estate and construction industry organizations understand the challenges of public finances, but this relatively small cut hits the wrong target and makes it difficult to strengthen growth in the real estate and construction industry.
"It is very important that the funding of other vocational education is maintained in the future funding model as well. If, however, it is decided to give up the funding of other vocational training, it is very important to ensure the continuation of state funding for real estate education, for example through discretionary funding," Randell suggests.
KIRA Forum
Fifteen communities in the real estate and construction industry make up the Real Estate and Construction Forum, the KIRA forum. The community brings together the key players in the field and closes the cooperation between them.
The KIRA forum collects and transmits information about the factors affecting the industry, informs about the industry's common views and policies, organizes joint events and initiates separate projects that promote the realization of its goals.
Additional information
Chairman of the management team of the KIRA forum, CEO of Rakennusteollisuus RT Aleksi Randell, aleksi.randell(at)rt.fi, +358 9 129 9201.