Tschechien: Arbeitgeber stärker an Berufsbildung beteiligen
Czech Republic - increasing employer participation in VET
With returning economic growth in recent years, companies in the Czech
Republic have been facing a shortage of skilled labour. Labour supply does not
match demand on the labour market and the practical skills of graduates entering
the labour market are often insufficient.
These are the reasons for the
growing desire for closer connection between the corporate world and vocational
education and training (VET). Employers and VET school representatives are
seeking greater cooperation, as in the agreement concluded between the key
representatives of the employers (Chamber of Commerce, Confederation of Industry
of the Czech Republic, Czech Agrarian Chamber and Confederation of Employers'
and Entrepreneurs' Associations of the Czech Republic) on allocating
responsibility for individual areas of initial vocational education. These
organisations have shared responsibility for particular fields of education. The
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT) is also active, having prepared
reform in the Amendment of the School Act, by which the schools are obliged to
improve cooperation with employers.
In line with the Act, employers, at
present, are involved in several lines of action: negotiations on the National
programme for the development of education; the draft of the Long-term plan for
education and the development of education system of the Czech Republic; the
field structure in primary, secondary and tertiary VET and the health
requirements for persons applying for education; and negotiations related to
national VET curricula.
Employer involvement in VET is embedded in the
School Act in several areas: the option to implement practical training at their
premises; inclusion in the development of uniform assignment of final
examinations for vocational certificate fields; mandatory participation of an
expert from practice in the examination board for the programmes concluded by a
vocational certificate (three-year study programmes, European Qualifications
Framework (EQF) 3); and optional participation of an expert from practice at the
profile part of Maturita examination (four-year study programmes, EQF 4) and at
absolutorium (tertiary professional education, EQF 6).
The amendment to
the Act relates to §57, which, up to now, has set objectives for secondary
education without explicitly mentioning cooperation with employers. The
amendment obliges schools to develop, in their field of study, cooperation with
employers towards joint fulfilment of secondary education objectives. Schools
will now have to involve employers in the education by:
- consulting employers on drafts of school curricula;
- engaging employers in shaping conceptual plans for school development;
- ensuring part of practical training is implemented at the premises of employers authorised to perform activities related to the relevant field of education;
- allowing participation of experts from practice in theoretical training at school;
- allowing participation of experts from practice in the profile part of maturita examination;
- securing, in cooperation with the employers, continuing education and internships for teaching staff of theoretical and practical training at employers.
These activities are already being implemented by many schools and employers. The amendment should be viewed as a step towards systematisation and an effort to extend these activities also to schools that have not been exploiting them to their full potential. The proposal also puts emphasis on greater involvement of individual employers at regional and local levels.
Quelle: cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, cedefop.europa.eu, 23.02.2017