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Rectifying the services that support the skills of adults
The focus of training services on those who are already trained remains a persistent issue for adults and people in work. To overcome this, low-threshold services should be developed and greater consideration should be given to the needs of under-represented groups in education and training.
Achieving the objective
- We must improve the skills level of adults with less education. More effective skills recognition services should be introduced, together with career guidance to ensure smooth transitions between work and training. A basic adult skills guarantee should also be realised to ensure that all workers are literate, with basic skills in mathematics and ICT.
- Funding for vocational and specialist vocational qualifications should be increased.
- Retraining, further training and career guidance services should be enhanced.
Why is this objective important?
In the sphere of lifelong learning, people in work are most readily left without support and guidance. This is particularly true of those in operative occupations, who often enjoy fewer opportunities to develop personal competence than their clerical colleagues. Closer cooperation between the labour administration, educational institutions and workplaces can help to identify and fill skills gaps.
A balance must be reached in funding for vocational and specialist vocational qualifications and funding for basic vocational qualifications, so that adult vocational education and training becomes attractive and sufficiently available. Even though funding of vocational and specialist vocational qualifications has been increased in recent years, it still lags behind funding for basic vocational qualifications. This must be corrected to ensure that the provision of vocational education and training is not overly focused on entry-level qualifications, and that the skills needs of the working-age population can be adequately served.
Combining work and studies must be motivating, and in-service studying must be flexible and easy. This requires low-threshold vocational competence services, such as modules addressing needs for retraining and further training that are shorter than a full qualification. Career guidance must be available to all.
Guaranteeing the quality and financing of vocational education and training
Funding and adequate provision and guidance must be ensured for vocational training.
Achieving the objective
- Overall funding for vocational education should be permanently increased.
- Adequate instruction and guidance should be provided at vocational training institutes.
- Vocational training institutes must collaborate more closely with workplaces.
Why is this objective important?
A permanent increase in funding of vocational training is needed to ensure a high standard of training that can discharge its assigned functions, such as an expansion of compulsory education (free of charge at secondary level) and the objective of the continuous learning reform to maintain the skills of the adult population.
Inadequate levels of instruction and school day shortfalls are directly related to the reputation of vocational education, its ability to attract students, and its dropout rate. Without adequate instruction and guidance, the risk of discontinuing studies increases, leaving a shortfall in vocational skills. Adequate instruction, guidance and support is necessary for increasing the national average standard of education and skills at all educational levels, reducing shortfalls in learning, improving educational equality, and boosting the wellbeing of children and young adults.
While some good progress has been made in cooperation between vocational educational institutes and workplaces in recent years, there is still room for improvement in such areas as student guidance, clarification of responsibilities and planning of studies.
Turning workplaces into high standard learning environments
Workplaces play a key role as a learning and teaching environment in vocational training. A substantial part of training takes place at workplaces as on-the-job learning. An adequate number of high-standard, safe workplaces that are suitable venues for completing a qualification through on-the-job learning is also essential for ensuring the availability of sufficient skilled labour in the future.
Achieving the objective
- The status of workplace counsellors should be strengthened at workplaces. They must have the resources to provide a high standard of guidance.
- Flexible ways of combining apprenticeship training and a training contract should be developed.
- Apprenticeships should be made more appealing for young adults.
- Practices should be introduced that improve the skills of the entire working community.
Why is this objective important?
Instructors and workplace supervisors will jointly ensure that students progress in their studies and acquire good vocational skills. To ensure a high standard of supervision, workplace counsellors must be adequately trained for their duties, compensation policies must be clear, and enough working time must be set aside for supervision. Staff must also know if students are coming to or already working at a workplace, and how their guidance is arranged.
While the employment rate is high among those who have completed apprenticeship training, uptake of such programmes remains minimal for young adults in particular. Various combinations of training contract and apprenticeship have proved effective, for example. These enable the student to initially complete part of the qualification at an educational institution and then through traditional on-the-job learning under a training contract. After acquiring adequate skills, the student completes the qualification as an apprentice paid in accordance with the collective agreement. Employment as an apprentice is usually a certainty.
Skills development and continuous learning are essential at times of transition in the world of work. It is particularly important to develop new ways of working and support for promoting learning at workplaces. The working community benefit proposed by Employment Fund investigators would be a good starting point for further preparations. The proposed new benefit would enable learning directly on the job, and could help to target groups that are beyond the reach of traditional formal training.
The wellbeing and resilience of young adults must be improved
The impacts of COVID-19 on the wellbeing of children and young adults give cause for concern. Proactive and timely measures can prevent long-term repercussions of the wellbeing shortfall and social exclusion.
Examples of possible measures include:
- ensuring funds for wellbeing services provided for children and young adults in schools and municipalities (pupil and student welfare services, youth activities, family services)
- continuing the hobby guarantee for children and young adults
- continuing youth guarantee measures: services under the youth guarantee must be ensured to assign work, study and internship positions to all young adults under 30 years of age
- continuing the multidisciplinary support and guidance service for young adults in accordance with the Ohjaamo One-Stop Guidance Centre operating model.