SAK calls on employees to improve their vocational skills

The government of Finland has launched a new national programme called "Noste" for the period 2003-2007, seeking to improve the vocational skills of employees lacking vocational training, and of those aged between 30 and 54. This programme was originally proposed in 2001 by the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) to a parliamentary adult education working group. SAK will continue to be heavily involved in implementing the new programme.

Some 330,000 employees in Finland are currently educated to no higher than secondary school leaver standard. An overwhelming majority of these employees work in sectors organised by trade unions affiliated to SAK.

The programme includes opportunities for employees to pursue studies at a vocational school or adult education centre, or to complete interrupted studies at a comprehensive school, upper-secondary school or vocational school. Liberal adult education institutes will provide courses enabling employees to improve their computer skills in order to meet the demands of new technology at work and in society at large.

Mentors encourage employees to participate

The goals of the "Noste" programme are to increase the employment rate, to advance working careers, and to promote working capacity and the availability of a skilled workforce. Further important aims from the point of view of SAK are to promote educational equality, prevent structural unemployment, and especially to assist workers in adjusting to the evolving demands of working life. The target for "Noste" is 50,000 participants in adult education over the next five years.

- There should be more operational flexibility at vocational institutions. Teaching should be arranged so that it can be provided at workplaces or as distance learning via the Internet, says SAK Education and Training Manager Markku Liljeström, who also stresses the importance of apprenticeship training and of practical skills testing (e.g. competence-based examination) arranged independently of formal educational courses.

Markku Liljeström explains that the success of the "Noste" programme will largely depend on employers:

- Our recent research clearly indicates that learner motivation increases significantly when employers have a positive attitude towards additional education and training. The best case scenario would be, that the conditions of personnel training were to be applied to the "Noste" education.

SAK has arranged several regional information events between May and July 2003 to advise the public about the new programme and the opportunities that it provides. In autumn SAK will launch a new campaign seeking to find mentors at workplaces. These voluntary mentors will encourage their colleagues and other employees to take part in training and will provide information about learning opportunities. The role of a mentor will be to serve as a learning agent and point of contact between educational establishments and working life.