The State Audit Office has come up with rather harsh conclusions about how Latvia has succeeded in developing vocational education.
Nearly a billion has been invested in ten years, but it is difficult to see a return because the demand for this education has not grown as expected. The Ministry of Education emphasizes that it is not so crazy: raising the prestige of vocational education is a time-consuming process, and the results are gradually being achieved.
In its audit of the development of vocational education, the State Audit Office acknowledges that over the years the state institutions have made a lot of efforts to popularize this level of education and make it more attractive in the eyes of potential students. In 10 years, about one billion euros have been invested in the development of the system from national and European funds. The goal of the Ministry of Education is to ensure that at least 50% of ninth grade graduates continue their studies in vocational education institutions. The audit has concluded that the significant investments have not yielded the expected results.
“Vocational education 2019/2020. 38.5 percent of the ninth graders who make this decision have chosen this year. According to the data at our disposal, we have relied on the state information system registers, we see that there has been no significant increase in this proportion since 2012, ”says Inese Kalvāne, a member of the State Audit Office.
The control has also estimated that less than half of the graduates of vocational schools under the Ministry of Culture and Education continue their studies or work in the acquired field.
The Ministry of Education emphasizes that raising the prestige of vocational education is a long-term process, and their data show that there are improvements every year. On the other hand, the change in the field among graduates is rather positive.
“In fact, if a young person completes vocational training in a particular field, it is not necessarily required that he or she must continue his or her studies in the same profession. In fact, by choosing a completely different profession, he enriches his professional career, ”says Rūta Gintaute-Marihina, Director of the Vocational and Adult Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Science.
The educational institutions themselves believe that the promotion of this level of education is going well, because the number of students is growing every year. At the same time, teachers also have ideas on how to further motivate program development.
“One such good technique is e-hosting. And another thing that I believe is very important that the industry is involved and supports the involvement of students in a particular profession, ”says Ilze Brante, the director of Ogre Technical College.
At Ogre Technical College, the demand of the companies of the industry for the new specialists is so great that this year the number of enrolled students has had to be increased by around one hundred. The State Audit Office also recommends improving co-operation with employers’ ministries, as schools often offer not those professions that are lacking in the labor market, but those that are popular among students for various reasons.
The started path of vocational education development will be continued, but the recommendations of the state control will also be taken into account. For example, the Ministry of Education is already working on the establishment of monitoring of vocational school graduates.
– .
