Vocational training: the time is now

17/02/2022

Francesc Colomé, Xavier Farriols, Josep Francí i Oriol Homs - FP XXI

Now that planning for the vocational training (VT) offer for the 2022-23 academic year is underway, it is worth recalling – to avoid seeing a repeat – the commotion that followed enrolment last September, as 1,323 people were left without a VT place after the extraordinary enrolment phase.

There is an achievable short-term solution for the increased demand for VT, providing that necessary, effective commitments are made.

1,323 people: is it a lot or a few? It is a lot. Catalonia cannot allow VT and, ultimately, the labour market to disregard all these people. However, the problem has an achievable short-term solution, providing that necessary, effective commitments are made.

First of all, the figures paint a positive picture: the number of people who want to undertake VT is growing. Therefore, looking ahead to the next academic year, a response to this increased demand is required through an expansion of the VT offer, especially within those cycles that have garnered the most interest and which, in turn, train professionals that the market demands. This is not an easy goal to accomplish, but we must strive to achieve it.

A response to this increased demand is required through an expansion of the VT offer, especially within those cycles that have garnered the most interest and which, in turn, train professionals that the market demands.

Planning for the VT offer goes back and forth between training demand and employment demand. The former stems from a combination of motivations, skills, school track record, family environment, and social and geographical factors... while society’s perception of the specific trade also plays an important role. This perception does not develop at the same pace as the circumstances of the professional world and does not necessarily abide by the requirements of the labour market. Striking a balance between these two positions is an undertaking of considerable complexity, even if we consider that this is the duty of the planner.

It would be very helpful to have systematically organised data and historical sequencing on demographics, school demographics, graduation rates at the different stages of education, economic activity, employment, needs at a local level, people’s expectations, and so on. Indeed, it is not that these data do not exist or are not accessible presently, but they tend to be disjointed, which makes it very difficult to plan the offer.

The construction or fitting out of venues and the purchasing of equipment are a decade behind schedule: specific allocations are urgently required.

However, one of the main structural obstacles to expanding the VT offer to meet current demand for training is the lack of venues and equipment. The provision of training staff – which constitutes by far the main expenditure in VT – continues to be essential, but this alone has ceased to be sufficient. Investment – construction or fitting out of venues and the purchasing of equipment – are a decade behind schedule. Specific allocations in each of these fields are urgently required to allow growth in the quality and quantity of the offer. This clearly means more financial resources. Some estimates have put the figure at around 20 million euros. Whether it is slightly less or slightly more, it is a figure within the reach of the budget of the education authorities. It just needs to be prioritised.

Finally, it would be very advantageous to have an emergency mechanism in place – with budgetary resources to make last minute solutions possible – in case the forecasts are overrun, as was the case last September. Despite the current favourable outlook, the duration of the pandemic continues to be uncertain and erratic behaviour in terms of demand cannot be ruled out. This is very difficult to predict and fine-tune to the levels required for planning the offer.

The crisis of the previous academic year must not stop the actions of the Administration to continue to encourage demand for VT and it would be advisable, therefore, for this effort to focus on promoting training that is most suited to emerging profiles in the labour market.

In less than a year from now, we should be able to state that the outcome of the pre-enrolment and enrolment process for the 2022-23 academic year has left no one without a place and that, at the same time, the allocated places will in the long term contribute to providing the qualified individuals that the economy demands.

And, incidentally, this should allow us to cast aside this custom – as ingrained as it is unfair – of always speaking of VT as if it were a problem.

If you would like to find out more:

Read the report The crisis of demand for vocational training at the start of the 2021-22 academic year
Download the publication Vocational training: post-pandemic scenarios

Francesc Colomé, Xavier Farriols, Josep Francí and Oriol Homs are associate experts of Fundació Bofill in the framework of the FP XXI project.

Image: Mònica Moreno / Barcelona City Council