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Meril Ümarik from the TU School of Educational Sciences recently defended her PhD thesis titled “Adopting Reform Policies in Vocational Education in Post-Soviet Estonia”.

People used to say, “Those who do not care to study belong in vocational education”. Sadly, this stereotypical attitude can still be met today. Meril Ümarik’s thesis focused on why people still see vocational education as something bad.

Vocational education is tied to many contradictions. We increasingly hear that Estonia is lacking qualified workers, and that schools cannot cater to the needs of the job market. At the same time, vocational education is very low in popularity among students, as high school is still considered the norm after finishing elementary school. Only slightly above a quarter of students choose vocational education (in 2014, the percentage was 27,2). In addition, interruptions in studies in vocational education are frequent, which shows that students lack support in making balanced vocational decisions.

The reputation of vocational education tends to be positive in polls, but it is still tied to contradiction and little knowledge of the field. The level of vocational education and the perspective of graduates is considered above average among the population, people would still not recommend vocational education to their own children. Younger people and those who have a personal connection with vocational education hold a more positive stance.

Employers are similar – those who have cooperative projects with vocational education institutions have a more positive view toward the quality of vocational education. Our employers are happy with the learning environment at vocational education institutions. The technology and applications in vocational schools are indeed better than at many companies.

At the same time, the professional skills, general skills and work ethics of vocational students are seen at a worse light. At the same time, the professional skills and attitudes, as well as social competences, are not only taught in schools, but also honed at practical trainings in firms. We must keep emphasising the role of practical trainings and their responsibility toward the quality of vocational studies.

The quality of the supervision of practical training is key. Unfortunately, there is no clear regulation to organising nor assessing practical training in firms. Still, there are some great examples of cooperation between schools and companies and even mentor trainings.

At the same time, we have cases in which the mentoring is fictive and trainees are made to scrub floors or do other menial tasks. Would that develop their professional skills and social competences? Definitely not. Companies should see the training period as a chance to select the best future employers and introduce them to the working culture of the company.

The main problem is the employers’ lack of motivation to mentor and assess students, as they are not seen as potential workforce. This in turn hints that there are no crystallised norms and agreements in this field.

A larger problem in Estonia is the little coherence between the educational system and the job market. This is tied to both quality and reputation. Let’s see how others tackle it.

In Germany, Switzerland and Denmark, vocational education is highly valued in the society and well connected with future perspectives and the job market. A large portion of studies are conducted in companies, parallel to schools.

In Estonia, internship-based studies have been implemented since 2007. This means at least 2/3 of studies are conducted at companies. Until now, embracing this opportunity has been modest and should be encouraged between companies willing to utilise trainees. This will also help shift some of the responsibility for the quality of vocational studies to the companies.