On February 18, 2022, the Head of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov held the first meeting of the Republican Council for Secondary Vocational Education. It was attended by deputies of the State Duma of Russia, members of the Government of the Republic, directors of colleges in the region, representatives of the UNEVOC Centre in the Russian Federation based in BIST.

The Head of the Republic noted that it was no coincidence that 2022 was declared the Year of Modernization of Vocational Education, Decent Working Conditions and Labour Dynasties in the Republic. There were obvious reasons for that.

 “Firstly,” he underlined, “we are in a phase that will lead to us facing an acute shortage of skilled workers. We are opening new enterprises, creating industry clusters, attracting residents to the Alga Special Economic Zone and our five territories of advanced socio-economic development. We open technoparks with modern knowledge-intensive industries. At the same time, we often encounter a situation where there is no one to work at new enterprises. As the implementation of all our economic plans goes on, thousands of new vacancies will appear. And as part of the modernization of enterprises, the need for qualified workers will only increase”.

 “Secondly, we note that secondary vocational education is becoming more and more in demand in our country. In recent years, about half of the students after the ninth grade have chosen colleges. It is important to cement this trend, to raise the prestige of vocational professions and labour dynasties. To create modern high-performance jobs with decent working conditions and high wages”.

 “Now it is important for us to ensure the cooperation of businesses, industries and secondary vocational education institutions. We have such experience – a lot of colleges have worked together with large businesses for many years, in fact, supplying personnel for them”.

Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Bashkortostan Inessa Kosolapova spoke about the strategic tasks for training qualified personnel in accordance with the needs of the regional labour market: “The development of the Republic economy requires the development of additional fields in vocational training in new future-oriented professions. As the heritage of the National Championship “Young Professionals” (WorldSkills Russia), which took place in Ufa in 2021, we opened 109 workshops that allow us to train professionals at a higher level. And by 2024, we will open 218 more modern workshops in the colleges of the Republic.”

The heads of colleges in the region shared their successful experience of the cooperation between vocational education institutions and potential employers at the meeting of the Republican Council on SVE (Secondary Vocational Education).

For example, the Neftekamsk Machine-Building College has been cooperating with PJSC NEFAZ for many years. About 600 graduates of this educational institution work at the automotive plant. The director of the college said that due to the growth in the production volumes at NEFAZ, the college has increased the plan for admission of future welders and introduced a new competencies training programme. The teachers undergo regular training at the plant, and plant workers can be retrained at the College Centre for Applied Qualifications.

Tuimazy Industrial College closely cooperates with the local agitating truck plant. The colleges promptly respond to the requests of the plant and have increased the number of places for admission to the specialties of a welder and a machine operator; senior students successfully combine their studies with work at the plant.

In 2019, the Aksenov Agro-Industrial College received a grant, thanks to which it equipped five modern workshops on competencies “Agronomy”, “Agricultural Biotechnologies”, “City Farming”, “Operation of Agricultural Machines” and “Veterinary Medicine”.

And there are a lot of such examples.