HR
requirements. We have the National
Qualification System, which has worked
with employers for almost fifteen
years now. Furthermore, the law on
the recognition of educational results
allows applications to be tested by
an authorised figure and gain certification
for professional qualifications without
the need for them to prove where they
gained the necessary knowledge or
skills. In fact, that is the essence of adult
education: letting people learn gradually
on their own.
What is the Industry Union’s role
in the field of education?
We recognize the need for maintaining
a relationship with scientific and technical
fields at all levels of education. We support
the idea of a more generalised high
school education so that students can
more readily adapt and specialise through
something like the aforementioned
National Qualification System (NQS). This
system would simplify education for adults
in terms of professional requalification.
Another tested approach is that of ‘dual
principles’ in vocational training. Simply
said, this method outsources part of
the student’s education to companies, or
field-experience providers, on the basis of
a mutual contract. In 2017, we launched
a pilot project making use of dualeducation principles in collaboration
with the Development Association of
the Moravian-Silesian Region. Currently,
thirty-three companies and schools from
all around the Moravian-Silesian, Zlín,
Central Bohemian and Ustí regions have
joined the project.
The theme of today’s conference
was ‘Future of education - future
of companies.’ What changes need to be
made to the current education system?
Our education system needs to be
flexible and open-ended, somewhat
reminiscent of an online store, where
anyone interested can drop by, gain
the knowledge and skills they desire or
need for their employment or business.
Needless to say, everyone needs
to have a solid foundation, a sort of
general ‘highschool overview’. Online
courses would then offer no age
limitations and would be a crossroads
for all age groups. Furthermore, I also
believe that employing experts to
pass their experience on in online
courses, workshops or workplaces
would make professional transitions
more effective.
You are one of the 2nd Economic
Transformation Initiative’s leaders. How
would you describe its main goals?
First, I would like to mention something
about the 1st Economic Transformation.
It lasted from 1989 to 2021, when the
pandemic started. It was relatively
successful, however, as it was conceived
in the 90s, it was based on a cheap
workforce, advantageous localisation and
quality infrastructure, which nowadays
have become obsolete. This initiative
allowed us to catch up to southern Europe,
including Greece, Portugal, and partially
even Spain and Italy. Now we need to
focus on final production and motivate
‘our’ foreign companies to invest part of
their profits locally so that we do not lose
300bn crowns in dividends each year. We
need to increase our productivity through
digitization, automation and robotization.
Those are our main goals for the next
couple decades, and they will allow us to
finally catch up to Scandinavia, Benelux,
Germany and Austria. We definitely have
a chance to accomplish this, especially
if we do not fall to extreme actions such
as leaving the European Union. We are
resourceful and capable; we just need time.
“
We are resourceful and
capable; we just need time.
”
At your talk today, you said that we should
remember your motto: creativity and
original solutions are bred from diversity.
How should we understand this?
In this day and age, having your own unique
and innovative product is very valuable. It
is what keeps you a step ahead of your
competition. That is what we should
all strive for. The crux of creating such
a product is aiming to attract the widest
possible sample of customers. The key
to doing this successfully is considering
the points of view and aesthetics of
different customer groups during the preproduction process.
If, for example, you have an automotive
company that plans to sell globally, your
design team needs to consist of more than
just six white, thirty-year-old men with
the same nationality. This team would
definitely be able to easily and quickly
design a car that would be attractive to
customers such as themselves, from their
country or region. This same car, however,
will likely be unable to meet the needs of
someone on the other side of the world.
This illustrates the necessity of including
foreigners in your team, as they will be
able to tell you that, for example, Chinese
customers prefer their cars to have
aluminium wherever possible. Women
are another important asset to include in
design teams. Women make car purchases
more often than they used to in the past
so it is essential to include aesthetics that
would appeal to them in the final product.
Additionally, including older employees
in your team can highlight issues that
young people would ignore or might
not experience. In summary, building
a diverse team maximises creativity which
is then reflected in the product, allowing
it to attract the widest possible spectrum
of customers.
I made three notes during your talk:
1) A relationship with technology begins
with proper polytechnical education in
primary schools; 2) high schools need
to start turning towards dual education;
3) the connection between tertiary
education, universities and companies
is key. Are these the paths that lead to
a successful future?
Improving our education system will
allow us to push our industry to the
capability of producing products with
a high added value. Education needs
to be more centred around guiding
students depending on their talents and
expectations. Kindergartens and the first
year of primary school should already give
children knowledge of technology and
the workings of the real world. We need
to show our children the joy of creating.
The second year of primary school
should then supplement the expansion of
polytechnical knowledge with practical
workshops.
We have been seeking the expansion of
dual education at highschools for a while
now. Students better understand and
grow relationships in different fields if they
are able to gain real work experience in
companies or work with experts. This is
applicable to universities as well, where
students should have the opportunity to
take part in joint applied research with
companies. In addition to that, however,
technical and scientific education
should be systematically promoted
among the public and supported by
extracurricular activities.
Mr Špicar, thank you for the interview.
Text: redakce
Foto: MSID, archiv Radek Špicar
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