Secondary Education

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– What do you think of vocational or professional training in schools?

– Well, first of all, I think we need to train people for the job market, and that needs to begin with schools, but some changes are necessary. Let me explain. First of all, I think we’re asking too much of students to decide, at the age of 15, what job they want to do. How many people really know that at 15? Maybe a few, but I certainly didn’t. So we need courses that students can choose from and, more importantly, change easily, as their ambitions change.

– It is important, though, isn’t it, to train people for the world of work?

– Of course. Vocational training exists to train a competitive workforce for the job market. But the people we are training now are for tomorrow’s job market, and that may change. So we need to keep a close eye on the skills needed, and include any changes in our teaching.

– So what do you think we should be teaching our secondary school students?

– It seems obvious to me that we need to develop academic and practical skills among our teenagers. I think they need both, but I accept that some find it difficult to do one or the other. What I say is, keep teaching them both academic subjects and skills that they will need for their professional lives. We can do both.

– And how do you see your role as a teacher?

– We, as teachers, need to encourage personal skills, life skills, skills that students can take with them wherever they go. We have to focus on making them, firstly, good people who care about others. Then we need to teach them to be adaptable and free-thinking enough to be able to survive in the job market, whatever changes may come. These should be basic goals in whatever subject we teach.

– We’re nearly out of time. Can you sum up what you would like to happen in Ukraine?

– It comes down to two things. We should not be aiming to fill our universities, academies and institutes with people who cannot later find jobs. Nor should we lose touch with the professional and vocational skills that we will need when today’s young people enter the job market. We have a great education system here. We must make sure it does the best possible job in terms of preparing our young people for the real world.