CC BY
29
RELEVANT ISSUES ON TRAINING SPECIALISTS IN THE SYSTEM OF TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
K. A. Bisenov
The key to successful development of any society is close attention to and care for the system of education on the part of the state. Nowadays technical and professional education has acquired a special significance, as it forms the middle link of specialists for various branches of economy. On the initiative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. A. Nazarbaev the "State Program of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the development of technical and professional education for 2008-2012” has been approved.
Technical and professional education forms vitally important working skills and introduces young people to work on modern equipment with the use of new production technologies. Also, during the economical crisis, the possibility of mobile re-qualification from technical and professional education provides employment and social safety for the population. Thus, the individual gets an opportunity for professional realization and further continuous education.
Due to this, the rise of the quality and orientation towards quality as the main factor in providing the competitive ability of educational services must determine the long-term strategy of the organizations of technical and professional education. Quality management, regarded as one of the most important components of management, requires an over-all approach. For effective quality management it is necessary to introduce systems based on the international standards of ICO 9000 that include quality provision as well as quality management. To introduce the quality management system into the system of technical and professional education, a strategic decision on the part of the educational institution’s management is required. Quality management system is made more important by the fact that it allows organizations to react fast to the changing needs of the work market, and orientates consumers of educational services toward particular goals and providers of the services toward perfecting their resources, in order to achieve the goals they have set for themselves.
Introduction of the quality management system into the organizations of technical and professional education is designed to: (a) help the successful realization of educational services; (b) raise quality and competitive ability of the graduates of higher education institutions; (c) help
19
satisfy the professional requirements of employers; (d) widen the market possibilities of preparing middle level specialists; (e) improve the image of the organization in the eyes of the general public, etc.
Besides this, the introduction of the quality management system increases management culture and the level of controllability, i.e. it improves: consistency in the achievement of goals, interaction with partners, motivation of personnel, the use of time and resources, and it diminishes expenses on services provided.
At present, some special purpose problems have appeared that should be solved urgently. Among them the most important are:
firstly, overcoming the shortage of qualified middle level staff with professional technical education. High technology productions and branches that require large investments are experiencing a shortage of staff, and particularly shortage of qualified workers and middle level specialists;
secondly, a lack of an analysis of the situation determining staff requirements in different spheres of economy led to a low level of employment of graduates, which in the end affected the work market;
thirdly, the outdated material and technical base of the technical and professional and post-secondary school education makes it impossible to solve the problems of training qualified workers and specialists to the full extent;
fourthly, there is no effective mechanism to attract the resources of the private sector of the economy to the organization of professional education and training of staff. The role, responsibility and interest of the employers in the organization of technical and professional education have not been regulated by legislation. Employers, especially private companies and organizations, and foreign companies, take virtually no part in training qualified specialists. There appears to be a very weak connection between organizations of technical and professional education and centers for support and development of small and middle businesses, unions and associations of employers;
fifthly, there is a major problem with further education of teachers and masters of production training. Teachers of general subjects improve their qualification in the regional and republican Institutes of Further Training. Unfortunately, teachers of special subjects and masters of production training don't always have the opportunity to improve their qualification and mastery;
20
Sixthly, the system of payment for masters of production training of organizations of technical and professional education is very imperfect.
To solve these problems, we consider it necessary to take the following measures. To organize the training of qualified specialists in specialties that are in demand on the work market, to adapt the structure and quality of professional education to the requirements of the employers. In order to achieve this, we first of all have to organize constant monitoring of the work process, and regularly make a forecast of the demand for specialists with technical and professional education. We consider it necessary to create industrial councils for the training of the regular labor force; the development of standardized qualification descriptions of professions; bringing to a unified standard qualification levels, classes and categories with due account for international requirements; formation of a unified national qualification system; the renewal of qualification requirements for specialists; the development of professional standards. We also consider the following to be necessary:
(a) the increase of the state educational order for the training of staff with technical and professional education by 30% at the expense of the national budget, which will make it possible to satisfy the need of the industries in qualified specialists;
(b) To allocate state educational grants to those higher education institutions in which the system has been established for training of engineering-pedagogical staff, in order to provide technical and professional education institutions with highly qualified specialists;
(c) to make provisions for state educational grants for college graduates of engineering and technical specialties (at present state educational grants are provided at the higher education institutions for the further education of college graduates in pedagogical specialties);
(d) it is also necessary to actively introduce into the learning process the use of elements of long-distance teaching, virtual laboratory complexes with imitative software for training operation and maintenance personnel, and to form long-distance teaching centers at institutions of technical and professional education., The introduction of this training technology will improve the quality of the training of specialists for such branches of the economy as the oil and gas, nuclear, ore mining and smelting industries, where, as we know, students are not always allowed to access hazardous production facilities on the grounds of accident prevention.
Training of qualified specialists is impossible without the participation of business structures in the organization of professional education. As part
21
of industrial councils for the development of technical and professional education and preparation of personnel, these structures can: (a) participate in predicting and determining the need for qualified staff of their companies, and constantly inform the state authorities for labor and employment; (b) participate in the development of professional standards; (c) give students of institutions of technical and professional education the opportunity to do practical familiarization and production training at their companies; (d) facilitate the modernization of training and production facilities of the educational institutions, and supply them with modern equipment; (e) create conditions for further education and on-site training of teachers and masters of industrial training at company factories; (f) award company maintenance allowances to students of the most vulnerable social groups; (g) participate in the work of qualification commissions for assigning qualifications to graduates. Furthermore, granting additional tax concessions to companies that invest in technical and professional education will stimulate their active participation in the organization of training of qualified specialists.
For a real improvement of the system of technical and professional education, it is necessary to have a complex analysis of its substantive, financial and social condition.
Solving the above listed problems will ensure the accessibility and attractiveness of technical and professional education, and also will improve the quality of training and competitive ability of the technical maintenance personnel, which will undoubtedly play a significant role in the development and prosperity of the state.
References
1. Бисенов К. А. Подготовка высококвалифицированных кадров - основа реализации стратегии индустриально-инновационного развития региона // сборник докладов Вторых международных научных Надировских чтений. - Алматы, 2004.
2. Киянский В. В. и др. Менеджмент качества - философия конкурентоспособности. - Уральск, 2008.
22
