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PARTICULARITIES OF PURSUING LIFELONG PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
R.K. Khakimova
In modern terms, lifelong professional development can be regarded as an opportunity for adapting the workforce to demands of the changing production process, to changes in regulatory requirements, and to the operating environment of the labor market.
1. A potential consumer of additional professional education services is an individual who is not always able to solve the problem of improving his or her skills alone. One of the goals of lifelong professional education is to enhance the social and educational spheres of one's life. By getting involved in the system of professional education, a person not only acquires knowledge and skills in certain professional programs, but also learns job search techniques, etc. The problem, however, is that in most cases the jobs offered aren’t attractive since the wages they provide are not only not decent, but are often below the regional average level, and sometimes even below the subsistence level. Federal state standards define general and professional competencies, and a set of qualifications that help prepare an individual for further employment. By leveraging the intellectual and personal capabilities and competencies acquired through professional education and additional training, a specialist is able to find a decent job and secure conditions for career development in the organization. New or refreshed professional knowledge and skills help employees to overcome problems caused by changes in technology and in the labor market environment.
2. The effectiveness of a worker’s lifelong professional development is in many respects dependent on the condition of the public system of professional education and training. Meanwhile, we have to acknowledge a number of current negative phenomena in primary and secondary professional education: (a) career guidance activities in schools are only oriented towards higher professional education; (b) the position of budget-financed education institutions focused on the needs of the labor market is not equal to that of commercial institutions of professional education which are oriented towards "fashionable professions" without reflecting the development of business and changes in the labor market; (c) primary and secondary professional education institutions have difficulties with forecasting the development of their own educational services in the long run, because businesses have no long-term plans for development of human resources; (d) the value of professional education is determined more by the false ideas of young people about prestigious professions and specialties than by demand for human resources in the production and service sectors; and (e) jobs in mass professions and specialties remain unattractive for young people (low wages, poor working conditions, lack of social security, etc.).
3. Professional education programs offered by education institutions using a modular competency-based approach allow for selecting required education modules or competencies demanded by employers; however knowledge acquired in individual modules of these programs is not certified on the interregional and international levels, and the quality of training at each stage or with respect to specific competencies cannot be matched or compared. Lagging behind in technical equipment of the production process is overcome by using simulation
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technology which accelerates the assimilation of knowledge. Education institutions pay much attention to the development and implementation of a criteria-based assessment system and evaluation tools. Employers are actively involved in the development of this assessment system and in the evaluation of practical work. The outcomes represent a fair reflection of the extent to which professional competencies are developed and preparedness for professional activities is in place. It is professional activity that promotes self-improvement of specialists, growth of their professionalism, positive changes in their personality, and development of professional culture.
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