Blog The South Bohemian Chamber of Commerce actively promotes dialogue between businesses and technical secondary schools.

On the occasion of the jubileé edition of the Education and Crafts exhibition, the XIII. meeting of the Personnel Club at JHK took place, with members including the MOTOR JIKOV Group.
The disparity between supply and demand in the job market for recent high school graduates, the lack of quality technical programs, and the current education funding system were the main topics of the panel discussion, attended by representatives from the public and business sectors. Member organizations of the South Bohemian Chamber of Commerce had the opportunity to consult on current issues in vocational education with representatives from the Ministry of Education, the employment office, universities, and secondary technical schools.

From the discussion's conclusions, it emerges that the disconnect between the supply of qualified graduates and the companies' requirements may be partly due to the unappealing pay in technical professions and the low level of technical education caused by a shortage of qualified personnel. "Today's elementary school pupils tend to prefer studying at general high schools leading to a maturita. Contributing to this is also the fact that technical education, such as workshops, has disappeared from primary education," assesses the current situation of vocational training director of the JHK regional office in České Budějovice Lenka Vohradníková. "A good example of how to support manual skills again are children's science universities, which stimulate interest in natural sciences and technical fields among primary and secondary school students," adds Vohradníková.

Although state and local authorities acknowledge the need to improve the current education system and strive to meet the needs of both sides, the measures they implement in this area are mostly slow-going. "The steps taken by the Ministry of Education are on the right track but respond inflexibly to current issues. Schools should not wait for legislative measures and should initiate collaboration with companies on their own," comments the current state of cooperation between companies and secondary schools, Human Resources Development Director of the MOTOR JIKOV Group, Ing. Věra Vrchotová.

"The Personnel Club at JHK is not simply a platform for meetings between the business sector and educational institutions for mutual cooperation. It also facilitates the exchange of valuable information and long-standing experiences among its members, which number over 1,000 entities," explains the role of JHK, Chairman of the Board, Ing. Miroslav Dvořák. "Supporting technical and craft disciplines and linking them with practice to increase graduates' employability is among our long-term goals," adds Dvořák.

This is also confirmed by the ongoing event titled "JHK School Fair 2014," which aims to provide information to primary school students and their parents about secondary schools and trade schools in the South Bohemian region. More details about the school fair can be found on the website www.jhk.cz.