The highest proportion of people with professional training in the OECD – Austria therefore has an important competitive advantage in the fight against the shortage of qualified workers
Vienna (OTS) – The OECD sees strengthening vocational training as a key factor in meeting the growing need for skilled workers: This is a key message from the OECD study “Education at a Glance 2023”, which was published on Tuesday. fair.
“With our strong dual training system, Austria has the best conditions and is excellently positioned. We have already complied with many of the OECD recommendations and we are at the forefront here”, says Mariana Kühnel, deputy. Secretary General of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce: “What the OECD suggests in its report, namely involving employers more closely in training, has always been practiced in Austria through our dual training. Apprentices receive practical training in companies and acquire the necessary specialist knowledge in vocational schools. The excellent work that our training companies are doing here is demonstrated by the recent successes at the EuroSkills 2023 European Skills Championship: Austria’s young skilled workers returned from Gdansk with 18 medals – and therefore as the best among 32 European nations .”
In Austria, 54 percent of young people aged 25 to 34 have a professional qualification as the highest level of education: this is the highest figure in the world; the average for the 38 OECD countries is just 32 percent. In EU-25 states, the percentage is 35 percent.
Austria has made “a precision landing” with its assessment of the law on higher professional education, said Kühnel. The OECD suggests creating more higher education programs that build on the skills of graduates from vocational education programs. Higher vocational education is an essential solution to closing the gap in education policy, which chambers of commerce have been calling for and actively promoting for many years and which will strengthen Austria as a successful business location in the medium term.
“This means that the 1.6 million people in Austria who hold an apprenticeship qualification have attractive career advancement opportunities and qualifications that are in no way inferior to those in the higher education sector,” says Kühnel. “Higher professional education represents a real milestone for Austria. From an economic point of view, this is the greatest achievement of educational policy in 30 years, since the creation of the universities of applied sciences.”
The OECD also considers it important to improve the permeability between vocational training and other areas of education. Vocational training programs would have to provide the necessary qualifications for subsequent university studies.
Kühnel: “This permeability already exists, but we are constantly interested in creating even smarter networked training paths. In the future, there should and will be numerous attractive opportunities for higher qualifications following every education and training decision.”
An example of a successful combination of school and vocational training is: Double Gym, which can now be completed throughout Austria in eleven promising professions. This is a dual training course tailored to AHS graduates, with a shorter learning period, a higher starting income and teaching digital, social and international skills for the future.
“This means that young, ambitious people who are unsure about which path to take after finishing high school or who have dropped out of university studies can learn practical professions with great career opportunities and become leading experts in a short space of time,” says Kuhnel. (PWK289/HSP)
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