EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES FOR RE-INDUSTRIALISATION
Picture: training of trainers for RAF 1,vocational training organised by banking sector, Kigali, May 2019
In a previous article, I argued for courageous and necessary steps to re-industrialize Europe, on the grounds that a continent dedicated solely to services does not offer sufficient opportunities to help all sections of society at work and, moreover, to promote most forms of innovation. Incidentally, it is also known that the steps that are currently being taken to further improve deep learning in artificial intelligence are aimed precisely at ensuring a level of service provided by robots that people can no longer cope with, which will make them useless.
The re-industrialization that has now begun in the US. and several European countries, however, is one based on digitization and innovation. It is only in this way that companies are again prepared to invest in Europe and to remove their production from the Far East. However, this digitization and innovation requires a completely different educational curriculum than we are used to in Europe. It does not mean that education by the transfer of knowledge must be wiped off, that the old school education of thinkers and values must be dug up. But it does require a combination of knowledge and skills in compulsory education and a lifelong acing for continuous education. It is important to understand the social, economic, historical and cultural heritage of the context in which people live and work. It also requires education for all levels and ages in practical environments and the integration of the people’s living contexts in a technological and digital environment.
Re-industrialization focuses on the manufacturing industry. This is still the backbone of the economy and investing in it offers a multiplication in economic growth. A general increase in the productivity of the manufacturing sector makes a contribution to the growth of GDP that is four times higher than that of other inputs. However, industrialization requires new competencies that are supported by technology and also requires new organizational models. On the one hand, the new competences must be embedded in compulsory education, but on the other hand, they must also be transferred to those that are already at work. This is the role of both adult education and the business community itself.
Within the educational process, innovation must focus on content and methods, on the steering methods necessary to achieve innovation, on human resources and skills and on the required materials and on institutional settings. Even though reform initiatives in education are crucial, more feasible, faster and more incisive changes are be quickly realized by involving local actors in action research practices.[1]
Permanent learning as a guarantee for lasting production improvement
It is assumed that the number of existing companies, investment in research and development, the quality of science and education, the availability of financing and government policy have a major influence on the number of entrepreneurs in a country.[2]
We do not want to address in the first place the steps that compulsory education is taking to prepare the future generation for this renewed interest in industry. The introduction of S.T.E.M. (skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in compulsory education is starting up. In some countries with a less classical tradition, slightly faster than in countries that drag on a Greek-Latin philosophical past. Moreover, the German-speaking countries have a long lasting tradition and an appreciation of technical schools and colleges as well as of dual learning. In this last case pupils & students with a more practical attitude quickly receive a combined training package in close cooperation between the company providing the work placement and the educational institution that generally provides education and supervises the internship. This principles are introduced as well on the high school as on the college level. With an “ausbildungsintegrierende” study, the student follows a bachelor study as well as an “Ausbildung”, a recognized professional training in a company. So at the end of your studies, he will receive a Bachelor's degree and a recognized professional title. A “praxisintegrierende” study, on the other hand, also has a theoretical and a practical part, but this practical part is not a recognized Ausbildung. He will therefore receive one diploma at the end, a bachelor's degree. The practical part usually involves a long-term internship at one company, but sometimes shorter internships at different companies.[3]
Typically for Eastern European countries, technical colleges that were very active and of high quality during soviet times, are still existing and some of them even arrived to adapt to the new world environment. We visited in February 2019 the Georgian Aviation University. This private university covers the entire range of professions in the aviation industry, from airplane construction, over airplane maintenance, airplane and helicopter piloting , to flight attendance, including drones development.[4]
However, in the first place we want to treat the steps that are being taken in European countries to continuously train already working citizens and to prepare them for a constantly changing working environment and renewed competency requirements. A country that has the ambition to be a knowledge economy in a globalized, competitive world with many Asian tigers, should focus on the best presenters in class. In this case, this is Denmark where 58 percent of the adults in 2018 participated in relevant training. The OECD average is 40%. In addition, 60 percent of the adults in Denmark have a higher education diploma, while the average for the OECD is 20 percent.[5]
There is no single description of 'mature student' in higher education, although some Member States do have a precise definition for policy reasons or to be able to count them in national statistics.[6]
The principle of lifelong learning has 3 major routes in Europe. There is the compulsory learning-replacing circuit where adults who have not been able to complete secondary education are offered a second chance, usually in evening classes. Classroom education is often supported by distance learning and / or e-learning.[7] This is called "blended learning". The same principle applies to higher education.
Then there is further education in which short or medium-term specialization programs are offered in evening classes that lead to a certificate or diploma. At university level, we speak of postgraduate or even master-after-master’s degrees.
In several countries, recognized professions such as accountant, general practitioner, dentist, lawyer, pharmacist etc. require permanent training of their members so that they can retain their recognition. A similar area of adult learning that has attracted attention at EU level is that of continuing vocational education and training (CVET). This is mainly funded by enterprises, possibly with some public contribution to back up policy priorities, such as extending opportunities to otherwise untargeted audiences. In the EU, 88 % of enterprises employing over 250 employees offer CVET to the benefit of 48 % of the employees. [8]
Participation in adult learning is higher for 25-54 year olds than for 55-74 year olds. One of the starkest gaps in participation rates is the difference between unemployed persons and employed persons.
And then there is also informal learning, which is encouraged by business sectors, where employees and workers or regular times are kept up-to-date on the initiative of the company itself of new techniques, but also of new management methods. Self-managing teams of highly skilled employees are thus established and are constantly coached without falling into managerial principles. "Open” teachers value self-directed learning, collaboration, reflection, and challenge. They take risks in their way of learning, but this can be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat.[9]
There is a clear difference between the EU member states[10] regarding the range of training within companies. The large companies are more consistent in their offering than the small ones, with the small SMEs offering very different results. They recruit knowledge and, in a number of cases, make insufficient efforts to systematically increase the externally acquired competence internally.
Studies have shown that delivering quality education to the entire population leads to a level of knowledge and skills that traditional education systems can never achieve. Skilled workers and employees deliver a productivity gain as well as technological progress for business. The latter is achieved because trained employees are quicker to acquire new systems –even that were developed elsewhere- and also participate in innovative processes and systems within the company. Continuing education provides a social and institutional capital at population level that attracts investment and sustains growth. It also helps in building social trust, developing participatory societies, strengthening the rule of law and supporting good governance.[11]
Educational challenges for reindustrialization
The EU's education and training strategy of the previous EU Commission, ET2020, has been attentive to the issue of equity in adult learning. It stated that every adult should have the chance to learn and train, to obtain and maintain a job or to progress in a career. The strategy also recognised adult learning as essential for personal development and active citizenship.[12] The European Commission hosted also a ePlatform for Adult Learning in Europe, EPALE, a multilingual online space that brings together communities of practice, a resource centre, an events calendar and a a partner search-tool.
But, as in many cases, every DG within the E.U. administration and every parliamentary committee works on its own island and so here we also miss the coherence between the European Commission's commitment to re-industrialization and its commitment to quality education and training in a lifelong learning context .
The study by the professors P. Mengoli and M. Russo of the University of Modena and Emilia-Romagna (I) gives some very specific recommendations. They plead to support a more appropriate set of education and training activities to enhance knowledge-driven re-industrialisation. The main ingredients for them are[13] to boost innovation in the whole education system, from pre-school to university. In particular, the education and training system must take on the challenge to provide or to increase the provision of the ability to apply in different environments what has been learned. As second element they quote the understanding of the social, economic, historical and cultural heritage of the context in which people live and work and as third the mastering of knowledge of the core work processes.
We tried to develop these premises in our article and promote the dissemination of these principles in the various educational organisations of the member states. It is a very labour-intensive objective because so many regions, cities and training institutions are involved. They must each translate these objectives at their own level. In the field of adult education, they should also organise themselves in such a way that they combine their role of creator of social cohesion with their task as stimulator of diffuser of processional competences in every area. Only in this way can Europe live up to the challenge of re-industrialization and a future-oriented economy.
Louis Delcart, board member European Academy of the Regions, www.ear-aer.eu
[1] Paola Mengoli - Margherita Russo: Innovation in education and re-industrialisation in Europe, in: DEMB Working Paper Series, N. 35, Dipartimento di Economia “Marco Biagi”, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, July 2014 - http://www.ipyme.org/es-ES/Financiacion/Reindus/Paginas/Reindus.aspx
[2] Dries De Smet: Ondernemerschap is een culturele kwestie (Entrepreneurship is a cultural question) De Standaard - 23 september 2019
[3] Studeren en werken tegelijk: de duale studie (Study and work at the same time: the dual study) in Duitslanddesk, Stichting Duitsland Instituut bij de Universiteit van Amsterdam, https://www.studereninduitsland.nl/studie-informatie/duitsland-onder-de-loep/duale-studies
[4] Presentation and dialog at Georgian Aviation University in Tbilisi, in ear-aer.eu, http://ear-aer.eu/2019/02/05/presentation-and-dialog-at-georgian-aviation-university-in-tbilisi-on-february-5th-2019/
[5] Wouter Duyck, Professor cognitieve psychologie (UGent): Vlaanderen leert niet graag (Flanders does not like to learn), in De Standaard, 11-7-2019
[6] Lifelong learning in the EU, in http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/infographics/lifelonglearning/index.html
[7] Louis Delcart: Rwanda Academy of Finance: the road to professional competence in Principles of Regional Approach-blog, 22-6-2019, https://lodelcar.tumblr.com/post/185770183790/rwanda-academy-of-finance-the-road-to
[8] Lifelong learning in the EU, in http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/infographics/lifelonglearning/index.html
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifelong_learning
[10] Lifelong learning in the EU, in http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/infographics/lifelonglearning/index.html
[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifelong_learning
[12] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/infographics/lifelonglearning/index.html
[13] Paola Mengoli - Margherita Russo: Innovation in education and re-industrialisation in Europe, in: DEMB Working Paper Series, N. 35, Dipartimento di Economia “Marco Biagi”, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, July 2014 - http://www.ipyme.org/es-ES/Financiacion/Reindus/Paginas/Reindus.aspx
