Czechia is one of the most industrialised countries in Europe. Maintaining its international competitiveness requires constant introduction of state-of-the-art technologies, and reflection of the new requirements of Industry 4.0 for workforce competences. In December 2022, the 4-year Skills 4.0 project of the labour ministry was successfully completed. It was implemented by a consortium of the Czech Confederation of Industry, the Czech Chamber of Commerce, and the Czech consultancy company TREXIMA. Although the project activities aimed at easing cooperation between schools and companies in the introduction of dual training elements, the main objective was to develop a tool predicting the competences required by the labour market in the near future.
New Skills Monitor
Innovative working groups made up of about 130 experts from companies, research and education institutions, secondary schools and higher education institutions have mapped and described new trends and competences in demand. The New Skills Monitor, recently developed by the project, identified over 1 700 new skills in 10 selected economic sectors:
- electromobility
- energy
- chemistry
- ICT – cybersecurity
- creative industries – gaming
- logistics
- retail with focus on e-commerce and internet marketing
- modern industrial manufacturing/engineering
- food
- construction
Twenty sample profiles of new occupations (e.g. cyber security specialist, autotronics technician, game developer, logistics or marketing specialist) were created, combining the skills currently required and taught with new skills from the ‘sectoral competence pyramids’.
Competence pyramids
The sectoral competence pyramids are a hierarchical and systematically classified set of competences in a given sector; they form the basis for the description of new skills for the future. The pyramid is based on generally applicable knowledge, vocational and transferable (soft) skills, and basic competences (numeracy, literacy, etc.). The centre of the pyramid defines the broad competence base of the sector and is particularly relevant for retraining in another area of the sector. The top of the pyramid consists of highly specialised skills (see figure).
Practical application of the project outputs
The tools developed will be used to update the National Register of Occupations by adding new occupations and competences. The Register is used by the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, as well as by career counsellors at schools and HR specialists in companies. The competency pyramids and the New Skills Monitor are an important starting point for the preparation of upskilling and reskilling programmes, and are crucial for adult education in terms of quality and relevance.
Finally, both tools provide a structured source of information for the ongoing innovation of the system of fields of study, and the updating of secondary VET curricula, which are also objectives set by the Czech Republic's Strategy of Education Policy 2030+. The innovative working groups have also involved expert guarantors from the National Pedagogical Institute of the Czech Republic (NPI ČR), ensuring that the results of Skills 4.0 are reflected in revised national and model school curricula, in line with the pilot sectors of the project. In the framework of the cooperation between the innovation working groups and the NPI ČR, six new upper secondary VET fields were designed, including logistics, game developer, mechatronics technician, etc. While the concept of the renewed system of fields of study is expected in 2023, the updating of VET curricula will follow the innovation, and it is expected to be finalised in 2025.
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Mapování kompetencí [Competence mapping]
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Please cite this news item as: ReferNet Czechia; Cedefop (2023). Czechia: aligning job descriptions and VET curricula to labour market needs. |