Round Table Conference: Bridging the Gap between Education and Labour Markets Needs

The Bulgarian Chevening Association, Media and Public Communications Department and International Relations Department in cooperation with the British Embassy and British Council – Sofia organized an International Round Table Conference on Bridging the Gap between Education and Labour Market Needs.

The Round Table Conference was organized in three panels as followed: Jobs of the Future, Best Practices in Education and How We Define Its Quality: from the Kindergarten to the University and beyond, The Future Is Here: How Are We Developing Talents to Be Useful in Fast-Changing Workplace Environment? Good Practice Examples.

Prof. Dr. Valentin Goev, Vice Rector for Scientific Research Activity greeted the participants and organizers on behalf of the Rector of UNWE Prof. D.Sc.(Econ.) Statty Stattev. Congratulations for the nice initiative and choice of actual topic. The relation between the education and practice becomes more and more important because for being able a man needs to know and for knowing a man needs to be educated, said Prof. Goev.

H.E. Emma Hopkins, Ambassador of the UK to Bulgaria defined the Conference as an exclusively important as well as a necessary platform for dialogue between the institutions in the conditions of fast-changing labour market. Bulgaria as well as the UK faces all the problems related to the qualified education of specialists and the necessity to provide an educational system preparing professionals in compliance with the labour market needs, pointed out the Ambassador.

I feel like being at home because I am a graduate of UNWE, pointed out Dr. Rumyana Atanasova, Chairwoman of the Bulgarian Chevening Association. Today we will try to exchange some ideas, opinions and good practices about what can be done and what have already been done about reducing the gap between the education and labour market, declared Dr. Atanasova.

Mr. Marko Pavic, Minister of Labour and Pension System of the Republic of Croatia pointed out that because of the gap between the educational system and labour market needs an educational reform had been started in his country. The educational system should be flexible to sustain the fast development of modern technologies leading to the unpredictable labour market development and constant demand of new professions. He examined the professional qualities required by the rates of future development: digital literacy, critical thinking, communication skills, capability for solving problems and decision making, readiness for lifelong learning and obtaining new knowledge in the relevant field, acquisition of more than one speciality. The engines for developing the education in the provision of these qualities should be the universities.

Undoubtedly the knowledge and skills have always been strategically important for achieving competitiveness, growth and innovations, pointed out Assoc. Prof. Dr. Biser Petkov, Minister of Labour and Social Policy and Head of the Economics of Trade Department at the UNWE. The globalization and technological changes accompanying our lives don`t stop setting new requirements for the working force and more and more frequently they require new and more wide ranged skills. It is a challenge to educational system which also needs to adapt. The issues of employment and education are similar, outlined the Minister. According to him the most important competencies are the command of foreign languages, computer and creative skills, critical thinking and capability for solving problems which should be inseparable part of the profile of modern people.

I feel like being at home, shared Mrs. Lyubov Kostova, Country Director of British Council. We, the British Council representatives are really proud of the achievements of Chevening scholarship students in Bulgaria. The alumni associations are unions of the people who create a common language and future.

Mr. Marcel Van Der Hoek, Country Managing Director of ABB Bulgaria presented the company specialized in manufacture of electrification products and reviewed the labour market changes determined by the business demands of workplaces. For solving the problem related to the lack of engineers specialized in manufacture of robots the company had started to carry out training courses which had been more cost-effective than reducing the qualified working force.

The business has an obligation to assist the education and to participate in the process of training at the universities, said Mr. Raycho Raychev, founder and CEO of Endurosat. According to him the companies know what exactly miss the education at the universities but often provide training for their employees. People who work for us are trained on our programmes, added Mr. Raychev and appealed for establishing better contact between the business and companies.

The Executive Director of Education 2030 Association Mr. Veselin Dimitrov presented the Association. Our objective is to have education that meets the needs of society. There is no positive growth in the educational system and it`s not a surprise. 60 % of Bulgarian companies have difficulties in staff recruitment. A great deal of them supports Bulgarian education only for advertising reasons. If we want to have professions in the future we should prepare citizens who look to the future, outlined Mr. Dimitrov.

The time has proven that societies could adapt themselves to the new technologies which means that we educate ourselves to a great extent, said Dr. Mariana Todorova, futurologist from the Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS). According to her the country should compensate people who drop behind. The surveys show that today`s 11 years old children will change their profession even 9 times in their lives. The education should not give us only facts but it should also teach us how to search, interpret, create and being enterprising, pointed out Dr. Todorova.

Results of the university scientific project entitled Market and Non-Market Alternatives of Public Financed Services focused on the school system of education were presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alexander Valkov from the UNWE. The main challenge in the school education assessment is the integration of grades for effectiveness and quality. There is a low effectiveness and weak international competitiveness of school education which in comparison to the school achievements becomes more and more expensive. Neglecting the resource factors is risky for the educational quality. The low funding level has a negative impact on the achievement of good results in the school education. 

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