On that terrible, bitter and shocking morning of February 24, 2022, the life of our native Ukraine, every person, institution, enterprise and millions of Ukrainians suddenly changed. A large-scale Russian aggression began, the invasion of the enemy on the land of our Motherland, a bloody war began.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky quite rightly told the whole world that this is: “There is no justification for a lying and cynical invasion.” Ukrainians will never give up their freedom and independence to anyone. Only we ourselves, all citizens of Ukraine, have been determining our future since 1991. But now the fate of not only our country is being decided, but also what life will be like in Europe.
What seemed so important and necessary has been relegated to another plan, and the main task for all educators has become one thing – “Let’s work for Victory!”.
Educators on the front lines: unity and heroism in the fight for the sovereignty of Ukraine
At this time, educators demonstrated an incredible level of patriotism, humanism, and professionalism. From the first days of the war, we all worked. We all had hard work every day. But we have a common and lofty goal — preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Our Ukrainian nation rallied, united to save its Motherland, Europe and the world from bloody racism. After all, according to the definition of many international well-known politicians and Ukrainian state and public figures, racism is more dangerous than fascism.
During extremely difficult trials, we see how the attitude towards our state has changed throughout the world. Yellow and blue flags fluttered on all continents. Not only Ukrainian compatriots, but also representatives of power structures, state and public figures took to the streets and squares with them.
All progressive humanity condemns Russia’s wild and predatory aggression, supports Ukrainians in the difficult struggle for the independence of their Motherland.
And today, when you drive through the streets of our city, you see what the invaders who came to our land did to our beautiful, native Kharkov. The heart breaks. What this inhuman did on February 24, it is enough to say that it is a crime, it is an insult on which the whole humanity rests.
But even in such conditions, we work and train students, train qualified workers for the rapid reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure of vocational education institutions. And only that country, which has a qualified labor force, will not lose in global competition, and therefore this issue is a matter of the country’s strategic security. We are fighting to have a future, and the future is education.
We have organized a mixed educational process (part of the students study in the online system, and the other part face-to-face). The task before us is to provide everyone with work and fulfill the orders of the front regarding the sewing of the necessary ammunition, the production of protective equipment and equipment.
In this situation, of course, we all need to do everything possible to raise the development of professional education to the highest level, the costs will pay off later. We must not waste time.
The professional education system should become an active participant in the lifelong learning process and not limit itself to young people under 25 years of age, but to cover the contingent of people 45 years of age and older. It should also provide services to the unemployed.
It is necessary to develop the list of modern professions that are in demand on the labor market, to update the content of education, to promote the development of various forms of education for the accessibility of all segments of the population, regardless of their age.
So you have to work in difficult conditions, but it is also wise to train all professions in these conditions, so that after the end of the war, the trained personnel will be ready to develop the economy. Both professional educational institutions and employers should play a role in this in their cooperation. Cooperation with enterprises is not the beginning, but rather the result of what we have accumulated together over the years.
Partnership for the future
Our educational institution cooperates with a group of employers and this provides an opportunity for more effective development of the professional education system. The main goal of such a special partnership with enterprises is the coordination of the actions of the parties regarding the organization and conduct of professional training, retraining and advanced training of workers, taking into account the requirements of production.
Today, we cannot conduct the educational process without employers, and employers cannot develop the economy without highly qualified workers. That is, joint mutually beneficial activities of professional educational institutions and enterprises of various forms of ownership should ensure effective and high-quality provision of the needs of the regional labor market with highly qualified workers.
Here it is important to prepare not separate, but rather single common approaches, in order to maximally influence not only the development of enterprises, but also the modernization of the content of professional education. We work with light industry enterprises.
Light industry is one of the most important indicators of the country’s industrial development, so the prospects of this industry are beneficial both for the state economy and the population in general.
Now, during the military aggression, many enterprises were damaged or completely destroyed, and the workers went abroad or outside the region. And yet, at the moment, the strategic priority should be the growth of production volumes with a focus on the domestic consumer, so now we need to start the recovery of our country.
The damage to the educational institution did not escape us either. 48 windows were broken in two objects. We did not wait for someone to help us. And we coped with this task. We are already working for Victory, producing products for our defenders. This is a smart idea. Responsible students came to study with us, and this is due to the fact that age restrictions have been eliminated, who expressed a desire to fulfill orders for our defenders. They even refused vacation.
Seamstress, tailor, cutter. These professions are a priority for the recovery and development of the country’s economy in the conditions of a market economy. Modern production needs not just specialists and workers, but highly qualified workers who possess modern technologies, techniques and equipment.
We have equipment of the latest generation, which we managed to purchase before the war. The level of professional competence must meet, on the one hand, the requirements of the educational and qualification characteristics and the state standard for the “Tailor” profession, and on the other hand, the corporate requirements of the enterprise. The school and the enterprise have one common task – the level of professional competence and training of young workers should not be inferior to the level of the enterprise’s employees.
Another direction of cooperation with social partners: this is the employer’s interest in qualified personnel regarding professional training. The employer must do everything in his power to ensure that the student who studied remains employed by him.
Most young people today try to choose what will give them a guaranteed job, good working conditions and a high salary. There are also many problems in this matter. It is not only necessary to have legal documents to start the educational process, but also legislative acts. The school has always lived and lives not only on its history. The team constantly continues the glorious traditions of our educational institution. Life is complex and constantly changing, brings its own problems, but we try not to stop in our development.
Yes, according to the task of the International Organization (IMO), the school participated in the development and implementation of the project “Implementation of a modular education system”. We have developed and published 3 textbooks based on the introduction of modular technologies:
- “Technology of manufacturing women’s clothing”.
- “Tailor cutter”.
- “Design and the technology of manufacturing headgear from textile materials”.
The textbooks are intended for students of vocational and technical institutions of the I-II level of accreditation, teachers and masters of industrial training. These textbooks play a big role in learning today when our students learn online. They have no analogues today.
Years fly by quickly, times change, education solves more and more new tasks. But the training of qualified workers has always been and will be relevant. Because the fastest recovery of Ukraine’s economy depends on this, increasing the state’s competitiveness on the world market.
Vocational and technical institutions have proven that they are the only sources of labor supply. Vocational and technical institutions once again demonstrated in this difficult time that they are capable of fulfilling the tasks set.
Head of the Commission for Work with Youth of the Kharkiv Regional Council of Veterans of Ukraine Ninel BATRACHENKO. Director of the State Institution of Vocational (Vocational and Technical) Education “Kharkiv Higher Vocational School of Sewing Production and Household”
