Finland - Jyvaskyla Region - Final Self-Evaluation Report.pdf

3. Work based learning combines education and working life. The development of the system thatpromotes the workplace training of HEI students is considered to be very important by the HEIs andfirms in the Jyväskylä region. The practical training (e.g., working in a firm or participating inproject activities) forms an integrated part of the study programmes of the Jyväskylä Polytechnic,whereas at the University of Jyväskylä, the training period is optional. The Integration of highereducation learning in the workplaces is one way to promote the regional employment prospects ofstudents and stimulate firms’ awareness of the educational and research opportunities offered byHEIs. The adoption and efficient utilization of the more coordinated system of on-the-job learningrequires new ways of thinking and new kinds of cooperation from both the educational institutions(staff and students) and the workplaces involved. Vocational institutions in Central Finland provide agood example of the well-functioning system of work based learning. Apprenticeship training invocational institutions means that the education provider, the employer, and the employee enter intoa fixed-term employment agreement about the training; this takes place alongside work. Theworking-life periods of the vocational institutions’ teachers are a part of their work assignment. Thegraduation theses done by HEI students in cooperation with firms and other regional organizationsare of equal importance to work-based learning, and they should not be seen as separate componentsbut, rather, as connected parts that support each other. The importance of graduation theses inpromoting regional development varies between and within the HEIs in the Jyväskylä region. Thepotential of international HE-students, as a part of the regional labour force, should also be promotedby enabling them to create contacts with the firms and to get work experience.4. Responding to increasing needs of life-long learning. The rapid growth and content renewal ofknow-how and professional requirements, the ageing of the work force, differences in education andtraining between generations, and the growing number of the retirement-age population, necessitatethat the education policy is weighted towards lifelong learning. The need for the revision of skills, oreven total re-qualification, can appear for different reasons. It may be related to the individual,changes in the job/position, to the firm, or the market. Adult education in Finland is arranged byuniversities and polytechnics, public and private vocational institutions, adult education centres andsummer universities, adult upper-secondary schools, study centres, sports institutes, and musicinstitutes. The University of Jyväskylä aims at responding to the challenges of academicentrepreneurship and maintaining the high-level knowledge base of industry and other aspects ofeconomic life. The Open University and Continuing Education Centre are the main units providingtertiary level adult education in the Jyväskylä region. However, their regional orientation is not verystrong. The Master’s Programmes organized by their faculties also provide a flexible way tocontinue earlier studies to the advanced degree level. In turn, the Jyväskylä Polytechnic focuses onthe working-life oriented educational needs of firms, particularly those of small- and medium-sizedfirms. The different forms of polytechnic education aiming at life-long learning include professionalspecialization studies, retraining and upgrading qualifications, and Master’s Degrees. The life-longlearning possibilities in the higher education sector are diverse in the Jyväskylä region, but the mainproblem is the lack of systematic coordination and the resulting scattered provision of education.Table 5.2 represents different reasons related to the need for updating individual skills. The last rowsuggests the responses of HEIs.79