Šumarski list, Vol. 135 No. 7-8, 2011.
Uvodnik
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Sažetak
We go to elementary school in order to acquire basic, minimal education. We then decide whether we will build on elementary education by continuing secondary education in grammar schools and then in vocational colleges or universities, or whether we will complement elementary education with secondary vocational schools, which nevertheless does not preclude higher vocational education. Our choice is mainly influenced by our affinity towards certain vocations and by family and economic circumstances. Only occasionally is our choice determined by the demandsof the social community for certain professions and by employment opportunities. Whose fault is it that children finish schools but cannot find jobs in their chosen fields, while at the same time the society spends enormous sums of money on unnecessary things? School children, students and their parents are the least to blame. What role do the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport and the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship play here? What basis does the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport use to open new secondary vocational schools and new colleges and how does it determine enrolment quotas?
We are, naturally, particularly interested in the current state of the forestry profession. In the article by M. Skoko in this issue ofForestry Journal we learn that for the academic year 2011/2012the prescribed enrolment quota for forest technicians is 290 pupils in 11 (!) secondary forestry schools;at the same time,there are over 500 unemployed forestry technicians registered at the Croatian Employment Service. It would be interesting to seethe curricula and their fulfilment in some secondary forestry schools, and even more interesting to learn who teaches vocational subjects. We recall to mind a piece of information obtained accidentally several years ago; in one such school all specialized subjects were taught by one single forestry expert, a trainee. In other words, is the quality of our forestry schools open to comparison, and were not some of these schools opened only to alleviate the problem of the surplus of teachers of general subjects and to satisfy some unrealistic demands of local communities? Some time ago, a forestry school in Delnice of very high reputation was closed precisely because there was not enough employment for such a large number of technicians and because it was estimated that the school in Karlovac was sufficient. Yet, several vocational schools of inferior quality sprang up soon afterwards. We still maintain that the school in Karlovac is capable of satisfying the needs for the jobs of forestry technicians and that the other schools should be transformed into schools training forest labourers. From a professional standpoint, the school in Karlovac offers 25 specialized subjects, which are taught by 7 forestry experts – teachers, of whom three are mentors and one is a teaching adviser. These subjects range from botany, pedology, phytocoenology, forest genetics, ecology, wood anatomy and technology, silviculture, etc, to forest planning, forest economics and field practice. In a word, the school meets all the material, staff and spatial requirements.
The article in this issue of Forestry Journal by Professor Milan Oršanić, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Forestry, highlights current topics discussed at the Days of Croatian Forestry: The Reform of the Teaching Programmes at the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Zagreb“. These topics include, among others, problems of organizingforestry study programmes throughout the country, of the shortage of space and of teaching experimental sites, as well as the questionable quality of scientific and teaching accreditations of the lecturers. According to the author, all this degrades the quality of the study and puts the students in the „original“ faculties at a disadvantage compared to those in „dislocated“ faculties, since their competences eventually carry equal weight despite seriousdifferences in the quality of studying.
The quality and the international recognition of the teaching plan, the inclusion into the knowledge society proclaimed by the „Bologna Process“, and the possibility of a large number of forestry experts to find employment in the forestry practice are guaranteed by the long history of the Faculty of Forestry, which investslarge financial means in the scientific-professional staff, premises and equipment. With regard to employment in forestry, as far back as 1999 the Croatian Forestry Association put on the agenda of the Days of Croatian Forestry, held in Ogulin (Bjelolasica), a topic entitled “Employment of forestry personnel and the development of entrepreneurship in forestry” (presented in Forestry Journal 7–8, pp 363–371). It would be opportune for decision makers to read this article again and to pay close attention to proposals for employment, and particularly to measures for the development of entrepreneurship in forestry, as one of the employment leverages. Wewill not even ask why valuable projects remain a dead letter on paper and who is responsible for this.
Editorial Board
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
71634
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.8.2011.
Posjeta: 2.221 *