Vocational Education

On the radio on the 27th of July 2024, it was discussed that the training for health aides and nursing assistants might need to be organized as a form of vocational education. This raised the question of whether a specific type of wage or educational support should be provided for students in this field.

Samverk and the Faroese Handworkers' Association have a completely different proposal.

A Vocational Training Fund should be established, into which all employers and wage earners would contribute. This would be similar to the ALS contribution and the current fund structure of ALS.

ALS has been and continues to be a success story, and its establishment was a breakthrough at the time.

Creating a Vocational Training Fund would be an equally significant breakthrough. This fund could be managed by ALS, transforming ALS into a kind of labor market center overseeing such funds. The ALS administration has all the skills necessary to manage a fund of this kind.

This fund would, among other things, administer wage reimbursements to employers when their apprentices are in school. The board of the fund would determine whether wage reimbursement should be 70%, 80%, 90%, or 100%. It would cover the cost of examiners and the Vocational Center. The fund would bear all costs related to vocational education, except for the school itself, which would remain under national jurisdiction.

The ALS board has decided to reduce contributions to ALS by 0.2%. This 0.2% could instead be allocated to the Vocational Training Fund, along with another potential 0.2%, bringing the total contribution to the Vocational Training Fund to around 0.4 – 0.5%, plus an initial capital of 100 million DKK from ALS.

Under this scheme, health aide and nursing assistant training could be included. Apprentices would receive apprentice wages when working, and employers (whether state or municipal) would receive wage reimbursement from the Vocational Training Fund when apprentices are in school, similar to the arrangement for other vocational trainees.

The vocational education system in the Faroe Islands functions very well. We have one of the best-performing vocational education systems in Europe, and we should be proud of that.

With this Vocational Training Fund, we can make our vocational education system even better, something we should always strive for.

Sincerely,

Pætur Niclasen, Samverk
Suni Simonsen, Faroese Handworkers' Association