Lists of vocational education programmes: Status and possible ways of modernisation

Abstract

Introduction. The liberalisation of state educational standards and the provision of greater autonomy for educational institutions in the formation of educational programmes indicate the need for development of a new classification system for Russian education, which should become common for all types of professional educational programmes, including additional training programmes. The aim of the publication was to discuss the status and possible ways to modernise the system of classification of educational programmes in Russian vocational education, taking into account the prospects of its development and the constant replenishment of the registers of professional standards and qualifications. Methodology and research methods. In the course of the study, a retrospective analysis of the development of the classification system of professional educational programmes was used, during which the best Russian and foreign practices were compared. Results. The features of the current lists of professions and specialties of secondary vocational education and areas of improvement in accordance with modern requirements of the system of classification of professional educational programmes used in these lists were considered. For updated lists, a new composition of enlarged groups of the classification system of vocational education programs has been proposed, coupled with a list of areas of professional activity of the register of professional standards of the Ministry of Labour of Russia. Scientific novelty. For the first time, it is proposed to refuse classifiers that are strictly tied to the lists of professions, specialties and training areas approved by the Ministry of Education and Science, which formally copy these lists. Combining the classification systems of vocational education programmes and areas of professional activity will allow an adequate comparison of statistical information on training in the education system with their actual use in the labour market. Practical significance. The introduction of the proposed classification system allows us more fully to take into account data on the training of specialists in the Russian system of vocational education, to reflect this data as accurately as possible in national and international educational statistics and to correlate them with employment indicators in various sectors of the economy and production.