Background of the Revision of the Secondary School Engineering Curriculum in the Context of the Society 4.0

Abstract

The study responds to the characteristics of Society 4.0, which links industry, services, science, research, innovation and new digital technologies. Education 4.0 must ensure the preparation for the digital age and the expansion of digital skills across generations while increasing the use of digital technology in school and in-service training. Digitization, robotics and the potency of artificial intelligence also significantly influence engineering production, which requires a different qualification of workers. European Qualifications Frameworks are a suitable tool for revising engineering study. The revision must be based on trends in engineering, analysis of the educational needs of this sector, current educational concept and knowledge of the specifics of the current young generation. The revised curriculum should integrate professional competences with key competences and transversal (cross-curricular) skills, allowing school leavers to enter the production or production practice and excellent students a higher level of engineering education. The authors of the study deal with the research grant of the Technological Agency of the Czech Republic entitled “Education in engineering fields and its optimisation for the labour market”, which will be one of the research starting points for the commenced review of the curriculum. Research uses a number of empirical methods to identify unnecessary parts of the curriculum and to identify new components in terms of learning goals and learning outcomes in both the vocational and general education fields. Research findings will be compared with foreign results and discussed with engineering companies as purchasers of graduates and educators at secondary engineering schools to meet the needs of the emerging Industry 4.0 and the real educational potential of schools. The study presents the results of analyses of trends in the engineering industry, its human resources needs and requirements for the professional profile of workers in this sector, especially in the Czech Republic as an industrialized country.