Technology industry worried about lack of proper education
The government wants to increase its engineering education by 2,300 places in the next two years. The initiative is welcomed by the Teknikföretagen and the Swedish engineers, who, however, wanted to see more resources to reduce the graduation from the courses.
In the budget bill for 2020, the government is investing in an extension of so-called socially important education. The purpose is to overcome the lack of skills in the labor market and strengthen Sweden's competitiveness.
Engineering courses in the country will be strengthened by approximately 200 million in order to be able to offer places to an additional 2300 full-year students during the remainder of the term.
- It is very positive, and also very fun that you now judge engineering education as socially critical. We see that technical knowledge is important for our companies, but in the future they will also be important in areas that have not been traditionally engineering-intensive, ”says Frida Andersson, expert on skills supply issues at the employer organization Teknikföretagen.
Half do not take the degree
But in order for the investment to result in more engineers in the labor market, measures are also needed to increase the flow of students, says Frida Andersson. Today, about half of engineering students do not take a degree.
- The number of places says nothing about how many people come out as graduated engineers. More efforts are needed here, for example more resources are needed early in the education. For example, there may be extra teacher support during the first year when most dropouts occur, says Frida Andersson.
Ulrika Lindstrand, chair of the Swedish engineers, agrees.
- In general, it is good that you invest money in engineering courses, but I would rather have seen that money was invested per student, not more students. The most effective way to get more engineers out is that those who start their education also complete it, she says.
"Resources have been eroded"
Sweden's engineers are also concerned that the total resources for the higher education institutions will not be sufficient to maintain the quality of the engineering courses.
- We have seen that the resources for engineering courses, which are inherently expensive, have been eroded over a number of years. With an excavation of the allocation per student, you risk a poorer quality of education, says Ulrika Lindstrand.
The Government intends that more places of education should contribute to solving the skills shortage, but here the needs vary within different branches of engineering. For example, there is a huge shortage of engineers in data, IT and electrical engineering, says Frida Andersson.
- It is not clear how these new places are to be distributed, but we hope that the needs of the labor market are taken into account and that the places are placed where the needs are most critical.
"You can do much more"
The draft budget also contains more money for distance education for already professionals.
- There are a very large number of individuals who need to supplement their education, for example, the automotive industry is now undergoing a huge transformation when switching from internal combustion engine to electric motors. We think the budget is a step in the right direction, but we see that much more can be done, says Frida Andersson.
The budget also includes a continued investment in Technology leap, which gives young people an opportunity to try engineering.
- It's great fun. We also know that those who have passed the Technology leap since then are able to pass engineering education better and have higher throughput, says Ulrika Lindstrand.
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