Reader’s opinion|Budding growth is stunted if there is a lack of competent and high-quality trained employees.
Government is only a few years old, but its educational policy legacy is already beginning to take shape: this reign will be remembered as the famine years of adult education.
At the beginning of August, the government abolished the adult education subsidy, and right after, in the autumn budget crisis, it was decided to allocate cuts of over one hundred million euros to adult vocational education. The decision will inevitably lead to staff reductions, a deterioration in the quality of education and a reduction in the educational offer for adult students.
The policy pursued by the government makes it difficult to change fields, to update skills and to learn during a working career. With adult education support, more than 30,000 people developed their skills every year. Budget cuts to vocational education, on the other hand, can take study opportunities away from up to 10,000 adult students each year.
The sufferers are above all Finnish companies, which are in dire need of a skilled workforce. Factors must be obtained from industry changers and adults, because the youth age groups are not enough to replace even retirement, let alone the growing need for a workforce.
It seems that when the government seeks quick profits by cutting adult education, Finland’s competitiveness will pay the bill in the end. Budding growth is stunted if there is a lack of competent and high-quality trained employees.
Eero Löytömäki
educational policy expert
Veli-Matti Kauppinen
training manager
Industry Association
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