00:01В Европе 40% из работников
00:04complain they can't find workers
00:06with the right skills to fill their vacancies.
00:09So here in Portugal, the country is making a push
00:12to promote vocational education and training.
00:34The students at this school are learning skills
00:37which are very much in demand in today's job market.
00:40Yet we know that the workplace is changing rapidly
00:43with the arrival of AI, the digital and green transitions.
00:46So how is vocational education and training
00:49adapting to this new challenge?
00:57Here at the Seor School in Famalikau,
01:01over 400 students are learning everything
01:03from how to weld metal to how to measure blood pressure.
01:07They believe their courses are perfectly adapted
01:10to societal trends.
01:11An aging population needs pharmacists.
01:15A digitized low-carbon economy needs electricians
01:18and CMC programmers.
01:19And when it comes to AI, nobody here worries
01:23that a robot will take their job.
01:25I think that the robots and the artificial intelligence
01:27will never be able to replace it.
01:30Even if they can find the problem,
01:33they will never be able to explain to clients
01:36how that problem came out,
01:38how they can solve the problem.
01:40The artificial intelligence is a tool.
01:43I use it many times to acquire a more technical vocabulary.
01:48But at any time I think it will replace the pharmaceutical advice.
01:53Portugal's push for skills is nationwide.
01:56The government wants 55% of secondary school students
02:00to be enrolled in vocational education and training by 2030
02:03and nearly 1.5 billion euros from the European Social Fund Plus
02:08will go to support that vocational training
02:10via Portugal's Pessoas 2030 economic program.
02:15The director of this school regularly meets employers
02:18to be sure that training courses match
02:20the skills they require now and in the future.
02:23And he also stresses that their students
02:25should learn to be good employees.
02:28And that requires a whole different set of skills.
02:30We have to look for the training,
02:33an integral training of an individual.
02:35And a young or an adult
02:37that has soft skills
02:40that the market today needs,
02:43to be creative,
02:44cumpridor, competent, communicator, etc.
02:47All these skills
02:49are transversal in any professional activity.
02:53Despite the funding efforts,
02:55European society as a whole
02:57sends mixed messages
02:58about vocational training.
03:00According to a recent Eurobarometer survey,
03:03only half of Europeans
03:04would actually recommend
03:06vocational education and training
03:08to young people.
03:09While at the same time,
03:1185% of Europeans agree
03:12that such training provides relevant skills
03:15for much-in-demand jobs.
03:18Many governments would like to encourage students
03:20to learn valuable, hands-on skills.
03:23So what kinds of policies are needed
03:25to better promote vocational training?
03:31Here at the University of Porto's
03:33School of Economics and Management,
03:34we met up with Professor Aurora Teixeira.
03:37She argues for higher salaries for new recruits
03:40and more investment in innovation within companies
03:43and says governments need to consider
03:45the wider economic context.
03:47The educational policy has to be
03:51an educational policy
03:52combined with an industrial policy
03:55and a company's policy.
03:57The professional training
03:58is a necessary condition
03:59so that the country is more competitive,
04:02the companies are more competitive.
04:04One of the leading employers
04:06in this region of Portugal
04:08is German camera and optics company Leica.
04:10They hired former SEOR student
04:12Antonio Cruz
04:13as a maintenance electrician at age 18.
04:16Now, four years later,
04:18he says school might be over
04:19but the learning continues.
04:43As governments seek to promote vocational education
04:46and training more widely, the future is promising for these students,
04:50with three quarters of trainees at this school finding work as soon as they finish their studies.
04:56We'll be right back.
04:57We'll be right back.
04:57We'll be right back.
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