Áskoranir starfsmenntunar : Aðgengi starfsmenntanema að háskólanámi

Abstract

Ein af helstu áskorunum starfsmenntunar á framhaldsskólastigi er hvernig hægt er að breyta þeirri ímynd að starfsmenntun sé blindgata í menntakerfinu. Þessi áskorun er oft rædd út frá eflingu starfsmenntunar og er yfirleitt átt við hvernig hægt er að fá fleiri ungmenni til að velja starfsmenntun. Sérstaklega hefur verið lögð áhersla á að veita starfsmenntanemendum tækifæri til áframhaldandi náms í háskóla. Markmið greinarinnar er að skoða hvernig aðgengi starfsmenntanema að háskólastiginu hefur þróast síðustu tvo áratugi – bæði kerfislega og með hliðsjón af tækifærum og aðsókn nemenda. Tilgangurinn er að varpa ljósi á hvaða öfl móta þá þróun og þýðingu fyrir framtíð starfsmenntunar. Efniviður greiningar eru tölur frá Hagstofu Íslands og skjalarýni. Niðurstöður draga fram að hlutdeild starfsnámsnema í háskólanámi hefur verið lítil þrátt fyrir stækkun háskólastigsins og ekki er ljóst hvort það stafi af kerfislægum hindrunum, skorti á tækifærum eða áhugaleysi gagnvart því námi sem hefur verið í boði. Töluverðar breytingar hafa orðið á starfsmenntakerfinu á síðustu tveimur áratugum sem ættu að hafa áhrif á aðgengi starfsmenntanema að háskólastiginu. Annars vegar snúa þær að undirbúningi á framhaldsskólastiginu – með dreifstýringu námskrárgerðar og að leggja ekki tegund lokaprófa að jöfnu við námsbrautir. Hins vegar snúa þær að því að fjarlægja þröskulda á háskólastiginu – með stofnun fagháskólanáms og breytingu á inntökuskilyrðum í háskóla. Áhrif þessara breytinga virðast þó takmörkuð enn sem komið er og óljóst hvort þær auki aðgengi starfsnámsnema að háskólastiginu þegar upp er staðið. Enn fremur er það opin spurning hvort þær verði til þess að gera starfsnám meira aðlaðandi fyrir ungt fólk sem velur sér nám í framhaldsskólum. Sú þróun á aðgengi starfsmenntanema að háskólastiginu sem hér er rakin sýnir hvernig ýmis öfl vinna á móti breytingum á starfsmenntun, en einnig togstreitu í kerfinu á milli þess að halda í aðgreiningu starfsnáms og bóknáms og sameiningar eða fjölhyggju.

One of the key challenges to vocational education and training (VET) at upper secondary education level is how to change the perspective that it represents a dead-end pathway. This challenge is often discussed in the context of how to increase the standing of VET and refers to efforts in increasing VET participation (Billett, 2020; Elsa Eiríksdóttir et al., 2018; OECD, 2013a). In Iceland, only about 15% of young people choose VET in upper secondary schools and educational authorities have long emphasized the need for action (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið [Ministry of Education, Science and Culture], 2014). Providing VET graduate access to higher education (HE) is often mentioned as an important measure – especially with increased expansion and participation in HE (Jón Torfi Jónasson, 1998, 2003). The goal of the article is to look at how the access of VET graduates to HE has developed over the past two decades in Iceland, both in terms of structure and regulations governing the education system, as well as opportunities for students and their participation. The development of VET students’ access to HE is considered in terms of: (1) preparation for HE at upper secondary school level, and (2) changes made to the HE education level to accommodate those graduating from VET programmes (VET graduates). Until 2021, a matriculation examination was required for university admission in Iceland and while academic programmes at upper secondary schools typically end with matriculation, VET programmes do not. Typical VET programmes take four years to complete and if matriculation is sought, it usually means additional time at upper secondary school. In the years 2008 to 2011 the regulatory framework of upper secondary education was reformed, and a new national curriculum introduced. Decentralization of curriculum design, and a disengagement of the type of qualifications (e.g., matriculation examination) and type of programme (academic, vocational, or arts) were part of this reform. These changes created the opportunity for schools to develop a greater variety of VET programmes and even create hybrid programmes, where students complete both VET qualifications and the matriculation examination without additional study time. However, little seems to have changed; today very few programmes offer VET students opportunities to complete the matriculation examination and most of them require additional study time. Furthermore, data from Statistics Iceland (Hagstofa Íslands, n.d.) shows that on average relatively few VET students complete the matriculation examination. Participation of VET graduates in HE has generally been very low, and they are only about 7% of each freshman class on average, despite a general expansion of HE participation. It is not clear whether this is due to systemic obstacles, shortage of opportunities, or lack of interest in the programmes on offer. There are no applied universities (vocational universities) in Iceland and programmes intended for VET graduates are rare. This lack of HE pathways and opportunities has been criticized (Cedefop, 2020b; OECD, 2013b) and establishing HE pathways for VET graduates was one of the objectives of a reform following a white paper on education in 2014 (Verkefnishópur um fagháskólanám 2016; 2019). Subsequent efforts to create HE vocational education involved providing established universities with grants to develop new such programmes. While undoubtedly increasing the possible HE pathways for VET graduates, this was quite different from the vision of establishing HE vocational institutions shared by many stakeholders. However, one resulting recommendation was that university admission requirements should be changed so that VET qualifications would suffice for admission and in 2021, legislation governing HE in Iceland was changed accordingly. Many applauded this change as an important milestone for increasing the standing of VET and providing equal access to HE. But many also warned that the actual implementation of these changes would determine their effectiveness. One issue is that even if these are general admission requirements, each department and programme can impose further admission requirements based on specialization. This means that the actual opportunities for HE entry will depend on how these requirements are defined. Whether these changes will increase the standing of VET remains to be seen, but even the educational authorities proposing the changes were unsure of their potential effectiveness. Overall, the development of access to HE for VET graduates in Iceland reveals the tension between different forces governing this part of the education sector (Jón Torfi Jónasson, 1995, 1998). VET in Iceland has traditionally been quite distinct from academic programmes concluded with a matriculation examination, but the efforts of the authorities to open HE to VET graduates have generally been towards integration of VET into the academic system (Cedefop, 2020a). The gatekeepers of both the VET and the academic systems (e.g., stakeholders in the world of work and at the university level) have resisted these efforts. How these tensions will play out in practice will, in part, determine the future of VET in Iceland; that is, whether pluralistic education will dominate or whether VET will remain distinctive from the general academic pathways.