Compatibilizarea ofertei educaţionale cu piaţa muncii - percepţia stakeholderilor

The modernization and continuous improvement of the education and training systems (ETS) represents the main instrument of the European Union used in the latest 13 years within the transition towards knowledge based economy (European Council, Lisbon, 2000) in all the EU Member States. The objectives of ETS policies should be correlated with the objectives of the economic policy, labour force policy so that the actions in this respect represent an efficient and realistic response to the rapid changes in the economy and society. The European vision about the role of education is presented in Europe 2020 Strategy, aiming higher employment, improvement of the access to lifelong learning and social inclusion. The effects of the economic crisis has determined also in Romania, the increase of youth unemployment, school dropout, and the education system has faced several changes which have not been adequately planned and evaluated. In this context, it is necessary to determine the stakeholders’ perception on the process of change within the education system, including the aspects of impact, such as the correlation between the educational offer and the labour market. The research was achieved during September-December 2012, comprising 354 respondents, teaching staff and pupils in pre-academic education, representatives of parents and local community, as well as companies, members of the boards of administration of the school units. It was used a method based on self-managed questionnaire. Further the analysis of the education system and the interpretation of the research results, one may conclude that the main factors determining the gaps between the educational offer and the labour market are as follows: - insufficient stakeholders’ involvement in planning the educational offers; - existence of formal partnerships between school and businesses; - managers’ fear to achieve changes and the lack of data bases concerning the long term needs of the labour market, aspects generating slow reactions of the education system related to the requirements of the external environment; - lack of mechanisms for monitoring the insertion and graduates’ professional development on the labour market, as well as their educational pathway. The results of the current research may be used by the managers of school units in planning the strategies of change, triggering the growth of the graduates’ insertion on the labour market. According to John Dewey “Education is not a preparation for life, education is life itself.”