The St. Petersburg Mining University hosted a recruiting meeting between representatives of the Obukhov plant and students of the university. As the guests told, the volume of production output at the plant has been growing in recent years, which increases the need for engineering personnel. However it is not easy to find them - modern educational programs in higher educational institutions are compiled in such a way that the level of training in many areas is clearly insufficient. As a result, the graduates have to undergo further training directly at the production site, which is always a risk - it goes without saying that no one can guarantee that each of them will turn into a valuable employee.
Irina Glukhikh emphasized that after joining the Bologna process Russian universities have stopped training specialists in some fields of study in non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy. It means that bachelors, of course, enter the market, but no one needs them there in particular. Work experience is a prerequisite for every job vacancy, and it is almost an impossible task to get it in four years of higher education.
"Take, for example, welding engineers, today it is quite a sought-after specialty. As far as I know, you can get it in our country only by enrolling in a four-year bachelor's degree program. Their curricula are designed in such a way that students undergo practical training only once during the entire period of study, for two to four weeks at most. This is definitely not enough time to acquire all the necessary competences," says Irina Glukhikh.
As a result, young people have to undergo professional retraining in order to become real engineers, able to be responsible for technological processes in production and to develop all the necessary documentation for this purpose. They also have to enroll in a master's program, often by correspondence, because the knowledge and skills acquired during the four years of study are not enough for them.
By the way, the state allocates far fewer budgetary places in the master's program than in the bachelor's program, which means that the competition there is great, and not everyone who wants to continue their education is able to do so. It is clear that this does not contribute to the confidence of young people in the future and demotivates them and their employers.
"It would be much better for us if students could become more familiar with the technological cycle and various aspects of the plant's work while they are still studying. And their curricula would necessarily include a long pre-degree internship, which is stipulated by the 5.5-year specialty programs. There is no doubt that in some areas a return to them is extremely relevant. Moreover, it would be most convenient for the enterprise if the students could combine their studies and work during their senior years," believes Irina Glukhikh.
For a long time the formation of the Obukhov plant's personnel reserve has been taking place at the expense of the state program of targeted training. That is, high school students who passed the competitive selection took an obligation to return to the company after graduation. The latter in its turn compensated all the expenses for educating future specialists. This year, however, the number of vacancies that can be filled by young people has increased.
"The production volume at the plant is growing, so our need for personnel is now greater than the number of target students enrolled in higher education institutions in 2019. That's why we are also waiting for those graduates who have not signed a contract with us. But, of course, they have to understand that a bachelor's degree is not enough to become an engineer. They will have to complete their master's degree," summed up Irina Glukhikh.
Of course, such a scheme is not ideal, especially since the St. Petersburg Mining University, for example, has no part-time or evening education. In other words, it is not possible to combine study and work at the production site by enrolling in a master's program. And the purpose of it is somewhat different. First of all, it is one of the stages of training future scientists, who must compete with each other, not with engineers.
In order to ensure that the graduates of specialist training meet the needs of the market, the study period of the latter should be from 5 to 6 years, depending on the direction of training. And theoretical knowledge must be necessarily reinforced by the skills obtained in the laboratories, at the training grounds and during the industrial practice. No less important are additional professional competences, such as fluent knowledge of a foreign language and software used at enterprises, the ability to perform certain technological processes and so on.
As for the master's program, it should remain in all fields of study, but its number should not be set higher than 10% of the total number of students. This is due, above all, the demand for academic exchange with countries that focus on the Bologna system of education.
These are the proposals developed at St. Petersburg Mining University, which were included in the Strategy for Radical Improvement of Specialists with Higher Technical Education. This document has already been sent for discussion to the executive and legislative authorities, the heads of the regions where energy, mining and petrochemical companies operate, to specialized public organizations, as well as the heads of universities that are part of the "Nedra" consortium.
Everyone is welcome to submit his or her suggestions about the need to reform the national institution of higher education, please send them to nedra@spmi.ru.