Roskilde and Bornholm are leading the way. More young people think it is cool to be skilled
Opinion piece by Henrik Lehmann Andersen, CEO of the Nordea Foundation
See the post at Bornholms Tidende here.
Our country needs tens of thousands of skilled workers to protect our coasts against storm surges, build sustainable homes, install district heating and construct solar energy plants. Yet only one in five young people has applied for these important vocational education programmes after lower secondary school. That is a huge problem, and as a society we have a major, difficult and shared task in getting more young people to discover that it is great to be a skilled tradesperson.
But now there is finally good news. Roskilde and Bornholm are demonstrating how to crack the code and get more young people to think: I should train for a trade after all.
On Saturday, 47 young vocational students will be honoured with gold medals for being Danish champions within their trades. The 2024 championships for young skilled workers in vocational education, the Skills Championships, are taking place this week in Roskilde. Here, 280 young people are competing to become gold winners in trades such as bricklayer, waiter, chef, industrial technician, and much more.
Skills is a fantastic meeting place for young people across vocational education and training programmes. I have been a spectator for many years, and every time I am uplifted to see damn clever young people in full concentration to perform at their absolute best. They use their hands, head, talent and professionalism to produce something that we desperately need. What a display of innovation and creativity. These young people are ready to conquer the labour market and wrestle with the climate crisis, food waste and a queue of other challenges.
Skills alone are not enough. But looking towards Bornholm, they have succeeded to a high degree in creating respect for the trade professions. Three out of ten young people from Bornholm who leave the 9th or 10th grade in June will start a vocational education after the summer holidays. Thus, the island has already reached the national political target that 30 percent of a youth cohort must choose a vocational education by 2025.
The surge in applications for vocational education and training on Bornholm has not happened by itself. In 2020, only 22 percent of young people in Rønne, Nexø and other towns on the rocky island chose a vocational education. Local businesses were facing an uncertain future without a sufficient skilled workforce. Therefore, Business Center Bornholm, the municipality and vocational colleges joined forces on a completely new project. With the motto ’Skilled is cool’, they wanted to defy gravity on Bornholm.
Both small and large businesses have played a key role and opened their doors to municipal primary and lower secondary schools and to young people wanting to do work experience. In particular, a simple overview of the local availability of training placements has been a huge success. All communication has been simple, clear, concrete and local. Others can take inspiration from this.
At the Nordea Foundation and the Tietgen Foundation, we support both Skills and the Bornholm Project because it is important for us to contribute to new generations of skilled workers. And to send a strong signal to young people that vocational education and training is not only great, but also the future.
By Henrik Lehmann Andersen, CEO of the Nordea Foundation
About Skilled is Great
Faglært er fedt has during the period from 2020 to 2023 developed and documented new methods to promote the choice of and retention in vocational education and training. The project has had a focus on securing the skilled workforce of the future on Bornholm and inspiring the rest of Denmark.
The initiative has received strong support from local businesses and educational institutions. Several of the developed methods and solutions have subsequently been integrated into the operations of the Regional Municipality of Bornholm in order to maintain the connection between young people and the business community. This contributes directly to the development of the island's skilled workforce.
The project, led by Business Center Bornholm with support from the Regional Municipality of Bornholm, the Tietgen Foundation and the Sparekassen Bornholm Foundation, has collaborated with Resonans Nordic, the DEA Think Tank and the Centre for Regional and Tourism Research.
Should you have any questions about the project, you are welcome to contact Business Centre Bornholm.