By Svetlana Gavrilova
It’s no secret that today’s labour market is experiencing a serious deficit of qualified staff. It’s thought that more than thirty percent of employers worldwide face this problem, with sanitary technicians, electricians and builders among those most in demand. With more people than ever pursuing comfortable and prestigious ‘office jobs’ the number of skilled vocational workers is suffering.
Society tends to judge those undertaking vocational careers harshly, assuming that their chosen path is the result of lack of ability to enter university. Of course, it’s an assumption that lacks substance, as the 13th Republican Gathering of Inventors and Innovators has once again proven.
Gathering students and employees from vocational and secondary specialized education institutions, among those taking part was 3rd year student Anatoly Tsitrinov, from Gomel State Vocational Electronics College. He explained, “I’ve worked out a method to teach electrical installation visually, a parabolic solar collector for heating water instantly and a hand-held air-conditioner.” His work on the latter won him a Presidential Prize. The small-sized wonder is easy to install and, in just a few minutes, can cool a room of 65 cubic metres! At the gathering, he presented his visual teaching manual for electricians.
Roman Zagrebnev, 20, is so well known in his village of Chepeli (Pruzhany District) that he receives a flood of visitors each time he returns. There are always items needing repair: a telephone wire, a television set or a car radio. The student of Beloozersk State Vocational Electrical Engineering College tries to help everyone and plans to become a fully-qualified electrician. His teachers have faith in his abilities. His own invention is a sensor hob which automatically turns on or off by sensing a pan above.
The director of the Smilovichi Agricultural Professional College, Yury Korsik, tells us, “Events such as the Republican Gathering of Inventors and Innovators emphasise once again how many talented boys are training in vocational professions. I think that chiefs of Belarusian enterprises should show interest in similar events. Of course, the developments presented have not been tested or trialed; they are flights of the imagination. However, a kernel of good sense can always be found. Children are tomorrow’s inventors so we should listen to their ideas. Don’t stereotype young people. It’s not necessary to have a higher degree or a post-graduate qualification to be respected and successful. Vocational jobs are essential to society, so training in these professions is invaluable.”
