Vocational education
Vocational education is a special branch of education for in this field of education is connected to economic and commercial needs and requirements. Business organisations are obliged by law to provide assistance to vocational (practical) training. The obligation to make contributions to vocational education may be settled by payment of contributions but the amount due may be reduced by businesses directly participating in training. Through the organisation of practical training of students in vocational schools, the realm of education and business meet and interact in a particular way. Commercial interests may influence vocational education, which then becomes more complicated for most of its participants, as compared to other fields of education. Thus the curriculum and stability of practical training will be less transparent and controllable for trainees and parents alike.
Among the complaints submitted to the Office those relating to vocational education and training make up the smallest percentage. In respect of the small proportion of cases relating to vocational education and training it should be noted that some of the cases relating to vocational education and training have been dealt with among cases pertaining to public education. This is explained primarily by the legal regulation, primarily the relationship between the Act on Public Education and the Act on Vocational Education. The provisions of the Act on Public Education also apply to institutions performing vocational education and training. For instance, enquiries have dealt with the establishment, maintenance, operation of vocational schools, and the aspect of vocational education being free of charge, and also the general rules pertaining to teachers/instructors working in vocational schools. The scope of Decree No. 11/1994. (VI. 8.) MKM on the operation of educational institutions also covers vocational schools and their trainees.
As a result, in the case of some of the infringements, the type of institution in which the violation occurs is immaterial. Some types of infringements, however, may occur only in the environment of vocational education and training, because of its very nature. The reason for this is that the Act on Vocational Education and Training regulates certain issues in a different way in comparison with the Act on Public Education and it contains provisions relating specifically to vocational education and training.
Grievances relating to the violation of provisions pertaining to practical vocational training are typically related to the area of vocational education and training. According to the Act on Vocational Education and Training, a trainee may be obliged to perform only tasks specified in the vocational education and training programme in the framework of practical training. The law provides detailed regulations on the various issues relating to employment of trainees, including working hours, breaks, pay and other benefits.
Act No. LXVII of 1996 on the Vocational Training Contribution and Subsidizing the Development of Vocational Education
Act No. LXXVI of 1993 on Vocational Education
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Investigations launched in response to a complaint submitted by students of a secondary school revealed a variety of infringements. Part of the complaint related to vocational training that they had received at school. Students complained that secondary grammar school students and the trainees in the 10 th grade in vocational school also had to go to work. They also complained that in addition to the annual mandatory practical work, the students of some forms were required to work for several weeks. They also complained that those who worked in the summer in the training workshop of the school had not been paid their expected wages. The response in writing submitted by the schoolmaster to the Office confirmed the above complaints.
By comparing the elements of the case with the relevant legal provisions the following infringements were identified. The participation of secondary school students in a practical training is contrary to the law on vocational education and training, as only trainees of secondary vocational schools and of vocational schools may participate in such training. Only a one-off visit to a factory or one class of practical training may be organised for secondary school students. Practical training for 10 th graders participating in vocational training in the 1999/2000 school year is contrary to the Act on Public Education. According to the law only vocational orientation training may be organised for participants of the 10 th grade, which cannot take place outside the school environment, e.g.) in a factory. The fact that some classes had to participate in practical training for a longer period of time than the number of hours specified on a mandatory basis, in contrast to the education programme, is also contrary to the Act on Public Education. It is also contrary to the law that trainees had not been paid for their work in the summer practical training course in the training workshop. The co-operation agreement concluded between the school and the business in question also included non-compliant provisions.
Accordingly, we called on the director of the school to make sure that in the future the practical training curriculum is in compliance with the relevant legal regulations. Also he is to make sure that trainees, doing their summer practical training work in the training workshop of the school, receive their due pay, and that the co-operation agreement be modified to comply with legal regulations. The schoolmaster accepted the initiatives and worked out an action plan to carry out our proposals. The Office has been kept informed of the progress of his efforts. We elaborated recommendations to the public education institutions with respect to this issue, asking them to launch technical/professional and legal investigations. The public education institutions did carry out the inspections and informed the Office of their findings. Since there was a well-grounded suspicion of 'violation of rules on the practical training of trainees participating in vocational education and training', we made a charge for infringement of rules against the schoolmaster. The infringement authority carried out its proceedings and imposed a fine on the schoolmaster. (VI/286/2000.) |
In some cases we found that payments due to trainees were not made in compliance with the relevant statues of law at institutions providing practical vocational training. Pursuant to Article 2 of the Joint Decree No. 9/1993. (XII.30.) issued by the Labour Ministry and the Education Ministry the benefits to be provided to trainees participating in training in the schooling system, the minimum monthly amount payable for the summer practical training of trainees, irrespective of the number of days spent on theoretical and practical training, must equal at least 10 percent of the current minimum wage. This provision, however, is often disregarded by business organisations providing vocational training services.
In one case trainees were not only not paid the amount due to them by law, instead, they had to pay for the practical training. This was despite the fact that the Act on Vocational Education stipulates in the case of training relating to the acquiring of the first vocational qualification, a business organisation must not charge and must not accept cost contribution or reimbursement. The law heavily sanctions violations of this rule, for the chamber may exclude a business organisation, which violates this rule, from participation in practical training for up to five years.
Some conflicts relate to the co-operation agreement concluded between the school and the business organisation offering vocational training.
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The managing director of a company, which organises practical training, submitted a complaint to the Office because a vocational school unilaterally cancelled its co-operation agreement with it. The Office found that the school decided on terminating the agreement because the company, which was having financial difficulties, could not pay the development contribution to the school, which as a pre-requisite for the training agreement had stipulated these fee. With respect to this case, we asked for the opinion of the deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Education in charge of vocational education and training. He answered that a school may have a co-operation agreement with a business organisation providing vocational education and training and at the same time sign a contract with the same business organisation as a development contribution donor, but this should not be a pre-requisite for co-operation. Based on this opinion, the institution was called on to terminate the infringement. The head of the institution accepted our initiative and prepared a new agreement with the business organisation. (VI/161/2000.)
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Pursuant to Article 24 (3) of the Act on Public Education where the number of certified plus unjustified number of classes missed by a trainee exceeds 20 percent of the practical training period in a given school year, the trainee may continue his studies only by repeating the same grade.
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One person complained that because of his absence from the practical training sessions in the first half, at the end of the second half he was obliged to repeat the whole of the year. So in the second half he attended school in vain for without being notified he did not know that he had reached the statutory limit. According to the schoolmaster, the trainee was not obliged to repeat the year based on the absences in the first term because they considered that he could have made up for the absences in the second year. This, however, did not take place. Indeed, the trainee missed a lot of classes in the second term as well. The school did not infringe the law by obliging the trainee to repeat the year because the number of classes missed exceeded 20 percent of the practical training time. However, since the individual in question exceeded the number of missed classes permitted, this should have been communicated to him before the beginning of the second term. Therefore, the director of the school was called on to provide such information to trainees in similar cases in the future. (VI/240/2000.)
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Business organisations are not always involved in the practical training of students. For a number of vocational schools, that have the requisites for practical training, trainees can perform practical training work in the training shop of the school. However, conflicts may also arise from this arrangement.
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One complainant claimed that his son, a trainee in a vocational school, had not been provided with protective equipment and did not receive proper pay. Furthermore, he considered that his son earned a lot of money for the school and therefore he complained about having to pay for his meals. The schoolmaster informed the Office that the trainees participated in training organised by the school and had no contract with business organisations. Therefore, they could be paid a salary only for the summer training. This amount was also paid to the son of the complainant. The schoolmaster also claimed that in accordance with the relevant statutes of law they always provided trainees with the necessary working clothes and protective equipment, while the profits of the work performed in the training shop were used for the necessary development and the optional training of trainees. In the course of the reconciliation procedure, it was found that the schoolmaster had been ready to co-operate with the family to resolve the conflict. The schoolmaster had even contacted the local council to ask for a welfare benefit for the family to settle the arrears of the charge for his meals. Accordingly, the school had not violated any rule, therefore, the case was closed for lack of an infringement. (VI/345/2000.)
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The small number of complaints received from the area of vocational education and training cannot be regarded as though there were a smaller number of conflicts in such institutions than in others. Vocational education institutions tend to be characterised more by a rigid hierarchical system, and those trainees are also employees at the same time, which makes them much more, exposed than other students. A number of complaints were submitted concerning 'initiation' ceremonies, intimidation, etc. Therefore, we decided to carry out a comprehensive survey of the exercising and enforcement of trainees of vocational education and training institutions in 2001.
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