Lublin vocational schools supply job market with professionals

Lublin’s employers show awareness of the importance of high-quality vocational education and support students in learning to plunge into the real world of work. As a part of their collaboration with the city of Lublin, 274 students from 8 vocational schools have a chance to gain valuable insight into the future career they wish to pursue by participating in summer internships.

From June to August this year as part of the “Professionals of tomorrow” and “Lublin Specialists’ Upland” projects, pupils educating themselves to become IT, analyst, chemical technology, food technology, mechanic, mechatronics, electrical, electronics, freight forwarder, and logistics technician have a chance to take part in a prestigious paid internship programme. Students participating in the apprenticeships are monitored by a designated supervisor, responsible for teaching, coaching, and mentoring. Additionally, all interns are provided with, among others, protective clothing, medical examination and required health & safety training. They also receive a scholarship, as well as reimbursement of travel costs.

Future chemists, food technologists or electricians will expand their knowledge and abilities, gaining experience in their chosen career path. Participation in the internship will help them develop specific industry “know-how” and strengthen their competitiveness on the labour market. Aside from learning specialised skills and getting valuable work experience, students also have a chance to work on mastering soft competences, such as time management, critical thinking, teamwork and problem-solving.

An effective system of vocational education is one of the essential conditions for the economic development of our city and region. We place great emphasis on its modernisation, acquiring external funds for this purpose. The projects we implement are aimed at improving the quality of vocational education by developing specialist knowledge and practical skills of teachers and students, as well as facilitating cooperation between schools, employers and universities. An element of adapting facilities to the realities of the modern labour market is also equipping professional studios with modern equipment, tools and software, says Mariusz Banach, Deputy Mayor of the City of Lublin for Education.

The organisation of professional internships is a result of regular and varied cooperation of technical schools with Lublin’s businesses, which, apart from providing pupils with the opportunity of gaining experience under their wings, together with the authorities of Lublin support and promote vocational education through creation of patronage classes, or organisation of programmes, workshops and professional competitions for vocational students.

Lublin can boast itself with prestigious technical and vocational schools such as Technical School of Building and Geodesy, Technical School of Transport and Communication, or Technical School of Electronics that every year supply the market with more than 10,000 pupils who are prepared to work in various professions, enabling companies across the province to benefit from access to a highly trained pool of potential employees.

The high quality of Lublin technical secondary schools was multiple times confirmed in the annual “All-Poland Ranking of High Schools and Technical Schools” prepared by Perspektywy Foundation. Year after year Lublin schools are ranked high among the top 300 in Poland. The Technical School of Electronics, which in this year’s edition took 5th place, is considered to be one of the best technical secondary schools in Poland. Technical School of Economics and Trade & Technical School of Economics were also ranked high, occupying respectively 36th and 58th place in Poland.

Lublin technical schools are characterized by diverse education offer adjusted to the needs of Lublin’s labour market. Currently, there are a total of 64 courses allowing students to gain qualifications in such fields as mechanics, freight forwarding, logistics, technology in gastronomy, customer service, or accounting. This offer is constantly expanded as a response to dynamic requirements of the modern labour market. In the previous school year 2021/2022, profiles such as robotics, welding, stylist, and florist technician were introduced for the first time, meanwhile, in the school year, 2022/2023, roofing technician course was created.

A full educational offer of vocational schools, as well as information about companies cooperating with them, you can find on the platform “We lean on professionals” available under the link zawodowcy.lublin.eu. The portal was created by city of Lublin to facilitate cooperation between business, schools and local government. Employers have a chance to receive through it knowledge about the offer, resources and activities of vocational schools in Lublin, as well as transparent information about qualifications and skills acquired in individual courses. Additionally, the portal gives students and employers the opportunity to search for and receive offers of internships, apprenticeships, workshops or jobs. Collecting the comprehensive offer of vocational schools run by the City of Lublin in one place enables primary school students to choose a further educational path. When employers look for new talents to join their company, they want to find people who have the skills to do the job well and can adapt quickly to the work environment.

Cooperation of local businesses with secondary technical and vocational education instructions brings mutual benefits. Students have a chance to gain hands-on opportunities through internships and practical learning while building attractive resumes, meanwhile employers invest in their future potential staff, facilitating them the transition to an actual job.

Undoubtedly, Lublin, thanks to the wide range of courses offered by 13 technical and vocational schools offers potential investors a large pool of qualified staff that is ready to take up a job directly after graduation.