Title: Connecting secondary education system with the needs of industry: the case of Slovenia

Authors: Žiga Čepar; Borut Likar; Petra Kunc

Addresses: Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Cankarjeva 5, 6000 Koper, Slovenia ' Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Cankarjeva 5, 6000 Koper, Slovenia ' School Centre Ravne na Koroškem, Ravne Secondary School, Na gradu 4a, 2390 Ravne na Koroškem, Slovenia

Abstract: This paper explores the issue of connecting secondary vocational and technical education system with the needs of industry. First, using a least square multivariate regression analysis based on the sample of panel data on Slovenian municipalities from 2013 to 2016, we found that the existing connection between the needs of industry and secondary education system in Slovenia via corporate scholarships is not efficient, which forms the basis for rejecting the hypothesis of the effects of that connection on youth unemployment. The key result of further qualitative research-based on the content analysis method applied to a data sample collected through semi-structured interviews (quota sampling) is a new model for achieving a sustainable dialogue between the secondary vocational and technical education system and the needs of economic sectors, with the aim of increasing the employability of young people and enhancing their innovativeness.

Keywords: secondary education; needs of industry; linking education and needs of economy; innovativeness; unemployment; labour market; cohesion model; Slovenia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2022.123812

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2022 Vol.32 No.1, pp.104 - 123

Received: 05 Jan 2021
Accepted: 15 May 2021
Published online: 04 Jul 2022 *

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