News item | 26-04-2023 | 08:00
This year, Minister Dijkgraaf (Education) will make € 27 million available for projects that strengthen the connection between MBO and the labor market. This concerns resources from the Regional Investment Fund for MBO (RIF). In the first round, an amount of € 10 million was awarded to ten projects that are important for social challenges such as climate, agriculture and care. A second round of applications will follow later this year.
Minister Dijkgraaf: “It is good to see that many MBO schools throughout the country are working to close the gap between the education offered and what is now needed on the labor market. As we know, the shortages in some sectors are very large at the moment. At the same time, many awarded projects have a valuable, forward-looking view towards the future, due to attention to robotization, AI and other innovations within the courses, among other things.”
Crucial sectors for social challenges
Most of the positively assessed applications focus on sectors that are crucial for major social challenges related to climate, agriculture and healthcare.
For example, the project ‘There is still light’ focuses on the energy transition in North Brabant, particularly for technology and construction. Various MBO schools such as ROC van Tilburg, Summa College and ROC ter Aa are working together with the business community and universities of applied sciences. This should lead, for example, to an MBO Innovation and Expertise Center for Energy Transition and the development of educational programs for courses such as Sustainable Living Environment Advisor and Electrotechnical Installer.
At the Care Campus in Nissewaard, students and care professionals follow practice-oriented education and training in close collaboration with companies and care institutions from the region. Developments in the field of care education and care innovation are central to this. The partnership consists of the MBO schools Zadkine and Albeda, care institutions and the municipality of Nissewaard.
The ‘Agro Lives’ initiative is a collaboration between green vocational education and the business community in the Greenport Venlo region. The region has a strong position in the agro and food sectors. In this sector too, there is a shortage on the labor market and an ever-changing demand for skills and competences. The aim of Agro Leeft is to ensure that students with knowledge of the latest technologies and direct knowledge of, for example, the cultivation and production can do the job.
Improving the connection between education and the labor market
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has made 27 million euros available this year from the Regional Investment Fund for MBO to improve the connection between MBO education and the labor market. Partnerships of schools, employers and regional authorities can apply at two times a year. An independent assessment committee advises the Minister of Education, Culture and Science on the allocation of subsidies from the fund. The first round in 2023 has resulted in ten projects that will receive an award. A second round will follow later this year. Projects that have previously received a subsidy can also participate again in order to scale up the collaboration. The projects ‘Agro Lives’ by Yuverta and ‘Sustainable Hybrid Education in Technology & ICT’ by mboRijnland are examples of this.
In recent years, the Regional Investment Fund for MBO has made an important contribution to a better match between MBO and the labor market. Since 2014, dozens of partnerships have been able to develop into innovative forms of vocational education that are attractive to students with a contribution from the fund. They can often stand on their own two feet even after the subsidy has ended. The Sustainability Factory in Dordrecht and the Center for Innovative Craftsmanship Water in Leeuwarden are initiatives that have previously received funding from the RIF.