News item | 08-06-2023 | 11:00 am
Training young people so that they have the right skills for the regional labor market. Keeping employees of the regional business sector permanently employable through retraining and further training. Stimulating the innovative power of SMEs. That is the purpose of public-private partnerships between vocational education and the business community. The government is allocating 123 million euros to take existing partnerships a step further. The contribution comes from the National Growth Fund and is part of the Green and Digital Jobs Action Plan. With this, the government wants to tackle the personnel shortage in technology and ICT, so that the Netherlands can continue to focus fully on the energy and digital transition.
Vocational education is a basic condition for the growth and competitiveness of the Dutch economy. Since 2010, the Netherlands has therefore been investing in public-private partnerships (PPPs) to strengthen the link between vocational education and the business community. A better connection is needed so that people can continue to develop throughout their lives, innovations in the business community are stimulated and the productivity level of SMEs increases.
With the contribution from the National Growth Fund, existing public-private partnerships can be expanded. As a result, learning effectiveness in the Northern Netherlands will increase, for example by having learners and workers work together on innovations in the ‘Green transition Northern Netherlands’ project. In Brabant, the ‘Digital Industry Boost’ consortium is working on a boost to digitization. There, the existing cooperation between SMEs from the manufacturing industry and education will be expanded. For a total overview of the fifteen consortia that receive a contribution, click here.
This government grant of 123 million ensures that PPPs in fifteen consortia can be further scaled up through targeted investments, so that more students, workers and job seekers are trained for a job in technology or ICT. A condition for the granting of the government grant was that the PPPs also receive co-financing for their plans from regional partners, such as the government, the business community or education.
The ‘Subsidy Upscaling of sustainable PPS in vocational education’ is funded from the National Growth Fund. With the National Growth Fund, the government is investing 20 billion euros between 2021 and 2025 in projects that ensure sustainable economic growth for the long term. Of the 210 million investment, 123 million is now allocated to fifteen consortia. The remaining amount will be awarded at a later stage.
For more information see: Subsidy Scaling up sustainable PPP in vocational education.