EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The education system related to the construction industry consists of the following main elements:
- the institutions for higher education
- the technical schools
- the schools for labour market training
- in service-training
Generally the education system in Denmark is only indirectly linked to the companies in the industry. This field is mostly considered a public task for the specialised trai-ning/educa-tion institutions, and in-house education in companies is thus rather scarce. In cases of urgent domestic training needs these are very often targeted towards specific techniques or equipment and done in a close co-operation between either the technical schools or the institutions for labour market training.
The institutions of higher education are of course educating the white-collar workers of the industry, such as architects, engineers and land register surveyors. The training of engineers at these institutions is now two-phased - on a bachelor level and master level. Most other educations are to a master level. The duration of education to masters level is normally five years while studies to a bachelors level normally last 3½ years. In Denmark there are two universities for the training of engineers to a masters level and two schools of fine arts for the education of architects to a masters level.
Previously it was quite common among tradesmen to do further studies in either architecture or engineering as a part of their professional career. This educational sequence of course resulted in technicians with a practice-based understanding of the actual construction process and the techniques involved. However in recent years most architects and engineers have solely an academic background reflecting the fact that scientifically-based management methods and control forms have become very important.
Between the institutions of higher education and the secondary schools an intermediate level of education is present. At these schools, technicians are trained to two different levels for a 3 year period and for a 1½ year period. These schools do not demand pre-entry qualifications at grammar school level which is the case with the institutions of higher educations.
The technical schools educate and train white as well as blue collar workers. For young people going for an apprenticeship the training is periodically divided between a technical school and a company. This division secures the attention to important basic skills inside the framework of the technical school as well as to the more specialised skills, developed during the (site-oriented) company training.
Normal duration of an apprenticeship is 3 - 3½ years including approximately a 1½ year stay at the technical school. The trades covered by the technical schools are:
- carpentry
- plumbing
- electrical works
- brick laying
- painting
This structure reflects the traditional trade organisation found on building sites.
White collar workers trained at the technical schools are, for instance, certain types of technicians/engineers doing specialised tasks (like technical drawing) either at design companies or on site. This training normally takes 3 to 3½ years and has a rather practical content not requiring an academic background.
Looking at the labour market training the general intention is to obtain a certain level of specialised skills among the general labour force. In the boom-period during the 1950s and the 1960s this training acted as a policy means for the transfer of surplus agricultural labour in rural areas to construction activities in urban areas. Besides the social aspects the aim of this conversion was not least to avoid bottlenecks leading to booming wages and soaring prices in construction. The training normally consisted of shorter specialised courses enabling the workforce to fluctuate between training and work in the industry. This has obvious advantages in an industry with strong seasonal fluctuations. The training offered can be sequenced to achieve a larger degree of specialisation.
This policy has been continued by the introduction of a more formalised training schedule offered to the non and semi-skilled part of the labour force normally not obtaining formal qualifications. It is targeted towards the processes normally associated with the ground and the basic structures of the building and it is comparable to the system of apprenticeship known from the traditional trades. This means that the training includes work on site as well as training in the technical schools. The training has a variable duration of maximum four years depending on the experience of the student.
In-service training for blue and white collar workers is divided into a dual system. For the latter with higher education, in-service training is normally managed by commercial companies specialised in this type of training. An example of such an in-service training sequence is the training for building economist. This is a course scheduled for a duration of 240 hours aimed at architects and engineers upgrading their qualifications in the aspect of financial management of the building process. Normally in-service training does not carry any type of official recognition or approval.
In-service training for the blue-collars and groups of technicians normally takes place at the technical schools on a shorter term basis often in periods of lower activity. To ease the alternation between work and training the labour market schools have schemed their courses in rather flexible, modular sequences. Having participated in this type of in-service training the worker achieves the formal recognition of his new level of qualification. In-service training is financed by a gross tax of 5 % paid by Danish taxpayers. This reflects the emphasis laid by the state on educational matters as a tool for the constant upgrade of qualifications within the workforce.