Time for a renewal of practical education

Stop trivialising

First of all, Huisman says it is time to revalue practical education. "Parents nowadays want their children to be educated at the highest possible level: in the Netherlands havo or vwo. But in doing so, are we not ignoring the fact that a child should also do something that he or she enjoys? After all, you have to work for a long time after your studies. I know so many young people who prefer practical to theoretical work and are more talented at it. Unfortunately, we often equate 'practical' education with 'lower education'. By trivialising it in this way, you actually pigeonhole the young people who choose it. While it is precisely in installation technology that they can get great jobs in which they feel comfortable and can develop personally."

Room to grow

Peter Huisman knows what he is talking about. In his own company, he has experienced it at close quarters on countless occasions. "One of our colleagues, for instance, started working for us as an electrical fitter when he was 16 after finishing his technical school education. He is now a project manager for the largest and most complex projects. He also occasionally gives guest lectures at the Den Bosch University of Applied Sciences. Once in place, people often learn better and you see them grow enormously. Parents should recognise that practical courses are also beautiful and also offer job guarantees and personal development prospects. We don't all need to prepare for a university career. Many young people don't even like that and experience the pressure as too high. There have always been people who thrive better in a hands-on environment. And thank goodness we are not all put together the same way! So let's give our young people more room to choose practical training again. I think this would also reduce the number of school dropouts. And with it, the social unrest this brings."

Inspiring young people

The shortage of technical workers has been talked about for years, but Huisman says it is now really time for action. "It is great that we are going to make an energy transition and in a few years' time we will all have to have solar panels and a heat pump, but who is going to realise this in practice? The inflow to technical secondary and higher education continues to decline. We need to encourage our young people much more to move in that direction anyway. Technology is a very beautiful profession and also incredibly important in our present society. So you can't really start early enough by letting young people get a taste of engineering, so that they discover its possibilities. Technical companies can contribute to this. Invite a primary school class to introduce them to technology.

Successful synergy of forces

Huisman Etech Experts and other companies in the region have collaborated a lot with regional secondary education in recent years. "As a result, the expected shrinkage in intake for practical training courses has not occurred. We were even able to prevent the engineering course in our region from disappearing because the student numbers became too small for the school to still be able to offer it. As a business community, we counterattacked and started helping the school. Every technical company can make some equipment or people available so that the course can still go ahead. These forms of cooperation could also be interesting in other regions. As a technical company, but also as a practical school, you should not sit back and wait for someone to come knocking on your door, but take action yourself."

From trainee to lateral entrant

For Huisman Etech Experts, taking action also means taking part in technology days and business exhibitions at schools. Every year, the family business offers quite a few internships and apprenticeships for young people. "Of course not to abuse young people as cheap labour. We give them an assignment that matters, with the responsibility that goes with it. That is also exactly what young people want. We also give lateral entrants without prior technical training or experience a chance. They can learn the theory at school and gain practical experience with us in parallel. For instance, we have a former cook who now works in switchboard construction and really enjoys it there. We also welcome foreign nationals who do not yet speak the Dutch language but have technical professional experience. We send them on language lessons so they can integrate faster."

Out-of-the-box

The government can help by freeing up more resources for practical education and local ventures to get young people more broadly interested in engineering. This is not a new sound. Huisman: "We refuse to resign ourselves to the fact that there would be no solutions. We just need to dare to think out-of-the-box a bit more often. The shortage of practically trained people is a social problem. To solve it, everyone has to contribute from their own capacities: government, education, entrepreneurs and parents. Only together will you get further. Believe me: a technical profession, as well as any other practical craft, is sexy. You just have to want to see it."