The "Recharge Your Career" career forum at which ESGnews.bg is a media partner, was held today in Sofia and brought together leading experts, successful businesses and young talents from the RES industry, who shared their success stories and discussed current trends and opportunities in the sector in our country.
The objectives of the forum were to create key partnerships between business, education and renewable energy prospects in Bulgaria to help achieve the EU's 2030 energy and climate goals by creating promising jobs and career opportunities.
The event was organized by "Solar Academy Bulgaria" association and M3 Communications Group, Inc.
Bulgaria can attract more young people to the renewable energy sector. By educating students, our country can create a better gross domestic product. However, it is important to point out that there is a lack of personnel in the still young RES sector, which is felt and creates difficulties in the industry", stated at the beginning the chairman of the "Solar Academy Bulgaria" association Dr. Eng. Veselen Todorov.
Every day brings change in the solar business. Every student and young person should think about their career in time so as not to be left behind by new trends. If a student doesn't work while studying, they can fall behind," said M3 Communications Group, Inc CEO Maxime Behar.
A symbiosis between business, professional and higher education is needed
The official Deputy Minister of Education and Science Marieta Georgieva was a guest of "Recharge your career".
Sector councils are now underway. With them, the foundation can be laid and the symbiosis between business, professional and higher education can be built. This must happen with the participation and support of employers' organizations, trade unions, workers' associations and branch organizations. Ultimately, the goal is to set policies at the sector and branch level. What is produced as qualifications should be created with the business in the lead. Currently, the sector councils are expected to prepare a new "beta version" of the professions. In March, the amendment to the Law on Vocational Education and Training was finally adopted, which should set the stage for a major reform in this sector. The first step of the reform is to change the list of professions", said Marieta Georgieva.
Lack of qualified personnel
Companies need to signal to young people that they need their skills and efforts to qualify. This was said by the Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Tsvetan Simeonov.
The court traditionally examines the threats that business sees in various negative trends in the market, and one of these studies is precisely about the lack of qualified personnel. There is no sector in Bulgaria that is satisfied with having enough personnel at its disposal. More than half of businessmen see the lack of qualified personnel as one of the biggest threats. Thus, the market opens up for the entry of personnel without qualifications, which is dangerous for society. The other problem is the outflow of personnel who are trained in Bulgaria, but go to work abroad," Simeonov pointed out.
The rector of the University of National and World Economy (UNSE) was also a guest at the forum, Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov.
A way for students to participate in the process of building photovoltaic installations has not yet been found. Higher education faces many obstacles, especially for new specialties and activities such as RES, cyber security, artificial intelligence. This excessive regulation in higher education does not help the development and provision of personnel in such fields", explained the rector of the UNSS.
Awards
At the event, the winners of the competition for the preparation of a mock-up of a photovoltaic power plant, organized by the company Enery and the association "Solar Academy Bulgaria", were announced.
The winner was the "Young Electrician" team from the National Vocational Technical High School "Shandor Petjofi" in Razgrad. The other finalists were from Professional High School of Mechanoelectrical Engineering and Electronics, Burgas, Professional High School of Agriculture "St. George the Victorious", Suvorovo and Professional High School of Electrical Engineering and Electronics "Konstantin Fotinov", Burgas. All prize winners were awarded with Apple iPads.