Despite new legal requirements mandating that high schools adapt more to labor market needs, nearly two out of three high school students in Örebro County attend college preparatory programs rather than vocational training. According to a review by Svenskt Näringsliv, approximately 63 percent of high school students in the county are enrolled in college preparatory programs, while only about 37 percent attend vocational programs. This distribution has remained at roughly the same level for several years, according to the organization.
Karl Hulterström, regional manager for Svenskt Näringsliv in Örebro County, expressed concern about the slow pace of change. "We would have liked to see the transition happen earlier," he said, noting that companies in the region are demanding more vocationally trained workers. The background is the government's new reform requiring high school education to be more closely aligned with labor market needs rather than just student preferences.
We would have liked to see the transition happen earlier
Christopher Hedbom Rydaeus (M), chairman of the Gymnasium and Labor Market Board, shares this assessment. "We have a mismatch in the labor market today - a surplus of theorists and a shortage of practitioners. We are trying to adjust this, but it is a large apparatus that needs to be moved," he said. He also pointed out that high school choices are fundamentally governed by students' own preferences, making it crucial to get more students to voluntarily choose vocational programs.
Another challenge for vocational programs is the availability of internship placements (APL), which require close cooperation with businesses to secure sufficient positions.
We have a mismatch in the labor market today - a surplus of theorists and a shortage of practitioners. We are trying to adjust this, but it is a large apparatus that needs to be moved
It is a major challenge to fill all APL placements. We are constantly trying to maintain a dialogue with companies to enable more