We live in an age where education and expertise are on the fringes of general social interest. There is a lot of talk about it, but sadly little is done either in the government, in the parliament, or even in the real business environment. The work of teachers, lecturers, experts in essential sectors of our economy has been undersized in our country for a long time, undervalued by the system of management, subsidies, moral respect and, unfortunately, also by evaluation. This is also why we lack an entire generation of active experts, for example in the Food Industry sector. The result of this situation is the fact that we import more food to Slovakia than we produce and export. I am frightened by the fact that in the near future, if we do not change this situation with our own efforts and capital, there will be a drastic decline in agricultural production, for example in the viticulture and winemaking sector.
I thought from the point of view of an expert with many years of experience, experience (without millions in the account, in the garage and in the cellar), how can I help winegrowers and winemakers, future oenologists, cellar masters, as well as related professions of food & beverage management and sommeliers? After successfully completing the training, defending the exams and confirming the results of my work as an oenologist, accredited lecturer and publicist, today I received the official appointment decree of an authorized person within the SOK in the FOOD sector, qualification: Grape and wine processor.
In addition to active work as an advisor and consultant for several wine companies, I have been working as a leading ambassador of Slovak wine at home and abroad for over twenty years. And yes, I don't brag about it on my pages and business cards (as my friends and corporate partners know me) because I don't consider it important to my happiness and success. However, this was one of the challenges of the State Institute of Vocational Education. An initiative to which I responded positively and I sincerely want you to know about it in the future, for example, if you need to hire interested people with the required qualifications for your companies and use the SOK institute not only here, but also in other European countries of the community.
The "Qualification Verification System in the Slovak Republic" (SOK) is one of the tools that can help thousands of Slovaks to better apply themselves on the labor market in our country and abroad. The introduction of this system will make it possible for an individual to obtain a new qualification without having to complete an educational program that overlaps in content several times. He will have the opportunity to verify the acquired knowledge, skills and competences regardless of where and how they were acquired, i.e. also through practical experience or self-study.
At the same time, it will enable employers in the Slovak Republic to find, verify and, after successful authorization, employ capable applicants from Slovakia and other countries (including applicants for qualified work who came to us from countries outside the Union) for important job positions, whose education or experience we need in our food industry successfully verify the sector.
In addition, the SOK in the Slovak Republic will allow, after an authorized examination, to obtain a qualification certificate comparable to a certificate from formal education. However, this requires legislative regulation, which I believe our Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic will propose to implement legislatively as soon as possible. That is also why I am sincerely curious which of the "winning" political parties will decide to seriously address this vital issue for our national economy after the autumn elections and help us complete the implementation of the SOK in real practice.
The SOK national project is aimed at creating a methodological basis and binding procedures for processes in the area of qualification verification valid at the national level, the creation of national and regional institutional elements through which the verification of qualifications will be implemented, including the implementation of a pilot verification of the set system in practice. Let's keep our fingers crossed for all of us who are interested in the production, sale and consumption of quality Made in Slovakia foods. Without capable people (not only experts, school graduates, or workforce coming to us from different countries), we will not be able to do it in the sector in the long term.
Our marketing successes in the field of winning medals at leading wine exhibitions are not enough, when today we already feel an acute shortage of Slovak grapes for the production of quality wine. The demand for it is slowly growing, but what is the reality? Hectoliters imported in tankers from abroad are still bottled here. How long do you want wine produced in this way to "compete" on paper with the surplus from the subsidized countries of the Union? For this, we need a change in the wine legislation, a real control of the declaration of imported wines, because many wines with an indication of the place of production and origin are deceiving their customers. We independents from those who are still here will contribute to this. The solution is the development of sectoral cooperation, connecting a network of vocational schools, campuses with universities (domestic and foreign), building shared farms, supporting research and production farms, involving winegrowers and winemakers regardless of ego, production size and number of employees. We are at the tail end of European grape and wine processing. Statistics won't let go. Consumption gives the answer, but unfortunately each of us, from primary production to finalization of grape wine in Slovakia, has to do something about it. Otherwise, we will only be left with an open-air museum full of achievements, but without a vision of a sustainable future.
Vladimír Hronský, oenologist
Upozornenie / Warning