The effect of the competence requirements of Industry 4.0 on public education

Abstract

The aim of the study is to explore and present the relationship between Industry 4.0 and primary education and its wide-ranging effects. Industry 4.0 is today’s reality. Industry 4.0. represents the level of mechanization and robotization where the relationship between man and machine cannot be separated. This relationship is mutually beneficial, and makes our lives easier and faster. The accelerating world also demands accelerating adaptation. However, it does not matter how and to what extent we can pick up the accelerating pace. What are the knowledge and skills without which we have no chance to adapt? Where and how can we acquire and master these? The questions are important because they directly influence the individual’s place in the labour market and thus their livelihood. The authors analyse the relationship between the competencies required by the labour market and the competencies of the last 2020 version of the National Core Curriculum, which defines the framework of public education. The actuality of this is based on their observation that the “marketisation” caused by Industry 4.0 has already appeared in primary education. The authors draw attention to the fact that without the output competencies of public education, the individual does not have an adequate basis to be able to meet the current expectations of the labour market. These basic competences create the skills for independent study in any direction and subject. One of the most important results of the analysis is that public education, especially primary public education, is undervalued in the literature. There are more and more new forms of learning content, methods, tools, and platforms, but much less is said about the importance of traditional educational methods and content. The authors of this article wish to fill this gap and intend to draw attention to the issue at hand.