Formal and Non-formal Education
12 May 2009 | 
Author: Guest-post by Vlad Posea
Five years ago, when we initiated Stagii pe Bune, we had no idea what non-formal education was. If we hadn’t met our colleagues from LEAP, maybe this concept would have been unclear to us even today.
At that time, we just felt the need to see what was going on in real life, beside all the things we were studying in college. In our field (IT&C) the so-called internship (as one of the non-formal education practices) was included in the curricula for quite some time and its importance was acknowledged by us all. The problem was that work-based education was starting to become a substitute of the formal education in school. Because of the misbalance between offer and request in the IT&C industry in Romania, a lot of students would have rather chosen a job – thinking they will learn enough while working.
We support the idea that the two systems of education have to harmoniously combine. A good student is a student who has taken full advantage of the non-formal education opportunities and who successfully completed a college degree. And by successful completion I mean accumulating the competences offered in school – not only obtaining a diploma. An internship offers the possibility to gain practical experience, to develop team-work skills, to accommodate with life on the labor market and, at the same time, it offers you the possibility to continue your full-time studies. Moreover, next summer you have the opportunity to go-see another company and become familiar with other new and interesting technologies, while also getting in touch with other useful contacts – expanding your network. College offers an overview of the field you are later going to work in, it offers an introduction to its basic branches and it develops your capacity to adapt to technological changes and to eventual shifts in your career path.
In the meantime, in IT&C, things have started to fall into place. The ratio between offer and request has become more balanced and the competition for obtaining a better job (well paid, with development and improvement perspectives) is harsher and harsher. Those winning the race, those with the best perspectives for a successful career – will be the ones with a complete set of knowledge – accumulated both through formal and non-formal education.
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