4 THE DUAL SYSTEM OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
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a student of the chef’s department at the Hotel Academy in Liptovský Mikuláš: It is a three-year study department ending with a final exam. During it, students will learn how to prepare cold and hot dishes for ordinary and festive occasions or communicate in a foreign language, and in the dual system of education and training, they will also gain experience in real operations. “A chef is a person who knows everything about it, is constantly educated and also is brave. The globalization of the world and gastronomy has brought with it world-class customers who are demanding, and this creates space for creative chefs to realize themselves, “said the director of the Hotel Academy in Liptovský Mikuláš about the department. “A good chef should be interested in cooking, knowing that he wants to pay attention to it, and be able to put emotion into the preparation of food.” I often go to the store, buy some fish, for example, and prepare it as I want. I try new recipes, they are from my head, I try new tastes or herbs,” explained Matúš. “They don’t take me as an apprentice, but as a colleague. I feel equal, even though my colleagues have, of course, more experience, they are older and better, they will always help me,” Matúš described how it goes in the dual system of education and training (Pravda, 2018).
4.3.4 Strengths and weaknesses of the dual system of education and training in the Slovak Republic The dual system of education and training, which is aimed at preparing a quality skilled workforce directly in practice, should, in our opinion, be a systemic long-term sustainable solution with long-term outcomes and long-term effects for the changing labour market. Madzinová et al. (2018) name the individual benefits of the dual system of education and training. One of the positive and necessary facts is the connection of secondary vocational schools to practice, as the practical training of students in the dual system of education and training corresponds to a greater extent to real working conditions on 138
