Improving the quality of higher education = Innovative and creative approach to the integration of the theory and practice

Abstract

The quality of tertiary education is closely related to the employability of graduates in the labor market. Today's problem of the youth unemployment also affects disciplines which, in the recent past, have represented the security of university graduates in securing employment. A number of university students are already fully aware of the fact that, after graduating from university, there is a problem with their employability in the labor market. Although the share of universities in shaping highly qualified labor is the contemporary primary objective, it still cannot do without the necessary "modernization of higher education", whether it is the management, financing, or curriculum in continuity with creative and innovative thinking. The priority is given to better targeting of learning outcomes to the labor market needs, which is reflected in the need for the necessary interdependence with the commercial or non-commercial sphere, whether through vocational training, internships, or other forms of professional practice. What is needed is the development of such a higher education offer which, with the focus on creating links between the academia and the workplace, focuses not on classroom-based teacher practices but on student-oriented models and practical approaches in the form of active learning. Yet not fully favoring the need for the combination of theory and practice. The aim of the paper is not only to present the current state of higher education in the Czech Republic but also to outline one of the possible ways of an innovative solution of the integration of the theory and practice based on the collaboration of the academic sphere and non-profit organizations in continuity with the regional development.