Introduction. The implementation of the federal project “ Professionalitet” in the system of secondary vocational education entails a series of changes in the preparation process of skilled workers and middle-level specialists. This necessity arises from significant reductions in training periods and deeper interaction between educational institutions and enterprises. The success of the project largely depends on the formation of the content of the professional cycle of educational programs, its structure, as well as the pedagogical conditions of implementation and timely identification of problems affecting its effectiveness.
Aim. To identify the problems of developing organizational and pedagogical conditions for training specialists in a college (technical school) when transitioning to educational programs in the context of professionalitet.
Methods. The methodological basis of the research comprised systemic, competencybased, personal-activity, and process approaches, enabling the identification of key problems in developing organizational and pedagogical conditions for implementing educational programs. Research methods included theoretical analysis of scientific literature, analysis of regulatory documents governing the training of skilled workers and middle-level specialists, synthesis of obtained information, and an inductive method when studying employer requirements for college (technical school) graduates.
Results. The ongoing modernization of secondary vocational education, associated with the implementation of the Professionalitet federal project aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of training middle-level specialists, is accompanied by problems in selecting the content of professional cycle disciplines and the technology of its implementation. The densification of the professional cycle, caused by the reduction of time in educational programs for its implementation, leads to problems related to: 1) transforming the content of training in this cycle, its structure, as well as justifying the forms, methods, and means of professional education; 2) striving to align educational programs for training middle-level specialists with labour market requirements outlined in professional standards and job descriptions; 3) selecting the content of an additional professional block in the professional cycle of shortened educational programs.
Scientific novelty. The study substantiates the socially pedagogical, scientifictheoretical, and methodological problem of identifying organizational and pedagogical conditions for training middle-level specialists in the implementation of an additional professional block within core professional educational programs under the Professionalitet project.
Practical significance. The obtained results can be used in developing core vocational educational programs for training middle-level specialists in metalworking.