**3. Conclusions**

Innovations and changes must be continuously introduced into study programmes, as a result of global trends, scientific progress, the changing needs of the users, and the opinions and experiences of stakeholders, which include both active students and graduates as well as the latter's employers. Labour market requirements are changing rapidly these days and new skills, materials, machines, information technologies and new guidelines are constantly emerging. The labour market is characterised by rapidly changing needs as it responds to the wider functioning of society. Already today, and especially in the future, many individuals will not stay in one occupation for their entire career. Individuals learn the new competences they need on their own in the labour market or by working in a company. In education, it is essential to keep up to date with all new developments and to integrate them into the teaching process. At the same time, it is important that students are trained to be continuously flexible in terms of integrating different skills and to face the demands for knowledge in the working environment with courage. Professions can be acquired through study or through certification of previously acquired skills. This allows each individual to adapt to the labour market. Institutions should monitor and periodically review their programmes to ensure that they achieve the objectives set for them and respond to the needs of students and society. These reviews should lead to a continuous improvement in the programme. The development or revision of curriculum and professional standards requires several precisely planned phases and a close cooperation with the most advanced representatives of the industry and food and nutrition services.

The updated curricula should be designed in such a way that the interconnectedness of each curriculum can be identified, both at the horizontal level (i.e. between curricula of the same programme) and at the vertical level (i.e. a meaningful build-up of the objectives and standards of each curriculum).

For higher education programmes, it is essential to link the objectives and competences to the Master's degree. In practice-oriented higher education programmes, it is important to link the objectives and competences to the needs of the working environment. There must also be coherence and consistency between the objectives and knowledge standards within the curriculum. There should also be a link and a meaningful gradation or upgrading between the curricula for upper secondary, higher education and Master's level (EQF levels 5, 6 and 7). A curriculum is internally consistent when all the curricular components in it are coherent with each other and this is, as far as possible, visible to the teacher using it. This is also why it is important to ensure that all knowledge standards are consistent with the intended objectives. To achieve internal consistency, all curricula are designed according to the same principles, with the same structure and the same conceptual underpinnings, both within and between programmes. The acquisition of practical competences is of paramount importance for VET programmes.

### **Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.
