THE INTERACTION OF HARD SKILLS AND SOFT SKILLS IN THE PROCESS OF FORMING THE PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCES OF HIGHER EDUCATION APPLICANTS OF THE TERRITORIALLY SEPARATED DEPARTMENT “KHMELNYTSKYI BRANCH OF THE ACADEMY OF THE STATE PENITENTIARY SERVICE”

Abstract

The adaptation of the penitentiary service of Ukraine to the requirements of the world penitentiary system involves compliance with the principles of legality, justice, democracy, and humanism with the widest possible use of international standards. At the same time, there are actions that are unacceptable for the staff of the State Criminal Enforcement Service: provocations, haste in making decisions, disclosing the facts of the convict’s life, inaction and passivity, indifference. In this sense, the issue of the interaction of the so-called Hard skills and Soft skills, acquired by students during their studies at an educational institution becomes especially relevant. Among the personnel of the State Criminal and Executive Service undergoing training in the territorially Separated Branch “Khmelnitskyi branch of the Academy of the State Penitentiary Service”, an example of hard skills is the skills that trainees acquire at the practical classes. It should be noted that, in addition to hard skills, most subjects of training courses contribute to the development of soft skills as well. For example, the discipline “Tactical and Special Training”. During its studying, a number of official situations that may arise during practical work or official duties are simulated. The tasks are aimed at finding hiding places of prohibited items or preventing the rebellion of convicts and prisoners. After “playing” this situation, the teacher, with the participation of the students, conducts a discussion and analysis of the activities and actions of individual categories of event participants. As a result, a model of the best solution to a certain problem is produced. During such practical training, the teacher is able to identify the characteristics of the listener’s character, his reaction to a certain situation, the ability to think outside the box and find the optimal way out, and to correct an undesirable model of his behavior. Also, the teacher can motivate further correct actions of the person by means of encouragement. After graduating from the territorially separated branch of the Khmelnitsky branch of the Academy of the State Penitentiary Service, the employees of the State Penitentiary Service constantly improve the acquired knowledge and skills in the conditions of penal institutions by conducting weekly training. The autonomy of higher education institutions allows for variations within the defined curriculum of courses, therefore, the saturation of practical classes of students with tasks aimed at group performance of the assigned task will ensure the formation and development of flexible skills, which in the future will find a positive reflection of the specialist at the workplace in the conditions of the institutions of the State Penitentiary services. Key words: Hard skills, Soft skills, Penitentiary Service.