The conceptual provisions of the purposeful development of the prospective skilled employees' self-education competence in the Institutions of Vocational Education (Vocational Education and Training) (hereinafter referred to as IVE (VET)) are investigated. It is determined that at present the level of educational process organization in IVE (VET) doesn't meet the requirements of modern production. Among the main vectors for the modernization of vocational training of prospective skilled employees, the dominant of which should be made on the development of students' self-educational abilities, and technological knowledge of the machine-building industry skilled employees must be constantly improved and replenished with new information. The results of the definitive analysis of such significant for the research concepts as "competence approach", "competence", "qualification" are manifested. Self-education competence is interpreted as a personality's integrated property synthesizing knowledge, skills, experience of self-education and personal qualities that can be performed in productive student's self-education activity and behavior and ensure a prospective skilled worker's preparedness and ability to identify deliberately the reality, to master reasonably the social experience of mankind and perform self-realization. It is defined that self-education competence of a prospective machine-building industry skilled employee is constructed of five interdependent and mutually determined components: motivational-valuable, cognitive, operational-activity-oriented, organizational-volitional and reflexive-evaluative. The principal methodological approaches (competence, personality-oriented, activity-oriented, systematic, reflexive, axiological, informational, environmental) and pedagogical principles of the development of prospective skilled employees' self-education competence (value-substantive orientation, system and consistency, continuity, personification, mobility, researching, reflection, visibility, humanization, problem solving, integration) are suggested. On the basis of factor analysis, pedagogical conditions are determined, the directions for achieving the goal of purposeful development of students' self-education competence in IVE(VET) of machine-building profile are given. The prospect of further scientific research, related to the design of methods and technologies for the development of students' self-educational competence in the Institutions of VE (VET) of machine-building profile, are defined.