Initial Situation
Kosovo’s vocational education and training (VET) system has been subject to a reform process for some time, the purpose of which is to bring qualitative and quantitative improvements to the training provided by vocational schools. In the long run, this should increase the competitiveness of businesses and reduce un-employment, particularly among young people. One of the main objectives is to produce s system that offers training tailored to the needs of the business sector. By making training compatible with the European Qualifications Framework (NQF), the aim is also to make Kosovo more attractive to investors while increasing the mobility of the labour-force.
Objective
The training offered at Centres of Competence (CoCs) and other selected VET schools has improved.
Approach
The project supports the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) in implementing the reforms of theVET system. The Government of Kosovo attaches particular importance to CoCs in sectors that promise particular business development potential, and to the creation of a new Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education (AVETAE). Through this agency, the project will support the further development of the CoCs. In cooperation with the private sector, it is striving to establish demand-driven vocational education and training (VET) programmes, both in the CoCs and in the schools aspiring to become CoCs.
The project is advising the Ministry on establishing the AVETAE. Through training measures for the agency’s staff, for the management and teachers of the schools and for representatives of the private sector, the project is building up its partners’ capacities to take over management tasks and to bring sustained improvements to the services on offer. The project is also assisting the CoCs and other effective vocational schools in various regions of Kosovo to develop demand-oriented and sector-specific training courses, as well as other labour market services.
The project cooperates closely with other donors supporting the development of Kosovo’s VET system. MEST and the Hamburg Institute of Vocational Training (HIBB) have concluded a formal agreement for their direct cooperation. In order to intensify the cooperation with different actors of the private sector, to streng-then the private sector’s involvement in VET and in order to be able to better react to Kosovo’s demands, companies have been supported in establishing an Association for the Promotion of VET (SHMAAP) in Kosovo. It is non-profit and its tasks include the support, organisation, preparation and implementation of further training measures, of internships in companies and of measures linked to the establishment and management of supra-company training centers.
Impact (can be skipped if the project just started )
The project provided advice on the VET law, and on an executive order regulating the creation of the AVE-TAE. These steps have established the legal basis for the focused management of the vocational training system and, at the same time, for the increased of autonomy of individual schools. Quality assurance criteria and a candidate process for schools hoping to attain CoC status have been developed jointly with the partners.
For the first time, the private business sector in Kosovo is also showing greater interest in contributing financially to further education measures in a number of sectors, such as automobiles, green technologies and construction. In this way, it will directly support the improvement of the VET system in Kosovo. So far, the increased engagement has resulted in the establishment of an Association for the Promotion of VET in Kosovo.