On 12th September 2019, the Vocational Education and Training Center and the State Education Inspectorate signed a Memorandum of Cooperation regarding enhancing the quality of vocational education, with the support of the Education for Employment in North Macedonia Project (Е4E@мк). The coordinated action of the institutions and the civic sector enables the improvement of education for the development of professional skills, whereby young people will be provided with greater employment opportunities.
At the beginning of the event, the attendants were addressed by the Minister of Education and Science, Arber Ademi, the Director of the Vocational Education and Training Center, Ajshe Selmani, the Director of the State Education Inspectorate, Tome Spirovski, and the Team Leader of the Education for Employment in North Macedonia Project, Kurt Wüthrich.
The Minister of Education and Science sent a message that the improvement of the quality of vocational education is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Education and Science, while also emphasizing that in such manner it is expected to increase the interest of young people to enroll in the secondary vocational schools.
The directors of the educational institutions discussed the challenges they are facing, exchanged ideas about various future activities and pointed out the importance of the commitment to a continuous cooperation, primarily by means of exchanging information and remaining coordinated during the implementation of activities aimed at the achievement of the shared goal – better quality vocational education.
The team leader, Kurt Wüthrich, pointed out that despite the improvement of the inter-institutional cooperation, one of the challenges for the tackling of which efforts will be exerted in the forthcoming period is the intensification of the direct cooperation of the institutions and the secondary vocational school with the employers. Thus, it is expected for the students to acquire adequate knowledge and skills which will enable them to get a job immediately after the completion of the educational process and respond to the employers’ needs.
The Education for Employment in North Macedonia Project (Е4Е@мк) is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The purpose of the project is to improve the professional skills, primarily of young people, in order to ensure a good employment. With the support of the project, partnerships are being established between the secondary vocational schools and the private sector, whereby the interest in vocational education and in the offer of professional skills trainings is being increased.
