Public institutions responsible for development of the policies in the adult education sector are the Ministry for Education and Science, Adult Education Centre, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Council for Adult Education, the local authorities i.e. the municipalities, and the social partners.

Ministry of Education and Science has the responsibilities in the area of adult education to:

• Adopts Strategy for Adult Education and Action Plans for its implementation based on the proposal of the Council for Adult Education;
• Provides proposals for networks of institutions who provide services of adult education;
• Verifies institutions for adult education pursuant to Law;
• Issues licenses for work for institutions for adult education;
• Maintains register of verified institutions for adult education;
• Provides national syllabi and curricula for adult education;
• Provides syllabi and curricula for primary and general and vocational secondary education for adults based on the proposal of the Centre for Adult Education;
• Provides financial assets from the Budget from North Macedonia for financing adult education based on the appointed state needs;
• Provides financial assets for research and development in the area of adult education in concordance with the state priorities and the priorities of the European Union.

Ministry of Labour and Social Policy  as the responsibilities in the area of adult education to:

• Participates in the implementation of state policy in the field of adult education
• Analyses the labour market and proposes certain opinions for requalification and new qualification of the labour force;
• Participates in preparing and adjusting vocational qualifications by standards of occupations;
• Initiates new vocational qualifications by standards of occupations in collaboration with the Centre for Adult Education;
• Participates in creating national standards of occupations;
• Participates in organizing professional orientation of participants in adult education.

The Centre for Adult Education:

• Develops adult education aligning it to the demands of the contemporary technological and societal development;
• Gives support to social partnership at all levels and phases of planning, development and implementation in adult education;
• Connects adult education with the working life in context of lifelong learning;
• Produces the Policy for Adult Education;
• Develops European orientation towards adult education;
• Provides standards of occupations for programmes of adult educations;
• Provides models of public programmes for adult education;
• Conducts verification of programmes for adult education;
• Creates the catalogue of verified programmes and licensed institutions for adult education and publishes it on the official web page of the Ministry of Education and Science;
• Provides support for adult education through counselling and mentoring of staff for adult education;
• Creates standards for infrastructure and equipment of institutions for adult education;
• Mediates in career development and professional orientation of participants in adult education;
• Proposes solutions for improving the link between formal and non-formal education.

Council for Adult Education. 

The Government of North Macedonia established the Council for Adult Education as advisory state body addressing strategic questions related to adult education policy. Following activities are under competence of the Council for Adult Education:

• Proposes Strategy for developing adult education in the context of lifelong learning to the Ministry of Education and Science;
• Monitors implementation of action plans of the Strategy for Development of Adult Education;
• Proposes national qualifications and standards of occupations to the Ministry of Education and Science;
• Proposes financial paths for financing adult education programmes from the State budget;
• Proposes solutions for developing networks of institutions that provide adult education (together with local authorities) to the Ministry of Education and Science.

Local authorities

Following the decentralization and transference of responsibilities, part of the establishments in the area of adult education is under local authorities. The Council of the Local Self-government has several obligations:

• To conduct analyses of labour market needs at local level and to distribute them to the Centre for Adult Education and institutions for adult education;
• To establish institutions for adult education;
• To launch centres for human resource development at local level;
• To make proposals for different types of adult learning programmes to the Ministry of Education and Science and to the Centre for Adult Education;
• To provide programmes for adult education financed by local authority budgets;
• To provide funding for institutions for adult educations established by the local authority;
• To make proposals for the enrolment policy of students in adult education programmes.

Certain competences and responsibilities in Adult Education have the State Inspectorate for Education and the National Examinations Centre. These responsibilities are implicated from the nature of these institutions.