14.4 NATIONAL REFORMS RELATED TO TRANSVERSAL SKILLS AND EMPLOYABILITY   

•2021

Dual Education Concept in Vocational Education and Training

In school year 2021/2022 are opened 97 classes in 44 schools with enrolled 1.384 students and contracts are signed with over 200 companies.

Further strenghtening of the system for dual education shall be obtained through preparation and adoption of new Law on VET.

EU Twinning Project “Further support to the implementation of the National Qualifications Framework”

The EU Twinning Project “Further support to the implementation of the National Qualifications Framework” (MK IPA 17 SO 01 21) started in October 2021. This project is financed by the European Union and will be implemented within 27 months. The budget of the project is worth 1.500.000,00 euros.

The Beneficiary of the Project is the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of North Macedonia. A Consortium of three Member States – Lithuania, France and Slovenia with the expertise of other relevant authorities is responsible for the implementation of the Project.

The overall objective of the Project is further strengthening and operationalization of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) aiming to increase the employability, mobility and social integration of workers and learners in the Republic of North Macedonia.

This twinning project is expected to support the effectiveness of the NQF with special focus on:

• Development and implementation of quality assurance (QA) process/procedures;
• Transparency and governance of skills and qualifications in a lifelong learning perspective of general, Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher education;
• Improving quality and better adaptability of education and training in line with the requirements from labor market needs;
• Linking formal, non-formal and informal learning; and
• Support the validation of learning outcomes acquired in different settings.

The project consists of the following 4 components:

Component 1 – Quality assurance of education and training in a LLL perspective strengthened.

Component 2 – Support to the further implementation and enhanced capacities of the National Qualifications Framework in accordance with the QA framework.

Component 3 – Operational and administrative capacities of NQF Administration for management NQF communication and awareness raising practices improved.

Component 4 – NQF Digital register interconnection and compatibility on National and EU level improved.

•2020

VET skills in focus of the Revised operational employment plan for 2020

The 2020 Revised Operational Plan for Active Labor Market Employment and Services Programs and Measures is a framework of the employment policies of the Republic of North Macedonia, created by the Government, embedded in a series of other national strategic policy documents, and in line with international strategic agendas. It aims at supporting the creation of new workplaces, increasing employability and labor market competitiveness of the unemployed individuals, with a special emphasis on the young and socially disadvantaged, long-term unemployed and beneficiaries of social cash benefit assistance (hereinafter: guaranteed minimum assistance). The main carrier of the Operational Plan is the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, while its implementation is under the competence of the Employment Service Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia, in partnership with other responsible institutions.

Considering the education and training in context of increasing the level of employability, the Operational Plan offers following opportunities: on-the-job training for a known employer, training for vocational qualifications in line with employer’s requirements, vocational training in line with employer’s requirements and occupations-in-demand training.

•2019

Project "Development of Skills and Innovation"

The Ministry of Education and Science through the project "Development of skills and innovation" continued the implementation of the program - grants for support of joint projects between vocational high schools and companies, in order to improve the practical training of students and their employment skills. The main objective of this program is to increase the employability of VET students, in line with the needs of small, medium and large companies, as well as to increase the quality of practical training by providing financial support for implementing different models of VET schools. companies. Specifically, the goal is to increase the number of students who, by delivering high quality practical training, will acquire technical and socioeconomic skills (including entrepreneurship skills), in order to better prepare and increase employment opportunities after completing vocational education. The grants are intended for different models of cooperation. In 2019 a third call for grants for cooperation between vocational high schools and the business sector was implemented.

Project “Education for Employment”  

Within the project, a Working Group has been set up to work on defining a new model of financing vocational secondary education and training.

Participation in the European Platform for Adult Learning in Europe - EPALE

Starting from 2019, for the first time, the Republic of Macedonia is entering the EPALE family. The EPALE National Support Service will be operational in the frames of the National Agency for European Educational Programmes and Mobility.

EPALE is a DG EAC’s multilingual open membership community for teachers, trainers, researchers, academics, policy makers and others with a professional role in adult learning across Europe. It focuses on diverse issues related to adult education, promotes events, exchange of good practices, knowledge and experience. The institutions can present their work and become visible at European market of potential project partners. In the first years, the main focus of the NA’s EPALE team is to increase the visibility of Macedonian institutions in adult education at European level by offering technical support and trainings of end-users when using the Portal as well as well as exchange of good practices among involved teachers, trainers and learners for our country with their colleagues from Europe.