Skopje, 1 March 2023 (MIA) - North Macedonia is decidedly moving towards a full-fledged EU membership. This is where the exceptional importance of twinning projects through which we build institutional capacities and harmonize our legislation with European legislation comes from, said Minister of Education and Science Jeton Shaqiri during the meeting of the Steering Committee of the twinning project to support the implementation of the National Qualifications Framework, implemented by a team of professionals from Lithuania, France and Slovenia.

He pointed out that the support to strengthen and operationalize the National Qualifications Framework is very important, because “our goal is for the qualifications gained during education to harmonize with the EU’s standards and practices”.

“This is a valuable multisector project that involves a number of different organizations, bodies and agencies. We’ve implemented multiple activities to date and created multiple documents aimed towards the improvement of quality, transparency and management of skills and qualifications at all levels of education and training. The project contributes towards the harmonization of education with the needs of the labor market, to connect formal and informal learning and learning through experience, as well as support the process of validation of the results from learning gained through informal learning or learning through experience,” Shaqiri said.

Nevertheless, all relevant actors connected to the National Qualifications Framework are noticing that even though this instrument is of exceeding importance, it’s not visible enough.

“That’s why it’s very important to create a Communications Strategy to help raise awareness for the National Qualifications Framework, especially in educational institutions, students and employers,” Shaqiri said, adding that the Government and Ministry of Education and Science appreciate the continued support given to them by the EU. dk/nn/

Photo: Education Ministry