Skopje, 9 May 2023 (MIA) - Six Macedonian consortiums comprised of 37 companies-members of the Economic Chamber, four vocational schools and two faculties from the country received grants totaling at EUR 2.72 million to resume or start dual or cooperative education and training that fits the companies' needs, provided by the Regional Challenge Fund (RCF) in cooperation with the German Development Bank (KfW) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The grant funds will be used for procurement of machines and equipment for realization of the practical training of students, building and renovation of workshops and laboratories for practical training of pupils, students, unemployed persons and human capital training.

"Our goal is to increase the youth employability and produce staff with the required skills and competencies that companies need, enabling young people to successfully join the labor market upon completion of their high school education or if they wish to enroll in university. We have introduced the dual model of vocational education with the assistance of our European partners, which models are not replicated in full, including elements that are adapted to the needs of companies in our country. We have introduced a dual model of vocational education that has an attractive approach," said Minister of Education and Science Jeton Shaqiri at the grant-awarding ceremony.

He said the percentage of pupils enrolled in secondary vocational education has increased in recent years, rising from 64 percent of the total number of high school students in school year 2020/2021, 67 percent in 2021/2022, up to 69 percent in 2022/2023, with more than 500 companies involved in this type of education.

Economic Chamber executive director Antoni Peshev said they asked the government back in 2007 to carry out a thorough reform of the country's education system because of the lack of qualified workforce.

"A lot of problems had to be overcome in order to reach this stage of tangible results. With the support of our friends from Germany and Switzerland, we have managed to create the environment for a mindset change in the country, and we are now getting close to the target of 70 percent of children enrolled in vocational secondary education," said Peshev.

German Deputy Ambassador Otto Graf said industrial production would not be possible without a properly educated workforce.

"This was the starting point for the dual education programme in North Macedonia, because the country needs this workforce in order to develop," said Graf.

The grants are executed by the Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum (WB6-CIF), with a total of EUR 12.1 million for 27 projects in the six countries.

Photo: MIA