Vocational schools oriented towards labor market demands
The Minister of Finance and Economy, Delina Ibrahimaj, together with the UNDP Resident Representative in Albania, Monika Merino, the Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland in Tirana, Patrick Meier and the Director of AKPA, Klevis Hysa, paid a visit to the vocational high school ICT Hermann Gmeiner.
The visit took place in the framework of the "Generation R" initiative, which aims to empower vocational education students. In the implementation of this initiative, the "Experience Tournament" is being organized, a set of discussions about the attractiveness of education and vocational training, its connection with the labor market, career counseling services and information on choosing a vocational education, teaching environment and learning etc.
The Minister of Finance and Economy met with students and teachers of the school and discussed with them the opportunities it creates for employment or to continue higher education.
Minister Ibrahimaj said that education and vocational training remains one of the main priorities of the government, where through the current reform aims to increase the quality of education, review curricula to respond to labor market demands and create mechanisms to engage systematically the private sector throughout the system.
Ibrahimaj used the opportunity to inform the public that starting from 2022, vocational education providers will undergo an accreditation process, where they will be evaluated against the standards set according to the best models of similar systems in Europe.
"During this year we will start a process of optimization of vocational schools. We will analyze all the curricula and we will see where the schools have been successful and where the students have been successful to start work directly after they have completed their professional education ", said the head of MFE.
The Minister said that the business is interested in a qualified and trained workforce in practice and it is through the initiative that is being implemented that data will be obtained, which will serve to improve the policy towards vocational education and to provide students really what they need to succeed in the job market.
Ibrahimaj also stressed the fact that this initiative is in line with a national consultation campaign launched by the government, where the aim is that governance is implemented with the involvement of all those affected by decision-making.
"The Generation R project that is being presented at the Hermann Gmeiner School, which is the best professional vocational school we have, aims to give students who attend this school their opinion on developments and the needs of the IT sector and vocational schools. in general, to have a better absorption in the labor market and to promote the capacities that students want to have and that they think they should have ", said the Minister.
UNDP Representative in Albania, Monica Merino, thanked the MFE and the Swiss government for supporting this initiative, which is part of the Employment Skills Development program implemented by UNDP.
"It is an initiative where we want to hear the voice of young people, take their experiences and see how we can use these experiences to provide them with a high quality education and the opportunity to integrate into the market. of work ', said Merino.
On his part, the Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland in Tirana, Patrik Meier stressed the importance of listening to the voice of young people in drafting various policies that affect education and vocational training in Albania, as well as obtaining the opinions and needs of businesses. .
This is because, according to him, young people trained in schools, with important skills for the labor market, are the engine for economic development and economic growth.
So far, the "Experience Tournament" has included students in 14 vocational schools in Albania. The conclusions of this tour will be included in the roundtable discussion on drafting the new strategy of vocational education and employment 2023-2030.