KSV/015
Support to Vocational Education and Training Reform in Kosovo: Establishment of Centres of Competence in Ferizaj and Prizren

The project supports the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) of Kosovo and contributes to the modernisation of the formal education system through a Vocational and Educational Training (VET) sector reform.

It concentrates on the establishment of two Centres of Competence (CoC), one for health care in Ferizaj and the other for trade and commerce in Prizren. Apart from the construction and equipment of the two CoCs, taking into account the defined occupational profiles and the needs of the two sectors, the project also includes curriculum development with the respective training of trainers and capacity building of CoC staff. 

The future CoCs' main purpose will be to provide initial VET in secondary education for youngsters. In addition, these centres will work closely with private companies in their respective sectors to develop hands on and "work-based" learning opportunities for VET students, and will also offer in-house training and Life-Long-Learning services for businesses.

These two CoCs, with the other five centres included in the MEST program serve as pilot projects in the VET sector reform.

Latest news

• Kosovo - Launching the new qualification for "Physiotherapy Assistant" in the Centre of Competence in Ferizaj

  Published on 1 March 2018    By Isabelle Mousset/Daniele Cristian Passalacqua    

  On 13 December 2017, the project with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) officially launched the newly developed qualification for “Physiotherapy Assistant” in the Centre of Competence (CoC) in Ferizaj.

  The development of this qualification is part of the national process of reforming the entire VET academic offer in the country. It has been developed according to the new model of curricula, where general modules and specific vocational modules have a modular format integrating both, theoretical and practical aspects. This new structure increases students’ employability greatly and facilitates their transition into the labour market through equipping them systematically with the knowledge and tools that are relevant to the respective industries.

  With the support of the project and in close collaboration with experts from the academic and private sector, the Occupational Standards for Physiotherapy were elaborated. Once verified by the Steering Council of the National Qualification Authority, MEST and the project could establish in April 2017 a Technical Working Group (TWG) for the development of the new qualification. The TWG consisted of a moderator, two sector experts, one industry expert as well as the Physiotherapy teacher and instructor of CoC Ferizaj. Taking into account the project’s experience in designing and implementing new qualifications, KSV/015 provided technical assistance throughout the whole process and in November 2017, the TWG submitted a full report with all the needed materials for the qualification to the project. 

  

  ^{The Chief Technical Adviser of Project KSV/015 presenting the Physiotherapy profile to representatives of the Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education (AVETAE), Pristina University, Secondary Medical Schools and public and private institutions during the official launching ceremony.}

  

  The knowledge, understanding and competences of students in Physiotherapy can now be achieved with a strong curriculum combining professional training and professional practice, teaching and learning material, support material, quality guidelines, proper equipment as well as professional and qualified staff. 

  ^{Students of CoC Ferizaj demonstrating some of the recently installed equipment for the Physiotherapy profile to the guests of the launching ceremony. They showed great enthusiasm about the modalities of the CoC and let on their fascination for the standards of the new equipment.}

  The CoC in Ferizaj has been supported and functionalised by the Luxembourg-Kosovo Development Cooperation project KSV/015 since 2010 and is now one of the most modern and well-equipped schools throughout the region. The teaching and learning process in the CoC started in September 2013 with the enrolment of 192 students in 8 different health profiles. Since the beginning, the CoC has had a clear strategy of action and the possibilities for further career prospects of their graduates have continuously been assessed. The decision to develop a new qualification for "Physiotherapy Assistant" is the result of a joint investigation of the MEST through the project KSV/015 and in collaboration with the CoC Ferizaj. It also represents a clear response to the local educational and labour market demand in the area of Ferizaj.

  Considering the importance of a unified implementation of the qualification for “Physiotherapy Assistant” throughout the country and with regard to the objectives of the next Kosovo-Luxembourg Development Cooperation intervention, the project will also lead the process of replication in the whole country. It will support MEST with adequate preparations for implementing the curriculum currently offered in CoC Ferizaj in all public medical schools as of the next academic year 2018/2019. More specifically, the project will provide capacity building for the teaching and management staff of the four respective schools during the preparatory phase of the Physiotherapy profile unification process, in order to facilitate the implementation of the new curriculum and the application of the newly developed Teaching and Learning Material (TLM). 

• Kosovo - 622 teachers trained on the new Career Guidance Information System

  Published on 29 December 2017    By Isabelle Mousset / Daniele Passalacqua   

  One of the main components in which Project KSV/015 is currently intervening is the establishment of a Career Guidance Information System. Developed by the Swiss-Kosovar consortium consisting of Smart Bits and Basic Check AG, the system is based on a career guidance process which begins with the testing of subject-based and subject-neutral interests, values, aptitudes, and preferences of each student through a questionnaire containing scientifically-tested questions. After the examination process, students proceed with using the services of “School Finder”, “Occupations Explorer”, “Internship/Apprenticeship Finder” and “Online Coaching” modules based on the received results of the above-mentioned examinations.

  ^{Depiction of the Bussula.com, the new Career Guidance platform for Kosovo}

  Busulla.com offers several services to its users, including the testing of subject-based and subject-neutral interests, values, aptitudes, and preferences, a “School Finder”, an “Occupations Explorer”, an “Internship / Apprenticeship Finder” and a “Online Coaching” service. It is compatible with IOS and Android.

  The new Information System constitutes an essential part of the new national career guidance model for Kosovo and will affect the entire pre-university education system.

  For the developers, the Project as well as for the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) it was important that at this stage of development (completion of phase one out of three), to present the system to relevant audiences in order to receive feedback for further improvement and adjustments to the classroom experience and the overall teaching process. This process should not only increase the relevance of the system with the pre-university educational institutions, but also ensure a higher usage by the students in the future. In this optic, the Project supported a series of workshops with teachers specialising in the field of “Life and Work”, a subject introduced in the framework of the new national career guidance model, which will integrate the use of the digital Information System. The workshops were held between 6 November and 2 December 2017 in nine different municipalities throughout Kosovo, and a total of 662 teachers benefited from the training.

  

  ^{The CEO of Smart Bits and the Officer for Lifelong Learning from MEST during a workshop for teachers on the new Career Guidance Model for Kosovo}

  During the workshops, held by the Chief Executive Officer of Smart Bits, his team and the Officer for Lifelong Learning from MEST, participants were informed in a detailed manner about the Career Guidance Information System and they learned about the process of student-system interaction throughout all of its testing processes and other available modules. At the same time, teachers were asked to provide proposals on the integration of the new career guidance model and the components of the Information System in the teaching process. Their feedback and results of the workshops have been recorded and will be used by the Project in evaluating the additional needs of educational institutions in the sector of Career Guidance and in supervising the consortium in the application of the recommendations given by the participating teachers. The results of these workshops are also relevant for the upcoming LuxDev intervention, as Project KSV/020, successor of Project KSV/015 is planning to support the development of curricula, teaching and learning materials, and capacity building for the subject “Life and Work”, in addition to the continued support to the development and implementation of the Career Guidance Information System.

  

  ^{Teacher training in full swing}

• Kosovo – A Business Model for the Centres of Competence in Ferizaj and Prizren

  Published on 2 June 2017    By Isabelle Mousset and Daniele Cristian Passalacqua   

  In its constant effort to increase the quality of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and to support the Centres of Competence (CoCs) in Ferizaj and in Prizren in becoming self-sustainable, Project KSV/015 has designed a  new Business Model development plan. The plan comprises three main components: (1) the establishment of an Industrial Liaison and Career Guidance Unit; (2) the establishment of a Service Provision Unit; and (3) the creation of an Information Systems and Data Management Unit. The three components, currently under implementation, will stimulate relations with respective industries, thus helping the schools’ endeavours towards independent income generation and aligning their VET offer with internal labour market research.

  The Project has all the adequate and sophisticated expertise necessary to gradually roll out the Business Model and assure successful implementation of such an innovative component. The Industrial Liaison and Information Systems and Data Management Units are the two main pillars, which are being developed by the Project. For the Industrial Liaison, we are following a four-step plan to deploy the unit:

  1. Designing the work-processes between the school, the students and the organisational partners and the structure and expected outcomes of the Industrial Liaison Unit; 
  2. Deploying the Industrial Body comprised of key stakeholders from the business sector;
  3. Developing internal capacities to coordinate future activities for the development of the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) and Skills and Knowledge Needs Assessment (SKNA) as a long-term sustainable solution; and
  4. Designing and deploying a strategy that will facilitate the creation of partnerships based on common areas of interest identified by the CoCs and the public and private entities related to the teaching profiles.

  Furthermore, the Project has already conducted a requirement analysis and mapping of currently available digital resources in Kosovo in order to obtain a clearer picture of the situation and prevent implementation of duplicate platforms. The Project is also actively cooperating with the European Training Foundation (ETF) for the purpose of integrating the ETF’s digital tracer studies in the LuxDev solution, and hence developing a fully comprehensive Information System and Data Management model.

  Regarding the Career Guidance component of the Business Model, the Project is currently working on its implementation in the CoCs as well as on the national level. Along with support in developing the first Level 5 qualification for Career Guidance Counsellors in Kosovo, which will be offered in CoC Prizren, this component has also become a national priority of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology of Kosovo. While the development of the component is being done in cooperation with the Office for Life-Long Learning of the Ministry, the digitalisation of the component is being carried out in partnership with a renowned international specialised company that will play an important role in the sustainability and maintenance of the Information System component. This activity will lead to a fully digitalised and scientifically-approved survey which will be taken by all pre-university students in order to determine their future career orientation.

  The task of creating the necessary hardware infrastructure for the establishment and implementation of the new Business Model in the CoCs has advanced steadily. At this point of time the Project is dedicating its efforts in the development of all required soft facilities. 

  The high-quality of VET reached by the CoCs along with the new Business Model concept is slowly but surely becoming a desired approach among stakeholders and proving to be the model which could be replicated throughout the VET system in Kosovo (especially for those VET institutions selected by MEST as National Level Provider). This approach has earned the Project additional trust and a leading role among development cooperation missions which are present in Kosovo by many stakeholders, including the Project’s counterpart, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The development of the Business Model will certainly have a massive impact in terms of COCs' capacities to create, expand, and maintain relations with the relevant industries.

  

  Picture 1: The new offices for the Business Model have been designed and equipped applying architectural solutions aiming to optimisation of space, environmental impact and functionality. 

  

  Picture 2: Students of the Optical Technician profile during practical training. The new Business Model will encourage relations with companies, such as Almakos, and ease the transition of CoC students into the labour market.

• Kosovo - Training needs analysis

  Published on 22 January 2016    By Fellanza Abdullahu   

  The project is conducting a training needs analysis (TNA) that will be finalised in February 2016 with the aim of promoting VET in line with labour market needs, gathering data for evidence-based decision-making. This effort, one of several such donor-funded initiatives in the sector of Education, should lead to crucial orientations supporting the CoCs in the perspective of sustainability. For instance, the diversification of the CoCs’ educational offer through short courses and post-secondary programmes will gain further impulse. These should not only allow the CoCs matching their purpose as multifunctional Centres offering flexible training to different target groups, but also generating income.

  In February 2016 the Riinvest Institute and Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, after a sophisticated process of data collection and analysis, in collaboration with LuxDev, private sector representatives and local stakeholders, will deliver the final report of the TNA. At the end of the study, clear overviews should be available of: effective (solvent) VET demand in selected sectors and potential corresponding financing sources; VET needs and potential financing sources; and market segmentation for each CoC describing the nexus Client/Service/Technology. The TNA will be an important point of reference and input for all initiatives oriented towards VET and Labour market and implementing agencies.

  

  

• Kosovo - Start of the academic year 2015/16

  Published on 22 January 2016    By Fellanza Abdullahu   

  With the beginning of September 2015, the new academic year got started. For the first time in CoC Ferizaj, students are enrolled across all three grades of initial VET programmes, and as it happens, 494 youngsters follow their educational paths in eight different Health Care profiles. 120 of them are making their first steps in five of the offered programmes. In CoC Prizren, 299 students, including the new second generation adding up to 195 registrations, are preparing themselves for Economy, Trade, and Travel and Tourism. These three sectors cover in total seven different profiles.

  According to the objective of making young people ready for the labour market, hands-on training in the CoCs and in labour providing institutions will hallmark the students' learning process. For practical training, both CoCs are well-equipped. For professional practice, the Centres rely on partnership agreements. While CoC Ferizaj concluded to date a multitude of collaborations with private and public institutions, CoC Prizren successfully formalised its nine agreements this year. Finally, it should be noted that both CoCs will benefit from some degree of continuity, since the contracts of teaching staff members have been extended.

  

  

• Kosovo - A sector approach for sustainable Vocational Education and Training (VET)

  Published on 26 May 2015    By Patrick Fischbach   

  To improve the conditions for long-term quality education in Kosovo, and to address some major challenges surrounding the sustainability of Project KSV/015, three workshops on national and local (Centre of Competence) level were held in February of this year. On the agenda: the strategic (re-)orientation of the CoCs in Ferizaj and Prizren and the national VET system in general. The workshop on national level was actually a kick-off meeting of a working group (WG) on policy challenges. The latter, through sub-WGs, is for instance currently addressing public financing of the VET sector and the involvement of social partners in VET.

  This leads us to the Academy on Financing Skills Development which was organised in March 2015, shortly after the above-mentioned workshops, by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Turin. The project facilitated the participation of a delegation from Kosovo. Six people from the Ministry of Education, the Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education (AVETAE), the CoCs and the project team itself left for Italy where they benefited from a broad programme including for instance the topic of sector funds as well as the importance of social dialogue and the involvement of social partners (trade unions and employers).

  Prizren Centre of Competence Deputy Director for Business Relations and Income Generation at the ILO Skills Academy (source ILO)

  The result of these developments is that one of the sub-WGs on policy challenges works on a sector approach with the commitment of all stakeholders, firstly through pilot initiatives in two sectors: Health Care (related to the CoC in Ferizaj), and Tourism (related to the CoC in Prizren). This sub-WG, mainly existing of the participants in the workshop on Financing Skills Development in Turin, will develop a pilot programme for arranging skills development including financing of this skills development on sector level, mainly related to a region. Lux-Development is ready to support such an approach as one of the main measures to set up sustainable ways of running VET as well as the CoCs in Ferizaj and Prizren in particular.

• Kosovo - Practical training at Centre of Competence in Ferizaj

  Published on 2 February 2015    By Pascal Rossignol   

  In Kosovo, a high priority is conferred to skills development. In that perspective, professional practice forms an integral as well as essential part of the curricula in Ferizaj. So far, formal agreements and informal arrangements between the Centre of Competence (CoC) and over a dozen partners, twelve companies and two public hospitals, were concluded in order to strengthen technical skills among students. Restraining from a disadvantageous balance that would put too much emphasis on theoretical knowledge, the CoC wishes to hone capabilities of coping with practical issues because this will ease the transition of students towards employment at a later stage.

  All eight health care profiles are covered by practical training: assistant of audiometry, pharmacy technician, assistant of orthopaedics, orthotics & prosthetics technician, community health care assistant, ophthalmic laboratory technician / optician, food safety and nutrition assistant and dental technician. It is actually foreseen to annually increase the time spent by students on professional training. Thus, hours in professional environments will increase from 20 % in grade 10 to 40 % in grade 11, and 50 % in grade 12. It should also be noted that in the CoC workshops, state-of-the-art furniture and equipment are at the disposal of the enrolled students, further enhancing their practical learning conditions.