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Kosovo – A Business Model for the Centres of Competence in Ferizaj and Prizren
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:
- Designing the work-processes between the school, the students and the organisational partners and the structure and expected outcomes of the Industrial Liaison Unit;
- Deploying the Industrial Body comprised of key stakeholders from the business sector;
- 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
- 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.
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