Kosovo: ETF country plan 2007

This report belongs to a series of country analyses developed by the European Training Foundation (ETF). It covers: Socioeconomic background; Key policy issues and strategies in human resource development (HRD); EU (European Union) and other donor policies and interventions; Mid-term perspective ETF intervention strategies contributing to added value in national, EU and donor reform-support policies; HRD task force; Alignment with the Copenhagen Process; Enhanced policy-making and performance monitoring; Social inclusion; Entrepreneurship learning; Work Programme 2007: objectives and indicators. The ETF objective for 2007 is: To help the country in dealing with a challenging socioeconomic environment.

The traditional approach to vocational education and training (VET) in Kosovo—highly specialised streaming from an early grade, a heavy focus on the institution and equipment, and dependence on public finance—will not benefit students or equip them with the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed in the fast changing economy of the 21st century. It is also too expensive for the state to run such a system. Following the global trend towards the convergence of general and vocational education, the challenge is to increase the number of students in, and strengthen the content of, general secondary education. Post-secondary and continuing education and training provision are almost non-existent, partly as a result of a failure to promote adult learning. Formal provision is almost entirely lacking and there has been a recent tendency for development to focus almost entirely on university education provision to the virtual exclusion of all else. Given that the population of Kosovo is the youngest in Europe, emphasis needs to be given to improving education so as to (i) retain young people in the education system and ensure that the majority receive at least a qualification at secondary level, (ii) provide young people with relevant skills for the economy by introducing youth-specific vocational training clearly linked to skill gaps, and (iii) increase the average time spent by young people in education by developing non-university postsecondary options. It is also necessary to develop an adult education and training system so as to (i) reduce levels of functional literacy and enhance core competences (including entrepreneurship) among unemployed people in particular, and (ii) enhance labour force adaptability to enterprises of any size and ownership type.

Excerpts from publication reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

The series of reports is indexed from TD/TNC 90.820 to TD/TNC 90.844. Show less