Projects

Trainings and Human Resources Development,Strategies and development programmes,

Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Education and Science on Life Long Learning - Macedonia

F.Y.R.O.M.

The European Agency for Reconstruction

Ministry of Education and Science, Bureau for Development of Education (BDE) , VET Centre, State Education Inspectorate, policy-makers, administrators, researchers/experts, programme authors, teachers & trainers and participants in adult learning, in particular low-skilled adults

The overall objective of this project is to further improve the quality and effectiveness of the education and training system in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia through a modern system of adult learning in line with the new labour market. The purposes of this project are as follows: • To support the development of a lifelong learning system, in line with the EU policies in education and training, through the creation of a policy framework for an efficient adult learning system in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. • To foster the development and modernisation of training providers and courses, including a basic skills programme for low-qualified adults. • To increase public awareness of the need for continuous learning so as to ensure a higher level of participation in adult learning in the mid term. Objective N. 1 – Policy development Component 1 shall contribute to improving the data and information base with a view to better inform policy-making and the public on adult learning in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This shall be done through a basic stocktaking of adult learning courses, providers, qualifications/levels offered and related quality data, if available. A national survey will be launched and carried out by the contractor in order to collect data at municipal level on the extent and patterns of adult education in the country. Data from the above-mentioned national survey shall be analysed and results made available to the policy group and the general public. The survey should give attention to gender and minority data. Component 2 aims at enlarging the group of actors in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia who have an up-to-date capacity on what makes up a comprehensive adult learning policy framework and modern adult learning practices within a lifelong learning context. In particular the contractor will support the MoES in the preparation of the Law on Adult Training and all administrative implementing measures. Special attention will be devoted to the capacity building of the staff of the VET Centre. Work will be undertaken to review and redesign the existing adult learning policy framework considering all sponsors and forms of adult learning, financing mechanisms and incentives, advisory and management issues & bodies, issues of qualifications and course design, prior learning assessment schemes, teachers’ and trainers’ skills, modern forms of provision, possibly the concept of community learning centres, procedures for the registration and/or accreditation of programmes (providers, trainers), information, advice and guidance, research & development, etc. Major outputs of this component are both a coherent and comprehensive adult learning policy and a respective policy implementation framework with clearly assigned responsibilities for supervision and implementation, and specifying deadlines and resource requirements. Objective N. 2 – Modernisation of the adult training system Component 3 shall look at new system-wide solutions related to assuring the quality of adult learning provision. Suitable concepts and procedures shall be discussed and agreed, taking further amongst others the initiated debate on establishing a national qualification framework and system, starting from the NQF Concept Paper elaborated in the frame of the ETF development project in 2005 and recently adopted by the Minister of Education and alongside the EQF and best EU practice. Qualifications shall be defined on a pilot level, using the methodology and examples from the EC CARDS VET II project. Verifying/ certifying bodies shall be selected who would e.g. accredit courses against agreed learning outcomes/ qualifications and providers against an agreed list of criteria. Both processes shall be taken to the level of a successful piloting with selected providers and bodies, in close cooperation with the MoES, BDE and VET Centre. In the frame of Component 4, a working group shall be set up at the start of the project and assisted by the Contractors’ experts. The working group shall define basic principles & ways for the assessment of adults’ skill needs, the design and delivery of basic skills courses, the assessment & certification of skills, trainers’ skills etc. Linked to the current EU debate on key competences possible learning outcomes for a “start qualification” for adults shall be defined, which may include basic entrepreneurial and vocational skills. Accordingly, a basic skills programme shall be designed and implemented on a pilot basis, including course & materials development, teacher training, partnership-building, publicity and outreach activities, relevant individual support measures, monitoring & evaluation mechanisms, etc. Objective N. 3 – Awareness rising A national campaign shall be launched to increase awareness about the importance of learning and to inform about both learning opportunities and project results (Component 5). Attention should be given to reach out to women and minority groups.

Start date: 2008-01-01

End date: 2009-12-31