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INAP-ETF, INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE-Turin, Italy
INOVATIVE APPRENTICESHIPS:
Promoting Successful School-to-work Transition
17-18 September 2009
Career Education and Orientation Year: effectife transition
tools from general schooling to vocational education
The case of Kosovo
LUMNIE MEHMETAJ
Freelance Consultant on Career Guidance
Prishtina, Kosova
E-mail: [email protected]
Kosovo
• Kosovo declared its independence on 17 February 2008.
• The total population is estimated about 2.5 million.
• Ethnic Albanians account 88%, ethnic Serbs -7% and other ethnic
groups -5%.
• 50% of the population is under the age of 25 and 40% -under 18.
• According to the WB Poverty Assessment report, more than 37%
of the population live below the poverty line 1.42 Euro, and 15% in extreme poverty, below 0.92 Euro.
• The unemployment rate is about 40 %; around 70% of them
under 40 years.
• The vocational education system in Kosovo is almost entirely
school-based.
Vocational Education
• Vocational education is school-based with around 55% of the
students from upper secondary education.
• Mostly vocational schools are considered as a second choice
for students
• Vocational programmes in Kosovo are still mainly targeted
toward narrow specializations.
• Practice is constrained by poor facilities, equipment and
learning materials.
• Schools have no formal institutional links with local business.
• VET law envisages a combination of school-based education
with in-company training.
Orientation Year
• The curriculum reform in 2001 emphasizes the importance of the
orientation year-grade nine.
• Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) in 2003
introduced the ‘achievement’ test for 9th grade students.
• New initiatives have been introduced in May 2009 as a part of
Career Guidance Week
• Career Information Day
• Open Doors Day
Career education
• Initially, in 2008, MEST with support of EU-KOSVET project
introduced piloting of career education as an elective subject for
ninth grade in 34 schools.
• 16 teaching hours were delivered per class in a semester.
• Evaluation has shown positive results and high satisfaction of the
teachers and students.
• MEST decided to continue and extend the piloting in 80 schools.
• The EU-KOSVET project has trained eighty teachers. Six of them
have had further training to train their colleagues in the future.
Career education impacts (1)
Ms Sebahate Reqica, one of these trained teachers, states:
‘Personally I enjoy teaching career education because it is an
attractive subject for students; they also like tests about skills and
personal qualities and characteristics. This subject helps them to
make a decision about choosing a profession in time. The role of
the career education teacher is very important because during the
visits to different companies or institutions the students become
aware which professions are demanded on the labour market and
which profession would be suitable for them. The implementation
of the pilot was not easy, but the enthusiasm of us ,career
education teachers, and our ositive energy to help students
helped to overcome many problems’.
Career education impacts (2)
Aulona Sylejmani, one of students interviewed, states:
‘Career education subject helped me to decide which career to
choose between three that I already had in mind. I always
liked agriculture but also I had thoughts of another two
professions: forestry and economics. Our career teacher took
us to visit a local agricultural school and it helped me to
definitely decide on my career. I want to enroll in this school
even though I know my friends will joke with me because I
have chosen agriculture, as I am an excellent student and
vocational schools have a lower prestige’.
Career education impacts (3)
Another student Hekuran Hoxha states:
I have always liked computers since I was a child but I was
not sure which qualifications I would need and what my
employment prospects would be. My career teacher
explained to us about vocational schools and the labour
market so I got my answers. I have decided to become an IT
specialist and I will enroll in technical school. The teacher
explained to me that IT is in high demand in the labour market
in Kosovo’.
Job shadowing – Girls’ Day
The Girls' Day opened up wide future prospects to
a generation of qualified young women.
Ms Vlera Tahiri student who participated on Girl’s day
states: ’I have never thought about the possibility of working in a
profession that is rather untypical for women, but now I would
like to be a taxi driver. I believe that these kinds of professions
are interesting and woman that work in these professions prove
that they can achieve everything that a man could as well’.
Conclusions (1)
• The orientation year’- 9th grade needs to be taken more
seriously and ‘literally’ by providing to students real
opportunities for orientation.
• The ‘Open Doors Day’ and ‘Career Information Day’ should
be regular activities every year and extended to all schools
throughout Kosovo.
• The inclusion of mandatory career education subject in all 9th
grades after the third time of piloting (2010/2011) and it
should be embedded in upper secondary education including
vocational and general/gymnasia education in Kosovo.
Conclusions (2)
• Girls’ Day should be an annual activity and extended to all
municipalities.
• Vocational schools should deliver competence based
programmes which combine vocational and employability
skills.
• Vocational schools and employers through a ministerial order
should establish formal and regulated agreements for work
placements.
• Student tracking system should be put in place to look at the
school-to work transition problem and to have a proper skills
forecasting. mechanism.