"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being" -Goethe

Why are we doing Skills@Work?

Skills@Work is an eighteen-country project that promotes internationalism within the

vocational education and training sector across South East Europe (SEE) and the United Kingdom. The benefits of the project will be:

			skills development to support economic growth and a globally competitive Europe
			networks and long-term relationships to support the response of governments in SEE to the challenges of employability
			present the UK as one of the key partners in areas of enterprise, innovation and employment in SEE
			support the British Council’s vision for Europe – “Working together to build next generation Europe”

What do we want to achieve with Skills@Work?

			Address long-term systemic challenges by engaging employers in the future of skills development to align education and training provision with the needs of industry
			A higher and more positive profile for the skills agenda
			Equip young people with relevant, transferable skills for employment in a global market
			Contribute to a culture of enterprise and innovation
			Support and develop European objectives for system reform

How will we achieve this?

Creating space for dialogue between policy makers, employers and leaders of industry

			One representative from the Albanian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Equal Opportunities and one representative from the National Agency of VET attended the Regional Workshop on Quality Assurance in TVET in Cyprus. Among the many topics covered, the participants were involved in discussions on Making TVET fit for purpose in a 21st Century global economy, Assuring quality in TVET systems, The benefits of a European system: the EU network for quality in TVET and European Common Quality Framework and Skills for work;
			The Occupational Standards and Curriculum Development workshop in Istanbul that was held December 2007 dealt with issues related to Curriculum response to standards, Enterprise and enterprise curriculum, Assuring quality in qualifications. One representative from the Albanian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Equal Opportunities, One representative from National Agency of VET and one representative from local Training Centres participated in this event;
			One representative of the Albanian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and equal Opportunities and one representative of the National Agency of VET attended the National Qualifications and Credit Frameworks workshop organised in Zagreb and Belgrade in January 2008. The focus of these workshops was on Quality frameworks for Vocational Education & Training, Implementation of National Quality Frameworks (NQF) and using international experience in developing a NQF;
			Senior representatives of the Albanian Ministry of Education and Sciences, Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and Chamber of Commerce and Industry participated in the “Meeting Global Skills Needs - Employer engagement in vocational education and training” seminar organised in London in February 2008. The seminar aimed to raise awareness of the common skills challenges faced by governments as they look to increase their engagement in a global economy;
			British Council and National Agency of VET agreed to work together in reviewing, piloting and finalising the manual for self-evaluation. The manual will be used by vocational schools and training centres in Albania to assure quality of service.

Partnerships between UK and SEE colleges to work towards development in curriculum, quality assurance and the transfer of best practice and mobility exchanges

A three year partnership has been build between Bradford College in the UK and the ‘Economic’ vocational school in Tirana aiming the curricula improvement in tourism.

For more information about the project please contact Etleva Selmani, Project Manager.