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 a supportive partner 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
			Partnerships between UK and SEE colleges to work towards development in curriculum, quality assurance and the transfer of best practice and mobility exchanges
			Skills@Work Challenge competitions which will encourage young people to use their skills in enterprising and innovative ways, ultimately increasing their employability and entrepreneurial flair.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE UNTIL NOW

			Two delegates 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;
			Partnership has been formed between the secondary school Kole Nehtenin from Stip and Bournemouth & Poole College from the UK. They will be working on an ICT project in the next 2 years;
			The Occupational Standards and Curriculum Development workshop in Belgrade that was held December 2007 dealt with issues related to Curriculum response to standards, Enterprise and enterprise curriculum, Assuring quality in qualifications. Two Macedonian delegates from the Ministry of Education and the National VET centre took part; From 24 – 28 November 2008 we are organising a workshop for representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science and the VET Centre to set up occupational standards that will be implemented in the secondary vocational schools in Macedonia. We are supporting the workshop by providing a UK consultant, Mr. Bob Mansfield;
			Five delegates (Ministry of Education, National VET Centre, Skopje Crafts Chamber, Chamber of Commerce) attended the National Qualifications and Credit Frameworks workshop in Zagreb in January 2008. Its focus was on Quality frameworks for Vocational Education & Training, Implementation of National Quality Frameworks (NQF) and Using international experience in developing a NQF.

The findings and experiences form all workshops will be summarised in a proposal for implementation to the Ministry of Education.

For more information about the project, please contact Daniela Bavcandzi.