Prishtina, 14 June, 2023
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, today participated in the second day of the “VET Summit 2023 – Education and Vocational Training Summit”, organized by the Producers’ Club of Kosovo and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. Municipality of Pristina as well as other non-governmental organizations.
Emphasizing the connection between education and the economy, Prime Minister Kurti began his speech by considering this summit as very important for the youth, for democratic governance and the economic development of the country.
As the need for linking the needs of the market with professional training in our schools remains high, the Prime Minister indicated that Education and Professional Training is an indisputable priority in the government program. Thus, alongside our talented youth and emigrants, the commitment of the Government and the will of the private sector will influence the development of VET.
“A good example of the cooperation between our Government and the private sector is the identification of profiles that was made based on the requests of representatives of the sectors, for example the request for the profile of hairdressers came from a group of hairdressers educated outside Kosovo, for the profiles of hotel industry from the Chamber of Tourism and Hospitality, and for the mason’s profile from some construction companies in Skenderaj”, said Prime Minister Kurti.
Further, within the framework of commitments for AAP, he also mentioned the piloting of dual education in three municipalities, in four vocational schools with four profiles from September 2021/2022, which is designed so that students during three years of schooling to spend more than 50% of the time in the company, that is, in real work.
In addition to the private sector, small, medium and large businesses and associations as a transforming factor of APP, the Prime Minister indicated that one of the improvement steps taken by the Government and MESTI is the establishment of the Executive Commission for the advancement of AAP, which is led by the prime minister himself.
Consequently, the Government prioritizes the improvement of Education and Vocational Training, because according to Prime Minister Kurti, proper qualifications and good results are progressive for the country, for the citizens and for the generations to come.
Prime Minister Kurti’s complete speech:
Dear representatives of local businesses of Kosovo institutions, at the central and local level,
Dear directors of Vocational Training schools,
Dear compatriots,
Dear participants of VET Summit 2023,
First, I apologize for my non-participation yesterday as planned, since the meeting with the QUINT ambassadors was too long, I was not able to join you at the opening of the Edition, but obviously as Astriti said, Education and Vocational Training, for us it is an indisputable priority in the government program.
Maybe every time we discuss the economy, we end up discussing education, and every time we start discussing education, we end up discussing the economy. In a way, it can be said that perhaps the only thing that is more important than education and the economy is the connection between these two. Therefore, this Summit is also very important for the youth, but also for the democratic governance and economic development of the country.
Vocational Education and Training was an important topic in our schools, businesses and homes. I am convinced that we are in the right direction together to give even more weight to events like this today.
The economic situation in Kosovo has improved over the last two years: the turnover declared for the first quarter of this year has increased by 8.5%, compared to the same period of the previous year. In the same period, the number of declared workers is 4% higher on average. The revenues collected during this period are 9.38% more than last year. Meanwhile, the value of goods in export for this period is 300.4 million euros, while the impact of exemptions for producers has reached the amount of taxes of 48.20 million euros. Everything is showing that the year 2023 is the first year in which exports will exceed the figure of one billion euros.
The need for linking market needs with professional training in our schools certainly remains high. Education and Vocational Training and economic growth are linked to each other, one cannot reach its full potential without the other.
“Education and Vocational Training hold the key to a host of things, technological progress, rapid industrialization, job creation, wealth creation, poverty reduction and inequality mitigation.”
Our advantages as a country are great, to have success in the development of Education and Vocational Training, in addition to our dear emigrants and our talented youth, we now also have the commitment of our Government, for the implementation of reforms in the system of Education and Vocational Training, and where the increased will of the private sector to make this change together, of course we have it without saving and without reservations.
A good example of the cooperation between our Government and the private sector is the identification of profiles that was made based on the requests of sector representatives, for example the request for the profile of hairdressers came from a group of hairdressers educated outside of Kosovo, for hotel profiles from the Chamber of Tourism and Hospitality, and for the mason’s profile from several construction companies in Skenderaj.
Based on these requests, we have started piloting dual education in three municipalities, in four professional schools with four profiles since September 2021/2022. The implementation of dual education is designed so that during the three years of schooling, students spend more than 50% of their time in the company, that is, in real work.
In the case of Kosovo, a supporting factor in the transformation of VET will be the involvement of the private sector.
Today’s summit is a good opportunity to unite all the important sectors, of the private sector, but, in particular, the day after the summit is even more important than the summit itself, because tomorrow we have to implement the AAP in Kosovo. And for this we need the private sector, small, medium and large businesses and associations. As a result of the cooperation with the associations, eight potential profiles have been identified for expanding the implementation of dual education:
1. Carpenter;
2. Tailor;
3. Auto mechanic;
4. Metal manufactures;
5. Wholesale and retail trader;
6. Installer of heating, air conditioning and water supply;
7. Electric installer; AND
8. At the request of esthetes educated abroad, the opening of the additional profile Esthetes.
In order to improve the VET system, the Government and MAShTI have taken and are taking a series of related steps, such as:
• Establishment of the Executive Commission for the advancement of AAP, at the level of the Prime Minister’s Office; which will enable a better inter-institutional coordination;
So I, as Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, led this executive commission to show that it is a priority of our government.
• Review of the role and responsibilities of the institutions responsible for AAP, for its functionalization, based on the analysis of the situation, which is, seeing how we have the situation on the ground.
• Standardization of the model of centers for career counseling and institutionalization of services, in order to cover with services the level of professional schools. But also for the provision of career guidance services at the level of lower secondary schools;
This type of education, this type of education should start as early as possible so that for every diploma that our education system produces, there is a job in the economy of Kosovo.
• Redefining the criteria for financing vocational schools, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Finance;
• In the process of finalization is the document of the curricular framework of AAP, i.e. of Education and Vocational Training, a document which has remained unfinished since 2018. This document will be a guide for structuring the curricula that will be offered in schools professional;
• Development of the qualification program for the preparation of pre-service teachers for engagement in professional schools;
Because we will have good students, if we have good teachers and the better the teachers, generation after generation, the better will be the generations of students who come out of those schools where we have progress in teachers before we also have students, and
• Review of procedures for verification of profession standards, validation of qualification programs, and accreditation of educational and professional training institutions,
And many, many other initiatives which will further advance the VET system.
Each of us, in our own way, has a responsibility to contribute to the community where we live and work. The educational system that develops the skills and knowledge, and the connection with the needs of the market, certainly brings the right qualifications and better progressive results, for the country, for the citizens, and for the generations to come.
I also believe that Astrit agrees with me that we need as much positive affirmation in the media of Kosovo, of the results of these collaborations between the education system and the private sector of businesses. You know it’s a bitter saying that in journalism, unfortunately, good news is bad news and bad news is good news.
Yes, we need the good news to be good news. Therefore, we must join forces as state institutions, as private sectors and as an education system so that these examples of success, of ever higher achievements become as public and well-known to the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo because in this in this way their self-confidence increases, but at the same time they are encouraged and inspired to study certain profiles when they see successful cases.
At the very end, I’m giving them just one example of how it shouldn’t happen. I was with the minister Arbërie Nagavci at the “Shtjefen Gjeçovi” school, we saw how hair cutting is demonstrated in the framework of education and professional training for hairdressers. There were the instructors, there were the students and everything was going very well. From there we said we are going to another place, to an enterprise, to a hairdresser in a neighborhood of Pristina where we will see a girl and a boy who were between the ages of 16-18 demonstrating practically the theoretical lesson that they had done at school and when we went there, the journalists were with us. We went inside, talked with the owners, with the senior worker who was there, with the young students who were there, and the news in the evening was that Prime Minister Kurti gets his hair cut at American Beauty. I didn’t get my hair cut at American Beauty, do you understand? So, we went to the school that teaches students to cut their hair, we went to the company where those students worked after school and in the end the news was where I cut my hair.
Therefore, we need to work a little more so that the affirmation is as fair and positive as possible, because it seems that there is not enough culture and knowledge among us to understand how important the issue of education and professional training is and how many successes and achievements there are in our social and economic life which unfortunately are little known.
I congratulate you once again for the work you are doing and thank you for your attention.
Last modified: June 15, 2023