North Macedonia

R.7.1 The ETF recommends reconsidering the rules of recruitment of teaching staff in order to open more flexible pathways into teaching for practitioners from the world of work.

R.7.2 The conditions of involvement of employers in VET and specifically in the provision of practical training/work-based learning (WBL) should be reassessed to identify gaps and fill them with clear guidance described in appropriate legislation on how this priority should work in practice. There should also be an additional investment in system-level capacity to take part in delivering VET, such as WBL, internships, or contributions to qualifications system development.

R.7.3 A major part of the recommended package of measures is prioritising work on the national qualification framework as an instrument for establishing solid connections between education, training and the world of work.

R.6.1 The ETF recommends that the authorities responsible for labour market policy mobilise donor support and partnerships for the development of capacity for processing of labour market data, in view of using it to inform career guidance services and make them more reliable and accessible.

In addition, access to career guidance services should be expanded specifically to secondary schools, where the need for orientation seems to be greatest.

R.6.2 The authorities should modernise the focus of career guidance by expanding the promotion of digital literacy and including digital entrepreneurship as a specific focus of career guidance. This is in line with existing national and regional priorities.

The plans for VET and education reform are comprehensive, but for the sake of feasibility, the ETF recommends prioritising those items which international best practice shows can be effective in preventing youth unemployment through education and training.

The ETF recommends sustaining and reinforcing the activity of the Council on Adult Education, which has initiated work on a system for the validation of non-formal and informal learning in the country.

The European Training Foundation (ETF) recommends a stronger, more coordinated approach to the regulation of private providers of AET, strengthening of the institutional capacity for the coordination of AET, introducing baseline criteria for institutions (public and private) which wish to become providers, and upgrading the mechanism of verification into a system of licensing and external quality assurance for adult education.

Ensure that AET provision is aligned with national strategic priorities concerning human capital development, such as second chance (remedial) education and the eradication of adult illiteracy.

To that end, consider reinforcing the involvement of public providers in AET to create an additional channel of monitoring and steering of developments in that domain, strengthen institutional capacity for the coordination of AET, and introduce incentives, for instance tax breaks, for private providers which offer training in line with national priorities for human capital development.

Aim to better link the standards of learning and achievement in different subjects, the grading criteria, and the assessment practices of teachers.

This may also require a revision and update of the grading scales and channels for reporting student success, and the introduction of cooperation modalities between teachers who assess students.

Reassess whether the choice of subjects and the achievement requirements at the graduation exams are fair to what VET students are learning and if not, consider making changes.