On Wednesday, December 1st 2021, the EU Twinning Project “Further support to the implementation of the National Qualifications Framework”, MK IPA 17 SO 01 21 held the 1st Steering Committee Meeting. This project is financed by the European Union and will be implemented within 27 months.
The project is implemented in cooperation with Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of North Macedonia and partner institutions from Lithuania, Slovenia, and France as Member States Partners. The leading member state in the project is Lithuanian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport co-operating with the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education, the Qualifications and Vocational Education and Training Development Centre, European Social Fund Agency and French High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education together with the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training, acting as the Junior project partners.
The overall objective of the Project is further strengthening and operationalization of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) aiming to increase the employability, mobility and social integration of workers and learners. The budget of the project is worth € 1.500.000,00.
This twinning project is expected to support the effectiveness of the NQF with special focus on:
- development and implementation of quality assurance (QA) process/procedures,
- transparency and governance of skills and qualifications in a lifelong learning perspective of general, Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher education
- improving quality and better adaptability of education and training in line with the requirements from labour market needs, and
- linking formal, non-formal and informal learning and support the validation of learning outcomes acquired in different settings.
The members of the Steering Committee were welcomed by Mr. Seljatin Baljuli, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of North Macedonia who pointed out the importance of the implementation of this project for the Ministry itself and for the institutions involved. The participants, among which were European Delegation to the Republic of North Macedonia, the Central Financing and Contracting Department, as well as the EU Department-IPA structure, were part of a constructive discussion over the significance of the outcomes of the project and the activities based on sharing the know-how of the Member states and the Beneficiary country.
Ms. Agnė Kudarauskienė, the MS Project Leader made a brief presentation on the project’s activities in the initial phase of the project, followed by a preview of the Initial Work Plan made by the MS Resident Twinning Advisor – Ms. Jolita Butkiene. Ms. Aurelija Valeikiene, a Short Term Expert, presented the critical factors for the success of the project and Mr. Janez Damjan as a MS Junior Project Leader emphasized how valuable the personal cooperation among the MS experts and BC experts is. Mr. Luca Citarella, a representative from the EUD underlined the need for establishing a mechanism for cooperation between the numerous projects related to the National Qualifications Framework, some of which have already been implemented and other in the process of implementation, in order to avoid overlapping of activities and their outcomes.
The Initial Work Plan was signed by the Project Leaders and It was agreed that the next SCM will be held in March, 2022.