Five vocational education and training institutions received grants for workplace training designed in collaboration with companies from Montenegro
Three new projects aimed at improving skills in Montenegro received letters of intent for funding today at a ceremony organized by the Regional Challenge Fund in Podgorica. The fund, supported by Germany and Switzerland, recently announced the winning projects in the third cycle of its program, which provides grants for vocational education and training (VET) programs jointly designed by companies and VET providers from the Western Balkans region. The complete list of awardees is available here. The Regional Challenge Fund (RCF) aims to enhance the sustainable competitiveness of enterprises in the six Western Balkan economies on their path to the EU single market by funding vocational education and training (VET) institutions. The goal is to collaborate with companies to address business needs for specific skills. “Through the three calls opened so far, RCF has allocated 3.25 million euros to support a total of seven vocational education and training (VET) projects in Montenegro, with 40 partner enterprises. We remain committed to contributing to the country’s economic growth by enhancing the skills and knowledge of young people, aiming to create a job-ready workforce that local companies need,” said Balša Ćulafić, project coordinator for RCF from the Chamber Investment Forum and coordinator for international cooperation at the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro. The third round of applications, organized last year, attracted 155 expressions of interest from across the region, with eight from Montenegro. The selection committee chose the three most successful projects in the country, with an allocated funding of close to 1.62 million euros. These funds will be used to improve the infrastructure of five educational institutions and to train participants in cooperative education programs. “From our perspective, the Regional Challenge Fund is a true model of success. It fosters direct collaboration between educational institutions and employers, ensuring that the curriculum offered by educational institutions precisely meets the requirements the job market demands from young people today. It contributes to opening attractive career prospects for young people in the Montenegrin job market and helps Montenegrin employers attract qualified workers. We are pleased that the German Federal Government, through the German Development Bank KfW, can provide the Regional Challenge Fund with a total of over 65 million euros for Montenegro and the Western Balkans, from which it can offer substantial seed funding for successful partnerships between educational institutions and businesses for their collaboration,” stated H.E. Peter Felten, German Ambassador to Montenegro. Today, 75 high-performance personal computers worth 140,000 euros, purchased through the Regional Challenge Fund, will be officially handed over to the Vaso Aligrudić Secondary Electrotechnical School in Podgorica for use in student training. The Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation, Prof. Dr. Anđela Jakšić-Stojanović, congratulated the grant recipients and expressed satisfaction that the awarded projects involve four vocational secondary schools from Montenegro. “Investing in education means investing in all positive societal processes, especially in the realm of vocational secondary education. Its improvement, through the development of professional competencies in collaboration with the private sector, directly impacts the alignment of supply and demand in the job market. Therefore, I consider the investment by the Regional Challenge Fund to be of significant importance for the education system, as it aligns with the reform goals of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation, one of which is certainly the further development of vocational secondary education,” stated Jakšić-Stojanović. Dr. Nina Drakić, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, recalled that the Regional Challenge Fund (RCF) is a financial mechanism designed to enhance employability in the Western Balkans and highlighted the significance of the project for both our country and the region. “Why is this project of great importance for Montenegro and neighboring countries? Because both our country and neighboring countries demonstrate a need to strengthen the knowledge of employees in the economy. Because we increasingly realize that this is the only path to higher quality human resources, and because there is no economic competitiveness without practical education integrated into economic flows. I believe that Montenegro’s economy, and the economies of the neighboring countries, will progress even more through such projects, thereby moving closer to full EU membership,” stated Drakić. The director of the Vocational Education Center, Aleksandra Lalević, also attended the ceremony. “The Vocational Education Center strives for excellence and efficiency in vocational education, above all, creating an environment conducive to the development of innovative vocational education that enables comprehensive acquisition of competitive skills, competencies, and qualifications for employability, lifelong learning, inclusivity, personal development, and active citizenship of individuals”, concluded Lalević.
Non-refundable funds for the reconstruction and equipping of High School “Vaso Aligrudić”
The Regional Challenge Fund support program is aimed at strengthening the relevance of professional education and training on the labor market by financing investments in equipment and infrastructure for training providers who are involved in cooperative or dual education and training activities with partner companies. The fund was created at the initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, delegated to the KfW Development Bank, and is implemented by the Chamber Investment Forum of the Western Balkans as the main implementation partner, which represents a joint initiative of the Chambers of Commerce of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Out of a total of 205 registered projects from six countries of the Western Balkans at the first call of this fund, 23 of the most successful were proposed for financing, of which only one consortium from Montenegro was successful and received the support of the fund for implementation. It is a project of the Job booster – VET4all consortium, which consists of ETŠ “Vaso Aligrudić”, as a leading partner, IT companies, members of the ICT Cortex cluster (Bild studio, Amplitudo, Data design, Alicorn) as well as the company Mountaineering. “It was with great pleasure that we received the news about the acceptance of our project! The implementation of this project involves the complete reconstruction of the existing classrooms of our school as part of the common rooms with the mechanical school, the acquisition of new laboratory equipment as well as the equipment necessary for the implementation of practical classes in the educational programs Electronic Communication Infrastructure Installer, Electronic Communications Electrical Technician and Web and Mobile Application Development Electrical Technician. In addition to this, a very important segment of the project implementation is the cooperation with the members of our consortium, which includes the implementation of practical classes at the employer for a total of 86 students, as well as the implementation of the necessary training for our teaching staff, as well as instructors, mentors from the company.” – announced Marina Braletić, project coordinator on behalf of ETŠ “Vaso Aligrudić” For the representatives of ICT cluster Cortex, who participated in writing this project, this is a significant success and a confirmation that they are moving towards the achievement of one of the main goals – the improvement of the Montenegrin educational system in the field of ICT. “We believe that with the project we have fully responded to the goal of the call, which is to improve the employability of young people, strengthen the quality of professional education and provide relevant training. With this project, as well as the umbrella education program within the Cortex Academy, we continue to “plant the seeds for a better IT future” and achieve one of the main goals of the Cortex ICT cluster” – added Ferida Mandić, director of the project department of the ICT Cortex cluster, whose members are IT consortium partner companies. Reconstruction of classrooms, equipping them with state-of-the-art equipment, will be accompanied by the improvement of the teaching program through the introduction of mandatory practical classes in the companies that are members of the consortium. In addition to students, a large number of teaching staff will be involved, which will affect the quality of teaching even after three years of the project. RCF supports the establishment of consortia between vocational education and training institutions and companies for the implementation of cooperative education and training programs through the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding. To be acceptable, project partners must be ready to engage in joint training activities to train participants based on qualification standards and/or occupational standards that correspond to labor market demand. The financial support that will be provided by the RCF for the implementation of this project is half a million euros, and the start of the implementation of the project will be in 2022. It is important to note that all funds will be directed to the modernization and equipping of the school, while the members of the consortium will provide mentoring for students, to help students acquire skills aligned with the needs of the labor marke
