The secondary vocational education, especially its advancement, is directly related to the provision of competent teachers who need to be continuously upgraded, today and in future. One tool that enables continuous upgrading is the INOVET platform (inovet.edu.mk), which serves as a digital base for the teachers in their professional development, and allows them to receive information on trainings and professional development courses and online opportunities for their implementation. The platform, through an e-library, provides the teachers an opportunity to access materials for professional development as well as the opportunity for mutual communication and sharing of experiences and instructions.

Having accentuated the previous, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science Lulzim Aliu confirmed that digitalization in secondary vocational education, organized by the Center for Vocational Education and Training and the project “Education for Employment in North Macedonia – E4E @ mk”, funded by the Swiss Embassy, ​​provides advancement of the secondary vocational education and implementation of activities for promotion and attracting of more students to enroll in VET.

“By using the benefits of these digital tools that have previously not existed in our country, the teachers will constantly improve their work, and on the other hand will contribute to improving the quality of secondary vocational education, because they are still the most important link in this process and in the process of transferring knowledge to students,” said Aliu.

Speaking about the importance of digitalization in vocational education and training, the Director of the Vocational Education and Training Center, Mr. Sheriff Miftari has emphasized that the establishment of the inovet.edu.mk platform is just one of the few activities to which the VETC is committed, including the program for the occupational health and safety at the workplace, the digital teacher training, the summer practice for students, Work based Learning and the orientation processes. Mr. Miftari also mentioned the new trainers of the company mentors, whose place in the process of practical training of students in companies is extremely important.

The promotional event was attended by representatives of the Center for Vocational Education and Training, representatives of the Swiss project Education for Employment in North Macedonia (E4E@mk), as well as principals and teachers from number of secondary vocational schools.

The event included a presentation of several results related to the promotion of secondary vocational education through its digitalization, and the emphasis was placed on the promotion of the new INOVET platform that serves as a digital assistant for professional development of secondary vocational school teachers. Through the platform, the teachers receive information about trainings and courses and will be able to implement them online.

Additionally, the event provided a presentation of the program for occupational health and safety and details related to its implementation as well as information on digital training of teachers.

Furthermore, the representatives of VETC referred to the process of Summer Practice for students and its implementation but also to the process of Work based Learning, as one of the most important segments within the vocational education and training.

The representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science and VETC also referred to the new Call for enrollment in secondary schools, which has already been announced and where the emphasis is again on secondary vocational education and dual VET classes that are formed in cooperation with the private sector.

“We have created the enrollment policy for the academic year 2022-2023 through the social dialogue “Uci Pametno Raboti Strucno“ which resulted in the opening of 223 dual VET classes. The progress that is being made is remarkable. That is twice as much as last year, when, for the academic year 2021/2022 were opened 97 dual classes. In 2019/2020 there were only 11 classes. This means that this year there is a record number of companies that have expressed interest and which will be part of the realization of practical training of students in companies. They are listed in the Call”, emphasized the Deputy Minister Aliu, appealing to future high school students to think carefully about their choice of education, as they should be guided by personal beliefs, affinities and predispositions, but always keeping in mind the information about what type of education suits them and which jobs are attractive and offered in the labor market.

The second phase of the campaign “Uci Pametno Raboti Strucno” for the academic year 2022/2023 is planned to be carried out in the upcoming period, and will inform ninth graders about the opportunities for enrollment in secondary vocational schools and the dual VET classes that provide practical training of students in companies.The students will have the opportunity to see the benefits of the reformed secondary vocational education via the open days that will be organized in the secondary vocational schools in May, thus making an appropriate choice for their future education and career.

The Call for enrollment of students in secondary high schools for the academic year 2022/2023 has been published on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science and in the print media, and the same lists the companies where the practical training of students will be undertaken.

The Call is available at: https://mon.gov.mk/stored/document/konkurs%20mk.pdf