High-qualty vocational education is the mission of the Centre for Vocational Education and Training (CVET), hence, the new school year brings about novelties. Starting from September, the curricula in ten sectors of secondary vocational education will be “greened”. The green skills curricula will raise the awareness among high school students about the importance of a healthy environment. This approach will promote a learning culture that will help the students develop appropriate skills, knowledge, behaviours, and attitudes that would enable them to address climate changes, green transition, and the effects of pollution. For example, high school students will learn about sustainable development goals, waste as resource, energy sustainability, and sustainable experiments – topics that are crucial for tackling new challenges.
To discuss the need for greening the curriculum, which sectors will be affected by this, what experience the students will gain from the new elective courses, as well the reasons behind the increased interest for enrollement in secondary vocational education, PINA.mk spoke with Ms. Ardijana Isahi Palloshi, MA, head of the deparment for reseach, quality assurance and certification in vocational education and training.
The new school year shall see, for the first time, the implementation of the greening of curricula in ten sectors of vocational education. What does the curriculum involve?
– The new school year brings new opportunities for students from secondary vocational schools. In the new school year, the students in the second or third years in secondary vocational schools, in 10 sectors, will be given an opportunity to learn more about environmental issues relating to depletion of raw materials, energy and human resources, and the possibilities for appropriate action within their respective sectors. The Vocational Education and Training Centre, as the responsible institution for development and promotion of vocational education in Macedonia, has been working for years on the holistic integration and comprehensive education on the environment and climate changes in vocational education, but this year it shall put an even greater focus on these issues. These curricula prepare the students for the specifics of their professions within the context of the green transition.
How did the need for these curricula arise?
– The challenge of globalization processes (economic, educational, political, cultural, and ecological) is characterized by the rapid expansion of scientific achievements, and technical and technological development accompanied by reorganization of the production processes, which contributes to daily changes of lifestyles, mindsets, working, and learning. Today, among other things, a clean, healthy, and well preserved environment, supporting sustainable economy and society, becomes a challenge for every society. Business is gradually transforming production towards more ecological and profitable practices, creating new jobs that require new competencies. Green transformation and eco-sustainable (green) investments by companies in the production process necessitate investing in and building of human capital that will introduce innovative production methods and promote the eco-sustainable processes.
As Andrew Carnegie said: “Take away my people and leave me my factories and grass will grow on factory floors. Take away my factories and leave me my people, and they will build new and better factories”, highlighting the importance of human capital in economic development.
Therefore, we have recognized that even in education, which is responsible for building the necessary human capital, there is a need for intervention and change. There is a need to strengthen the students’ capacities within each profession to address environmental issues caused by various sectors, and education should focus on: pollution, environmental protection and promotion, and achieving ecological balance. Through our intervention in sectoral curricula, we aim to contribute to ensuring the right to a healthy environment, as a fundamental human right, and to ensuring a sustainable economy.
What is the role of VETC in implementing this curriculum?
VETC’s role is to develop policies and measures to strengthen the students’ capacities in addressing rapid changes in the world, including environmental issues. In this regard, VETC focuses on two areas.
- Ensuring the prerequisites for implementation of the 10 curricula, in particular: developing modular units within each curriculum, creating teaching materials for the 10 curricula that will follow the curriculum, and strengthening teachers’ capacities through training on the implementation of the curriculum.
- Ensuring a broader coverage of high school students who will acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes, and habits related to these issues. Taking into account the fact that in the 2023/2024 school year, 69% of high school students are enrolled in vocational education, we have good coverage of all high school students in vocational education. By promoting the green skills curricula we will raise the awareness of the importance of a healthy and clean environment, thereby increasing the students’ interest in enrolling and participating in curricula that are offered in their schools and relate to green skills within their professions.
VETC has prepared: 10 curricula for content programmed by schools for ten professions/sectors in vocational education, 10 manuals for teaches and students, as ancillary material for implementation of the curricula. The curricula and manuals have been translated in Albanian. All documents can be found on the VETC website www.csoo.edu.mk.
There are preparations underway for the implementation of 30 trainings for about 500 teachers. The trainings will be conducted in Macedonian and Albanian. The teachers will receive certificate as proof that they are qualified to implement all activities of the curriculum and help the students achieve all learning outcomes specified by the curriculum. VETC is working on developing mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of green skills curricula and mechanisms for measuring the effect of the curriculum implementation on students.
In which sectors of vocational education will the greening of the curriculum be introduced?
– The selection of sectors suitable for intervention was made by a team of experts in air quality and environmental protection, in collaboration with VETC’s advisors for vocational education and training. The selection is drawing upon the Green Skills Analysis conducted by UNICEF and Helvetas in 2022.
The sectors where the opportunity to study green skills content specific to the relevant profession has been introduced are: geology, mining, and metallurgy; construction and geodesy; graphic design; economy, law, and commerce; health and social care; agriculture, fisheries, and veterinary science; mechanical engineering, traffic, transportation and storage; textile, leather and related products; and chemistry and technology.
When deciding on the sectors for which curricula will be developed, priority was given to professions with the least coverage of topics relating to environmental protection and green skills, the scope and effect on the environment, and human resources available to VETC. It is not excluded that the other four professions will be included in future.
What experience will vocational education students gain from the new curriculum features?
– The curricula provide for acqusition of skills to take action for sustainable development with the aim to conserve the environment. The curricula are diverse and tailored to each sector. The initial modules in all curricula are general, while the subsequent ones are specific to each sector. Through these modular units, the students acquire new knowledge and skills on how to act within their profession to preserve the environment.
For example, in the chemistry and technology sector, the curriculum is called Circular Chemistry. It consists of 4 modular units, in particular: Sustainable Development Goals, Waste as a Resource, Energy Sustainability, and Sustainable Experiments. The first modular unit is general, the second modular unit allows the students to apply rules and methods for waste management and reduction and use of bio-waste as resource and source of energy in the chemical and technological sector. The third modular unit enables the students to analyze data on the energy efficiency of renewable energy technologies and to propose solutions for utilizing the most suitable renewable energy source based on local geographical and climatic characteristics. The fourth modular unit trains students to apply sustainable laboratory principles, recycle/regenerate laboratory chemicals, and recycle materials under laboratory conditions. The learning outcomes of the curriculum are expected to be achieved through activities such as: laboratory exercises, project activities, research, debates, discussions, etc.
The curriculum relating to the transportation sector is called Ecological Concepts in Transportation. This curriculum trains students to propose alternative solutions for maintaining eco-friendly vehichle fleets, identify measures to protect against traffic noise, compare conventional and green logistics chains, understand the advantages for eco-vehicles, etc. One may see that each curriculum prepares the students for the specificities of their profession.
What are the benefits of greening the curriculum, and what do you expect to achieve? What is the goal?
– The curricula aim to raise environmental awareness and develop green skills within the profession, thus enabling the students, through personal and systemic transformation, to contribute to a more sustainable way of life and facilitate the transition to a green economy. These curricula prepare the students for the specifics of their profession within the context of the green transition. By implementing the curricula in the 10 sectors, the students will be equipped to keep up with the changes, stay current with the “changing world” and take actions to ensure sustainable development with their professional sectors. The curricula ensure that future generations will possess specific competencies in the field of green transition and encourage them to undertake individual and group initiatives and activities to preserve the environment.
Do you think that greening the curricula by covering important topics will further increase the interest for vocational education?
– As a result of the technical and technological “revolution”, people are constantly surrounded by changes. To survive, it is necessary to adapt to these changes. The education builds and elevates mankind, so we follow these changes and we integrate them in vocational education; otherwise we cannot sustain ourselves as an educational sub-system.
Timely interventions ensure relevant vocational education. Introducing topics such as environment protection, climate changes, sustainable economy, sustainable development, circular economy, etc. is just one aspect of the modernization of vocational education. Since every intervention in vocational education driven by the needs of the economy/business and by following global and European trends has positively impacted the interest in vocational education, the introduction of these topics is undoubtedly expected to increase interest in vocational education.
The implementation of these curricula could stimulate new processes and services that, by saving resources and energy, could improve the efficiency of companies or inspire young people with new ideas for their own businesses. Young people are aware that startups offer opportunities for independent business or are valued and sought after by companies. This is something that could encourage young people to pursue these curricula, while the way these curricula are implemented might increase the interest in vocational education.
Considering that there is an increasing interest in enrolling in vocational high schools, in particular given this year’s enrollment, in your opinion, what is driving such increased interest?
– The growing interest in vocational education is the result of years of joint efforts by all stakeholders in vocational organization (CVET, Ministry of Education and Science, Chambers, Employers’ Organizations, and other stakeholders) to build relevant and flexible vocational education, based on the principle of partnership. Guided by these principles, we have been working for many years to create mechanisms for development of modern vocational education that will produce graduates capable of tackling the challenges arising from technical and technological advances, societal transitions, environmental changes, and other changes brought about by globalization. We work intensively on monitoring economic trends and implementing those trends in education.
The increased number of students enrolling in vocational education shows that its attractiveness is growing. It is expected that the number of students enrolled in vocational education this school year will exceed 70%. I believe that this is owing to the modern approach in vocational education, both in terms of learning content and the approach to learning. The learning content is determined by the needs of the business community, including the competences in demand on the market.
With regard to the approach to learning, the introduction of mandatory learning through work with an employer allows students to learn in a real work environment by “doing”. Such approach to learning is engaging, memorable, creative, and linked to the acquisition of skills. This approach benefits the student by the following: providing relevant knowledge, skills and competencies for successful school-to-work transition, increasing the likelihood of employment immediately after graduation, offering the posibility for development of entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity necessary for their future professional development, and developing social skills (teamwork, partnership collaboration, sharing one’s own thoughts and ideas and respecting those of others, gaining responsibility, dedication to work, experience and cultivating care for one’s immediate and broader environment (out of home and school).
Young people like to practice what they learn, or to learn it by doing, which is the only way to make education more engaging for them. They find this in vocational education, which is why vocational education has been enrolling students who want to and know how to create in recent years. The possibilities of obtaining a specific qualification, employment or starting their own business at a young age, on one hand, and the opportunity to continue their education, on the other, render vocational education more attractive.
How important is it for students to acquire skills and knowledge that they can later apply in practice, so that future generations can tackle crucial issues such as climate changes, green transition, and the effects of pollution?
– In a future that brings a lot of unpredictable things, prosperity undoubtedly lies in a global competition of ideas, knowledge, and skills. Hence, it is necessary to improve everyone’s competencies and adapt them to the specific demands of the new economy. Economic growth is insufficient if it does not create new jobs as well as high-quality and functional human capital engaged in productive jobs with the appropriate competencies. Investing in human capital is just as important as investing in physical capital.
Education, that is, acquiring knowledge and the necessary competencies, is the foundation for overcoming the limitations associated with low labour productivity. Economic growth is connected to the synergy between new knowledge and human capital. The changes in life and work require us not to wait on the changes but to rise along them, anticipate them and take all necessary actions to ensure economic development. This can only be achieved through quality education.
Author: Ivana Krsteska Janevska
This text was prepared within the cooperation between PINA and the organization Helvetas
