Date: 14-04-2023

On 21 March 2023, an online Vocational Education and Training Seminar was organised by the Research Agency, Programme Operator of the Business, Innovation and SMEs Program. The partners of the event were the State Institute of Vocational Education and Training (ŠIOV), the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) and the Agency for International Education Affairs (AIBA), Liechtenstein.

They ensured experts and their active participation in the seminar through their presentations and panel discussion.

The webinar was funded by the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021 under the Fund for Bilateral Relations.

The aim of the VET seminar was to enhance cooperation between educational institutions, especially at the secondary school level, but also at the university level and in the business environment with the intention of improving the quality of education in Slovakia so that it meets the needs of the Slovak labour market. The seminar also served to gain an overview of VET systems in the donor states, namely in Liechtenstein and Norway, but also in Slovakia, as well as to find solutions to common challenges in this field.

The webinar was attended by almost 40 participants who were mostly secondary school teachers, as well as researchers from universities, representatives of the local government and other stakeholders. The welcome speeches were given by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Slavomír Partila and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Slovakia, H.E. Mr. Alex Vodicka Winther.

The invited experts presented VET models of Liechtenstein, Norway and Slovakia, and in the subsequent panel discussion, they tried to find answers to the question "Is vocational education and training the key to ensuring a competent workforce for the future?" They showed the similarities and differences of the systems, as well as some of the common challenges. The following topics resonated most with the seminar attendees:

• The importance of international cooperation in order to strengthen professional competence, increase the quality of education and provide new didactic methods;
• Demand for certain qualifications as a result of the development of the economy and the labour market;
• Quality, motivation and financing of vocational education and training;
• Graduate tracking and research on the employability;
• Flexibility in obtaining qualifications (re-skilling and upskilling) due to constantly changing conditions and environment;
• The need for a proper power-sharing between schools, businesses and social partners in relation to the curriculum.

The expected benefit of the event was the strengthening of bilateral relations and sharing of best practices between the relevant stakeholders, as well as the possibility of further cooperation in the field of VET in the preparation and implementation of initiatives supported under the open calls of the program.

Detailed information about the webinar conclusions can be found << here >>.

VET Seminar conclusions

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