Empowering VET Education at Level 5 in the Western Balkans

ongoing

EQF level 5 qualifications play an important role in providing access to employment and career advancement, as well as enabling further learning and progression to higher education. Although the extent to which countries use qualifications at EQF level 5 differs, their importance is growing in all countries. They allow people to acquire advanced technical and/or management competences, improving their job prospects and helping them change or progress in their careers. Their double function – combining labour market orientation with progression opportunities to/within higher education – makes them attractive to learners. In the West Balkans, level 5 is still not developed in its full capacity and represents a gap in the NQFs. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the development of high-quality and attractiveness of VET in West Balkan countries of BIH, MNE and AL. The specific objective of the project is of the project is to build the capacities of VET providers and experts in understanding and providing EQF level 5 with a practical focus on the tourism sector and its green and digital transition in countries of BIH, MNE and AL. The project is based on building up the capacities of VET teachers and expert on one side, and on the other to produce deliverables which prepare the VET system for adoption (BIH) and further development of level 5 (MNE, AL) in the educational system with a special focus on the sector of tourism. The process is supported by experience and best practices from HR and IT, but more importantly by Chain5 and EU experience. This international approach in developing level 5 can certainly help as searching together for scenarios, ways of completing learning paths, emphasizing internationalization as a supporting instrument and using each other's expertise and experiences can above all ensure an embedding in the national context that other sectors in national education can benefit from.