Since 2016, ‘Skills for Jobs’ is creating career prospects for young people in Albania enrolled in vocational education by strengthening VET institutions and building long lasting collaborations with private sector companies.

‘Skills for Jobs’ is now in its second phase, which started in May 2019 and will last until June 2023. During this phase, the project is expanding its direct support from 6 to 10 VET providers. All initiatives are coordinated with the two National Agencies (National Agency for Employment and Skills and National Agency for VET and Qualifications) and aim to contribute also a systemic improvement of the VET sector. During this phase, the project aims at supporting 10‘000 students and 6’000 trainees, which are bigger targets than in phase 1.

The agreement signed between the Albanian Minister of Finance and Economy Anila Denaj and the Ambassador of Switzerland, Mr. Adrian Maître officially launched the new phase for S4J.

According to Minister Denaj, ‘Skills for Jobs’ is an important link in the chain of VET system reform, aiming to modernize it in order to provide knowledge and skills for youngsters and adults in Albania. Mrs. Denaj mentioned that in the last 6 years VET student population increased with 35% and expressed the commitment from the Albanian Government to make vocational education the key for future employment.

Ambassador Maître stated that he considers the S4J experience in involving the private sector in VET as one of the first solid experiences in the Western Balkan region. ‘S4J contributes to the creation of an Albanian VET model which is inspired by the Swiss model and consistent with European standards, said Mr. Maître.

Some key results of ‘Skills for Jobs’ first phase were:

• Higher employment among graduates from 34% to 45%;
• Lower school dropout rate from 9.6% to 14.5%;
• More companies accepting apprentices (over 400 companies).