VET VS GENERAL EDUCATION IN MACEDONIA:

EDUCATION POLICY PERSPECTIVE

“VET for social inclusion in the Western Balkans andTurkey: towards Regional Actions”, Torino, 12-13 December 2011

Prepared by:Prof. Suzana Bornarova PhD

Institute for Social Work and Social PolicyFaculty of Philosophy, Skopje, Macedonia

VET system Delivered through 173 VET programmes

within 110 USS and 6 higher vocational schools (2 public; 4 private; 6 semesters)

VET available for 30 occupations Qualifications:- I-st level: training for jobs with lower

requirements (up to 2 years)- II-nd level: vocational training for

occupation (3 years) - III-rd level: technical education (4 years)- IV-th level: postsecondary education and

training2

Pupils/students in upper-secondary and higher vocational

education

Source: State Statistical Office

98/99 99/00 00/01 02/03 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 Trend Upper-secondary

87.420 89.775 90.990 92.068 93.908 93.763 92.753 93.164 94.284 ↑

No.of schools

95 96 95 95 101 104 107 110 110 ↑

Higher vocational

1.026 927 840 1.123 1.276 1.338 1.814 1.866 2.102 ↑

Number of schools

2 2 2 1 1 3 3 5 6 ↑

3

General vs vocational education programmes in upper-secondary

schools

Type of programme 2001/2002 2009/2010

General education 48 179 ↑ Vocational education 73 173 ↑ Art education 6 9 ↑ Number of USS schools 95 110 ↑ Number of USS teachers 5550 7008 ↑

4

Share of pupils in upper-secondary education in 2001/2002 and 2009/2010

3679

7

5527

1

9206

8

3978

4 5450

0

9428

4

0100002000030000400005000060000700008000090000

100000

General/art VET TOTAL:

2001/02

2009/10

5

USS according to language of instruction (2001/2002 and 2009/2010)

Language Schools Pupils Teachers Macedonian 2001/2002 90 74800 4414 Macedonian 2009/2010 99 65599 4816 Albanian 2001/2002 24 15844 934 Albanian 2009/2010 35 26028 1795 Turkish 2001/2002 5 694 102 Turkish 2009/2010 10 1476 208 English 2001/2002 5 730 100 English 2009/2010 7 1181 189

6

Pupils in general and vocational secondary schools per gender

2009/2010

7

Effective educational practices Programmes overburdened with theory:- II-nd level qualifications: The general

education takes up 50% of the three year vocational education, the vocational theory 30% and the practical training 20%

- III-rd level qualifications: general education takes up 45% technical education, the vocational theory 35%, the practical training 10 % and elective instructions 10% (final+matura exam).

Low level of provision of work place training opportunities by businesses and firms

8

Effective educational practices Inclusiveness or segregation:- Heterogeneous per: gender, socio-economic status,

rural/urban, ability- Homogeneous : in some cases per ethnicity Family/community involvement: parental

meetings/school boards/individual contacts; disengagement of parents; no impact on decision-making in school; no involvement in curriculum development or evaluation; no internet/phone communcation; no involvement of community members nor community education

Academic expectations (of students, teachers, families): low aspirations; no individualised help to stimmulate academic endeavors

9

Effective educational practices VET teaching: insufficient teacher training

(traditional teaching methods, authoritarian relations with students/families); human resources; technical/financial resources; ex-catedra instead of interactive approach; low student participation

Strategies used by VET schools to reduce school failure and increase social cohesion in school neighbourhood and communities are nearly non-existent

Cooperative learning (no peer-mentors/peer learning groups)

Democratic values in curriculum: citizen’s education instead of cross-culturalism; multiculturalism

Diversity consideration: gender stereotyping10

VET status Reserved for students with lower educational

achievements Attracts minority students Less strict entry criteria and study

requirements (high pass rates) Stigmatisation (VET for poor/GE for elite/well-

off) Related to lower socio-economic status of

students

11

Labour market supply Apprenticeship School-labour market transfers

Vocational schools (terminal)

General education schools

Universities Labour market

Primary schools

Arts schools

12

VET vs General education: Educational policy perspective

Education as ALTERNATIVE to social protection:

Higher investments in education lower investments in social protection and vice versa!

Education as INSTRUMENT for prevention of social exclusion

13

VET vs General education: Educational policy perspective

Type of welfare

state

Ideology Education Investments in education as % of

total public expenditure

Pupils in VET

Pupils in GE

Liberal Social welfare is individual responsibility

An opportunity for independence, and entry into the labour market; promotor of social mobility; protection from social risks

Highest investments

√

Conserva-tive

Social rights are based on the participation in the labour market; interests to maintain the status-quo, the system and its socio-economic stability

Due to the importance of labour market – accent to VET

Lowest investments

√

Social-democratic

Wide/universal coverage; social rights irrespective of the labour market participation

Opportunity for individual development; respect for individual aspirations

Lower investments than liberal, higher than conservative (highest investments as % of GDP; highest real expenditures per capita and per student)

(Less than liberal) - √+ (more than conservative)

Hega, Hokenmaier, (2002) 14