- A total of 43 high schools, presenting 110 draft-projects, responded to a public call of the Ministry of Education and Science for a fund of EUR 700,000 - part of the World Bank's 'Skills Development and Innovation Support Project', Minister Spiro Ristovski told a press conference on Wednesday.

The Project aims to improve transparency of resource allocation and promote accountability in higher education, enhance the relevance of secondary technical vocational education, and support innovation capacity in Macedonia.

At the onset of this year the Ministry launched a rather significant measure for connecting high vocational schools and the business community in order to foster education and skills relevant to the job market, Ristovski said.

The project, launched two years ago, consists of the following components: 1) improving transparency of higher education; 2) modernization of secondary Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET); 3) improving the innovative capacity of enterprises and collaboration with research organizations; and 4) project management and monitoring and evaluation. The first component aims at improving both the transparency and efficiency of the quality assurance and finance mechanisms in the higher education sector, and consists of the sub-components of quality assurance in higher education, higher education financing reforms, and development of a national technology transfer office. The second component finances activities targeted toward building the foundation of a modern and efficient secondary TVET system, and consists of the sub-components of quality and labor market relevance of TVET provision, and grants for school-industry collaboration. The next component is focused on supporting the efforts of the FYR Macedonia Fund for Innovation and Technological Development (FITD) to build the institutional capacity to stimulate innovative activities, and consists of the sub-components of FITD capacity building, and pilot of financial instruments to be delivered by FITD. The final component consists of the sub-components: project management, and monitoring and evaluation.

It will benefit around 24,000 students and 1,500 teaching and management staff from technical vocational education and training institutions who would receive a new curriculum and practical training facilities, as well as training on management, planning, and process improvement. Students and staff of universities, research institutions, and enterprises will benefit from the implementation of quality assurance mechanisms and financing reform in higher education, and also from grants promoting R&D and innovation.