V E T C e n t r e ’ s N e w s l e t t e r * Y e a r I I I * N u m b e r 7 * J a n u a r y / A p r i l 2 0 1 2

INFORMATIVE NEWSLETTERO F T H E C E N T R E F O R V O C A T I O N A L E D U C A T I O N

INTRODUCTIONDear readers,

New edition of Informative Newsletter of the Centre for Vocational Education (hereinafter: VET Centre) provides you with numerous artic-les on activities conducted within the period De-cember 2011 – April 2012. This period has been marked by significant manifestations on national and international level, some of which were: International Training Firms Fair, VIII Na-tional Competition of Hospitality VET Scho-ols, Young Inventors Fair, etc.

Implementation of the five-year project “VET Reform towards Improvement of Em-ployment”, conducted by GIZ together with Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and VET Centre, was successfully completed in March 2012. At that time, supported by ETF, activities were initiated for the imple-mentation of Torino Process in which Mon-tenegro will be involved for the first time this year.

Supported by the Project MNE/011, VET Centre created a web portal composed of two parts: Document Centre (www.cso.edu.me) which contains all documents produced by the VET Centre (curricula, occupational standards, training programmes, etc.) and Platform for drafting and exchange of internal documents (www.cso-is.edu.me) which will be used by members of working groups in their future work.

Project MNE/011 activities will be integrated in our Newsletter, starting from this edition, while Project Newsletter will not be published any more.

We hope that the VET Centre will remain interesting and attractive partner to national and international organiza-tions aimed at fostering development and improvement of vocational education and life-long learning in Montenegro.

Thank you for reading our Newsletter!

Editorial board

In this edition:• FAIRSANDCOMPETITIONS

• SEMINARS,WORKSHOPS,PRESENTATIONS

• CONFERENCES

• CURRENTACTIVITIES

• GETTINGTOKNOW

•INTERVIEWS

Fairs and competitions

January/April 2012 Number 72

International Training Firms Fair in Slovenia

� Secondary School of Economics from Celje and Slove-nian Training Firms Service Centre organized 7th In-ternational Training Firms Fair in Celje on 1 Febru-ary 2012. This year there were 43 training firms from Germany, Austria, Finland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Mace-donia, Lithuania, Romania, Montenegro and Slo-venia. Montenegro was represented by six training firms from: Secondary School of Economics “Mirko Vešović“-Podgorica (4 TFs), Seconadry Mixed School “I.G.Kovačić“-Herceg Novi (1 TF) and High School Kotor (1 TF).

� Besides students and teachers in charge for TFs, Monte-negrin delegation was also represented by S.Obradović and S.Brkanović, coordinators of TF Service Centre.

International Training Firms Fair in Budva

� In cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Sports and KulturKontakt Austria, VET Centre orga-nized International Training Firms Fair, on 12 and 13

May, within the premises of the Adriatic Fair in Bud-va. 77 training firms (TF) took part at the Fair, com-ing from different countries: Albania, Bosnia and Her-zegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro, among which there was a TF from the Bureau for Edu-cation and Professional Rehabilitation of the Disabled Children and Youth from Podgorica.

�The Fair was visited by prominent persons such as Montenegrin Minister of education and sports, Aus-trian ambassador, KulturKontakt representatives from Austria, representatives of Ministries of education of participating countries, representatives of the VET Centre, University, Employment Agency, representa-tive of the municipality Budva, social partners, prin-cipals of schools, teachers and other important figures. The guests were welcomed by: Ms. Monika Mott, di-rector of KulturKontakt from Austria, Duško Rajković VET Centre and Slavoljub Stijepovic, Montenegrin Minister of Education and Sports who had the hon-our to open the Fair. Within the Fair, three workshops were organized for the representatives of the partici-pating countries’ ministries, for teachers and students. Workshops were held by experts from Austria. The fair was organized as a competition in several categories, whereas the sponsors were: Erste Bank, Hypo Alpe Adria Bank, VET Centre, Cosmetics market, tourist agency “In Travel“ from Podgorica, whereas the me-dia sponsor was an independent daily “Vijesti“. The or-ganization of the Fair was done by S. Obradović, and S. Brkanović, whereas the selection committee in all categories consisted of I.Mihailović, I.Janković and D.Stanić from VET Centre.

� Awardswerewonby: � Best stand: 1. TF „Vau mjau“ – Secondary Mixed School “Mladost“, Tivat 2. TF “Comfort“ - Secondary Mixed School “Danilo Kiš“, Budva 3. TF „Lissus“ , Al-banija

� Best team: 1. TF “Nik Cold“ – Secondary VET School for Economics and Hospitality, Nikšić, 2. TF “Global

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music“ – Secondary School of Electrical Engineering and Economics, Bijelo Polje, 3. TF „12 šampitica“, Serbia

� Best marketing material: 1. TF „Adrenalin 019“, Ser-bia, 2. TF „Planinski sirko–milk“ – VET School, Pljev-lja, Montenegro 3. TF „Spike“, Serbia

� Fair Mister: Danilo Lončarević - TF “Monte Casa“, Secondary School of Economics “Mirko Vešović“, Pod-gorica

� Fair Miss: Zorica Cicvarić - TF „Voćna fantazija“ , Ser-bia

� For overall performance at the Fair: 1. TF „Hon-ey bee“ – Secondary School of Economics “Mirko Vešović“ – Podgorica – Montenegro; 2. TF „Voćna fan-tazija“ - Secondary School of Economics – Užice - Ser-bia; 3.TF „Katunski biser“ – Secondary Mixed School “Danilo Kiš“ – Budva – Montenegro

� IN TRAVEL Agency provided a special award in the field of tourism to the TF Lotika from Bosnia and Her-zegovina, whereas Erste Bank gave a special award to the students of the Bureau for Education and Profes-sional Rehabilitation of the Disabled Children and Youth from Podgorica, which presented themselves with the TF “Papercut“.

VIII National Competition of Mon-tenegrin VET Hospitality Schools

�Within the Food Fair in Budva, VET Centre organized VIII National Competition of VET Hospitality Schools in the premises of Adriatic Fair on 23 March 2012. This year, the competition was organized as international, as there were competitors from Macedonia and Bos-nia and Herzegovina. A total of 67 competitors took part in the competition, in four categories: preparation of food by Menu, arrangement of festive table, prep-aration of food in front of guests and barman activ-ity. Organization of the competition was completed by the VET Centre team, led by director, D.Rajković and D.Bošković, D.Gogić and I.Moretti. The organization

was supported by: Montenegrin Association of Chefs and Montenegrin Barmen Association. Sponsors of the competition were: Montenegro Stars Hotel Group, Adriatic Fair and Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism.

� Schools achieved the following results, indifferentcategories:

� Preparation of food by Menu: 1. VET School “Sergije Stanić“ ; 2. Secondary Mixed School “Danilo Kiš“; 3. Secondary Mixed School “Ivan Goran Kovačić“

� Preparation of food in front of guests: � 1. VET School „Sergije Stanić“; 2. Secondary Mixed School „17. septembar“; 3. Secondary Mixed School „I.G. Kovačić“

� Arrangement of festive table: 1. Secondary Mixed School “Braća Selić“ ; 2. VET School „Sergije Stanić“; 3. Secondary Mixed School “Danilo Kiš“

� Barman activity: 1. VET School „Sergije Stanić“; 2. Secondary Mixed School “Danilo Kiš“ ; 3. Secondary Mixed School “Braća Selić“

� Overall performance: 1. Secondary VET School “Ser-gije Stanić“, Podgorica; 2. Secondary Mixed School “Danilo Kiš“, Budva; 3. Secondary Mixed School “Braća Selić“, Kolašin

� Students were evaluated by four selection committees: category – preparation of food by Menu (M. Vojvodić,

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January/April 2012 Number 74

R. Mijović and D. Raičević); category - arrangement of festive table (M. Bulatović, M. Pajković, R. Delić); category – preparation of food in front of guests (D. Labović, J. Čolić and M. Pajković); category – barman activity (R. Mijač, N. Merdović, V. Čabarkapa and N. Feratović). There were two supervisors appointed: V. Mitrović and Lj. Maslovar. The competition was orga-nized by D.Bošković on behalf of the VET Centre.

VII International Culinary Festival “The Pearl of the Sea” - Brač, Croatia

� VII International Culinary Festival “The Pearl of the Sea” was organized within the period 28 March – 1 April 2012, on Croatian island – Brač. The competi-tion was organized by Association of Chefs of Medi-terranean and European regions. This manifestation was composed of various activities: competition of professional cooks and juniors, numerous lectures, workshops and presentations. There were over 250 competitors from 16 countries (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Aus-tria, Italy, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Roma-nia, Turkey, Ukraine, Lithuania, Moldova and Russia). Montenegrin representatives achieved excellent results both individually and as a team: several golden, silver and bronze medals, as well as first and second prizes for certain categories. VET Centre representative at this Festival was D. Bošković.

International Training Firms Fair in Tirana

� Albanian Training Firms Service Centre and Ku-turKontakt Austria, organized International Training Firms Fair in Tirana on 29-30 March 2012. There were

almost 60 training firms from Macedonia, Serbia, Bos-nia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Alba-nia. Eight Montenegrin TFs from Podgorica, Nikšić, Kotor, Herceg Novi, Bar, Bijelo Polje, Pljevlja and Be-rane, presented their services and products at the Fair.

� Besides students and teachers, in charge for TFs, Mon-tenegro was represented by S.Obradović - coordina-tor of Montenegrin TF Service Centre, B.Đukić – di-rector of Secondary School of Economics “Mirko Vešović” Podgorica, M.Dragićević director of Second-ary Mixed School “Ivan Goran Kovačić” Herceg Novi and I.Mihailović, as interpreter on behalf of the VET Centre.

Young Inventors Fair in Montenegro

� ‘Montenegrin Young Inventors’ foundation, VET Centre, Ministry of Science, University of Montenegro, Business Incubator ‘Inventiveness’ and Ministry of Education and Sports, organized Young Inventors Fair on 7 April 2012, at the Faculty of Technical Science in Podgorica.

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� Recently, students had an assignment to make origi-nal products or devices, safe and innovative, simple or complicated with regards to students’ creativity. Their achievements in this area should contribute to the fu-ture development of Montenegro. At the Fair, 25 in-novations at the category of high schools and facul-ties were presented. Besides university and high school students, participants were also students from Elemen-tary School ‘Pavle Rovinski’ with their LEGO robots, which they used at the competition in Slovenia. Many of the prominent people visited the fair, president of the foundation - S.Kadić, VET Centre director - D. Ra-jkovic and University representative V.Jaćimović ad-dressed the audience, whereas the Fair was opened by deputy Minister of science D.Petrušić.

�The overall winner of the Fair is a team of students from VET Electrical Engineering School “Vaso Aligrudić“ Podgorica who made a solar chimney. The most practi-cal invention is a message bell made by a student from “Stojan Cerovic” grammar school in Nikšić. The most complex product is a universal tutor made by students of VET School from Nikšić. The most original prod-uct is an electronic version of Tesla lightning genera-tor made by a student from Secondary Mixed School “Mladost“Tivat, while the Fair’s best presentation was awarded to students of VET School from Nikšić for making a remote control locator.

� In the university category, the best invention was the system for remote control of home devices, the most original invention was a pulse detector, the most prac-tical invention was - platform without programming, the most complex invention was the mobile manipula-tor while the best presentation was an Android appli-cation for innovative alarm clock.

� Besides the winners, the awards were given to oth-er students for successful inventions presented to the selection committee and visitors. Among the success-ful ones were: mechanical pneumatic platform, light-ing of the stairs with led laces, can lad lamp, movable rack for projector, multifunctional desk, movable en-ergy source, photo sensor alarm system, natural balm for burns, practical application of new technologies LOGO soft, phone light bulb, rulebook for high school graduates, etc.

� A three-member selection committee consisted of: Z.Ilinčić, professional innovator, D.Stanić, advisor for ICT in VET Centre, and V. Vujičić, a university pro-fessor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Spon-sors for the awards were: Bureau for Textbooks and Teaching Aids Montenegro, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Erste Bank, VET Centre, University of Montenegro and Foundation ‘Young In-ventors’. Awards were handed by University rector P. Miranović and VET Centre director D. Rajković, while on behalf of the VET Centre, the Fair was organized by S.Brkanović.

Seminars, workshops, presentations

January/April 2012 Number 76

“Career Guidance on the Western Balkans“ Forum

� “Career Guidance on the Western Balkans“ Forum was organized in Miločer on 12 and 13 December and at-tended by representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro. During the two-day event, representatives of each country presented results achieved within the project and in the field of career guidance. As a part of the Forum, there was a joint visit to stalls and exchange of experience, as well as presen-tation of each country comparative results of evalua-tion, by independent experts V.Ćosić and T. Junuzagic. Participants from Montenegro were representatives of MoES, VET Centre, “Saljko Aljković” elementa-ry school from Pljevlja and “Dašo Pavičić” elementa-ry school from Herceg Novi (B.Kankaraš, J.Knežević, M.Rondović and T.Krstajić).

Teacher Training on “Montenegro’s Euro-Atlantic Integration“

� Based on IX Action plan of the Montenegrin Govern-ment Coordination Team, related to the implementation of the Communication Strategy on Euro-Atlantic Inte-gration, for the period 1January – 1 July 2012, there has been a training envisaged for teachers from all Monte-negrin secondary schools for the field of “Montenegro’s Euro-Atlantic Integration” whose organization and im-plementation was assigned to the Human Resource Ad-ministration and MoES. The training is designed in three thematic parts: “Montenegro on its way towards NATO“, “International Security and Montenegro“ and “Monte-negrin National Security System“. The first part was con-ducted in March 2012 in four municipalities: Podgorica, Danilovgrad, Bar and Kotor, and it covered secondary schools from the central and Southern region of Monte-negro. Coordinator for this training for VET schools was N.Šekarić, from the VET Centre.

Presentation on “European Values for the Youth“

�MoES organized on 11 January 2012, presentation of the project “European Values for the Youth“ imple-mented by the Centre for Monitoring, in cooperation with Juventas and Bonum from Pljevlja, and financed by EU Delegation in Montenegro. The Project envis-aged intensive course for secondary schools on Eu-ropean Union and European integration, composed of three modules. The first two modules have been completed and they cover: knowledge acquisition on EU development, history of EU, human rights in EU, youth policy, significance and role of the Government and political parties for accession to the EU. The proj-ect covers 32 secondary schools in which a survey was conducted about the knowledge of the EU integra-tion. There were debates in secondary VET schools on different topics and there will be a national competi-tion, in which students from all secondary schools will compete. The competition will take place in May 2012. VET Centre representative at this presentation was N. Šekarić.

Promotion of Life-Long Learning and Career Development

� As one of the activities on the implementation of Na-tional Strategy for Life-Long Career Guidance, in Podgorica, on 30 January, there was a promotion of Life-Long Learning and Career Development. The pro-motion was attended by representatives of pedagogical and psychological department from 23 VET schools from Montenegro. At this event, J.Knežević from the VET Centre presented activities (conducted trainings of teachers of elementary and secondary schools, ca-reer guidance newsletters, etc) completed in the field of career guidance. National Strategy for Life-Long Ca-reer Guidance, Career Guidance Handbooks for ele-mentary schools, brochures, flyers, etc. were presented during the promotion.

Meeting of Representatives of the VET Centre and Bureau for Educational Services (BES) with coordinators for Professional Development at Schools from VET Schools

�The system of professional development at school was briefly presented on 30 January at the meeting of VET

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Centre and BES representatives with coordinators for professional development at schools from VET schools. Following the implementation of two seminars related to this topic, organized in June 2011, the system was introduced in schools since September 2011.

�The system was preceded by a pilot project implement-ed within the period January – June 2011 in Secondary Maritime School in Kotor. The experience gained dur-ing the pilot project was of a great value for the align-ment of this system to the specificities of VET schools.

� Besides the presentation on this system and activi-ties conducted by the VET Centre in relation to VET schools teacher trainings, there was a discussion on developing plans at the level of school, personal plans of professional teachers’ development, activities com-pleted at certain schools, as well as on obstacles met by coordinators and teams during the implementation of the system. The role of a coordinator for professional development in VET schools on the national level has been assigned to J.Radunović.

Training of Elementary School Teachers on “Career Guidance”

�Within GIZ Project “Design of Youth Transition into Labour World on South-West Balkans” on 8-10 March in VET School “Ivan Uskoković“ in Podgorica, there was the first training module for the implementation of the Career guidance programme. There were 17 teachers from five elementary schools from Podgori-ca: “Pavle Rovinski”, “Vuk Karadžić”, “Štampar Makari-je”, “Dragiša Ivanović” and “Savo Pejanović”. The goal of the training was the acquisition of knowledge and skills needed for providing support to young people when identifying personal capabilities, interests and orientation as a basis for the choice of future occupa-tion. VET Centre representative, J.Knežević, took part in the implementation of the training.

Workshop “Training of Teachers-Evaluators for Assessing Qualita-tive Indicators within the Internal Quality Assurance Process”

� For the sake of providing sustainability and quality of internal evaluation, boards for internal quality as-surance of VET and mixed schools, in line with their action plans, developed plan for training of teachers-evaluators. VET Centre has been preparing and imple-menting workshops at which evaluators are prepared for conducting activities on assessing specific qualita-tive indicators and proposing measures for improve-ment of quality. Training was carried out by Ž.Raičević from Evaluation Department in the VET Centre. In Secondary Agricultural School, there was a workshop at which, besides members of the boards for quality, 11 teachers participated. In the Secondary Mixed School “Bratstvo-jedinstvo“ Ulcinj, there were 29 teachers who participated at the workshop on the presentation of in-ternal evaluation model and training for assessment of internal quality indicators. In the VET school “Vu-kadin Vukadinović“ in Berane, there were 19 teachers who attended training for assessment of quality indica-tors and teaching within the process of internal qual-ity assurance.

Presentation of the Final Programme and Protocol of the Founding Assembly of Montenegrin Crafts Chamber

� Final Programme and Protocol of the Founding As-sembly of Montenegrin Crafts Chamber were present-ed on 2 April in Podgorica. The guests were welcomed by representatives of NGO Craft-Entrepreneurial Chamber of Montenegro and Ministry of Economy. The presentation was attended by the VET Centre rep-resentative, J.Nišavić.

Conferences

January/April 2012 Number 78

Final Conference of IPA Project 2008 “Labour Market Reform and Labour Force Development“ in Montenegro

� Final Conference of IPA Project 2008 “Labour Market Reform and Labour Force Development“ in Montenegro was held in Podgorica on 30 January 2012. Project results achieved at each sub-component, whose main beneficia-ries are Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, MoES and Employment Agency of Montenegro, were present-ed at the conference. In addition to this, the following ac-tivities were presented: development of new database for employment, promotion of life-long learning and career guidance, information on opening centres for informing and professional counselling and results of the research on economy sector needs. Special focus was placed on the presentation of documents significant for the process of vocational education and human resource develop-ment: National Strategy of Life-Long Career Guidance (2011-2015), Local employment strategies and devel-opment of human resources in four pilot municipalities in Montenegro and National Employment Strategy and Human Resource Development (2012-2015), at which development VET Centre representatives took part: J.Knežević, G.Bošković and N.Šekarić. The conference was also attended by VET Centre director, D.Rajković.

Press Conference on Website for Teacher Training www.obukanastavnika.edu.me

� During the five-year implementation of the project “VET Reform Towards Improvement of Employment” and its additional component on “Innovated Teaching Methods in Secondary Vocational Education“ carried out by MoES, VET Centre and GIZ, there were more than 40 seminars in the following occupational fields: Tourism, Trade and Hospitality, Architecture, Geodesy

and Construction, Mechanical Engineering and Met-al Processing, for almost 250 teachers coming from 15 VET schools from the whole country. Partners in this Project wanted to collect all materials used during the trainings and put them at one place. The result of their wish is the website www.obukanastavnika.edu.me, and the goal is that all VET teachers have access to these materials, regardless of the fact whether they attended trainings or not. The website is designed in order to have easy access to materials, and special links direct to the contents of other websites, which might be interesting to teachers and students, for the sake of improvement of teaching. On this occasion, on 20 March, there was a press conference in the MoES conference room. The speakers at the conference were D.Rajković, VET Cen-tre director, A.Luettig, Project leader, and Š.Uštabećir, Project assistant, who presented the website in detail.

Regional Conference on Social Inclusion in VET

� ETF organized in Tirana, on 15-16 March 2012, presen-tation of examples of good practice in the field of so-cial inclusion in VET, for representatives of the network of nine countries (Western Balkans, Turkey and Isra-el). The conference is a part of ETF initiative serving to help participating countries to overcome consequenc-es of poverty and social exclusion by creating inclusive society sensitive to the needs of all social groups. The conclusion of the conference is that VET, as a compo-nent which directly strengthens social economy, repre-sents the best option for marginalized social groups by offering concrete skills and knowledge which ensure in-dependent life and entrance on the labour market. The participants had an opportunity to hear experience of developed countries in terms of social inclusion and co-hesion (Vorvik University, Barselona University, Mon-dragon University), as well as to visit educational insti-tutions in Tirana, Drač and Elbasan organized by hosts. VET Centre representatives at this Conference were di-rector - D.Rajković and advisor - V.Mitrović-Radošević.

Current activities

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Development of Key Competences in Education

� Two-year project “Development of Key Competences in Education” implemented by ETF and VET Centre successfully terminated on 6 December 2011. Within the last phase of the Project, initiated in May, commu-nities of practice were created. Teachers who gained title of trainers for key competence “Learn to Learn” in the project second phase, reflected the acquired knowledge in their schools, by creating community of practice. On this occasion, chances and barriers during the implementation of horizontal learning were iden-tified, electronic platform was presented, which is at disposal of Project participants, and future steps were considered for the sake of improving key competenc-es in education on the national level. This event was opened by S.Raičević, Secretary General in MoES, and D.Rajković, VET Centre director.

Career Guidance National Coordination Body

� Career Guidance National Coordination Body was cre-ated on 30 December, composed of representatives of MoES, VET Centre, Employment Agency, BES, Minis-try of Labour and Social Welfare, Chamber of Econo-my, Federation of Employers and University of Monte-negro. One of the main tasks of this body is providing support for the implementation of the National Strat-egy for Life-Long Career Guidance (2011-2015) and development of strategies and plans in which career guidance plays an important role. So far, draft Action Plan for the Implementation of National Strategy for Life-Long Career Guidance (2012-2013) has been de-veloped, while accreditation of the programme Career Guidane in secondary schools is on-going. VET Cen-tre representative, J.Knežević, is a member of this body.

Qualifications Development � A ‘kick-off ’ workshop on Qualifications Development was organized by the Project MNE/011 on February 15 in close cooperation with the VET Centre and MoES, in order to inform on the current status of the MQF implementation and level the understanding of all main actors with regard to the priorities in implemen-tation. A Technical Working Group became operation-al under the leadership of the Department for Occupa-tional Standards and Curricula within the VET Centre and works on the elaboration of a methodology for de-velopment of VET curricula in accordance to current MQF requirements. An additional number of Techni-

cal Working Groups is to be established in the coming weeks tasked with the development of the a number of Occupational and Qualifications standards for the sec-tors of agriculture and tourism, as well as of the cor-responding competency-based curricula and related materials, including teachers’ guides; two of the new programmes to be developed within this activity will be piloted in selected VET schools in the forthcoming academic year.

Torino Process � VET Centre representatives, director and heads of de-partments, met on 23 February 2012 with ETF team, M.Nikolovska and S.Nilsen, with the aim to inform themselves and arrange activities on Torino Process which will be carried out this year for the first time in Montenegro. Torino Process is of paramount impor-tance for Montenegro on its way towards aceeding EU, while VET Centre and its contribution will be essen-tial for drafting the final report. M.Nikolovska, act-ing country manager, said that the main goal of Torino Process is strengthening capacities of the VET Centre to perform evaluation and monitoring of development strategies in Montenegro.

Current activities

January/April 2012 Number 710

VET Centre Steering Committee �The first session of the VET Centre Steering Com-mittee was held on 24 February 2012, chaired by R.Damjanović. The following documents were taken into consideration at this session: Annual Working Re-port of the VET Centre for 2011, Report on VET Cen-tre Inventory Check for 2011 and Information on allo-cated funds for 2012. VET Centre director, D.Rajković informed members of the Steering Committee on ac-tivities related to the implementation of planned activ-ities in 2012.

2nd meeting of SEE experts

� On the occasion of preparation of the National Mid-term Progress Reports, within preparations for Glob-al Report on Adult Education and Learning (GRALE), there was the second meeting of representatives of working groups, held on 28 February in Ljubljana. Participants of this regional meeting were representa-tives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Slovenia.

�The main topics of the meeting were the following: Current information on developments after the meet-ing in Budva; Review of the work on the preparation of CONFINTEA VI mid-term report in certain coun-tries; Review of chapters of mid-term reports and dis-cussion on certain issues, especially those unclear or ambiguous; Information and discussion on the role of CONFINTEA VI national reports in international dis-cussions on discourses in educational policy; Planning of future steps on lobbying and representing within the process CONFINTEA VI – in action in countries of the region. Directions of further cooperation and joint activities in the field of adult education were agreed. The regional meeting was attended by Ć.Fetahović from MoES, B.Dabanović from HR Administration and Lj.Garić from the VET Centre.

“Stručno je ključno“ Campaign

�MoES and VET Centre, supported by the Project MNE/011, financed by the Government of the Great Duchy of Luxembourg, continue activities on the pro-motion of vocational education on the North-East Montenegro, especially in the fields of tourism and ag-riculture. The slogan of the campaign is “Stručno je ključno“ (vocational is the key).

� Activities of the campaign will be implemented by PR Agency Incognito which will be supported by second-ary VET schools on the North Montenegro. The cam-paign will be focused on the primary target public, el-ementary school graduates in focus municipalities, teachers of elementary schools in focus municipalities as well as parents whose children are about to finish el-ementary school.

�The Agency prepared a strategy of visits to schools which entails visits to 18 schools in all target munici-palities and direct communication with 1379 students of eighth and 1459 students of ninth grades, which is 75% of the total number of students in all elementary schools. In this respect, the Agency, together with VET Centre and MoES will write a special info letter which will be accompanied by flyers as well as by promo gifts.

� Besides promotions, students will have the opportunity to be informed about activities of the campaign on the website, Facebook profile and Facebook fan page, and they will be informed via advertising (radio advertise-ments, TV advertisement, Facebook advertisement, Facebook promo game). In addition to this, within ac-tivities for this year campaign, there will be the second part of the seminar ”Stručno je ključno“ which will be composed of numerous practical exercises.

Current activities

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Kosovo Delegation visited VET Centre

� Kosovo delegation composed of five members visit-ed VET Centre and other educational institutions for the sake of gaining knowledge on Montenegrin educa-tion system. VET Centre director, D.Rajković, present-ed Montenegrin vocational and adult education sys-tem, as well as the structure and role of the VET Centre. S.Obradović presented activities of the TF Service Cen-tre and announced the forthcoming International TF Fairs in Budva. Kosovo delegation expressed huge inter-est for strengthening cooperation and exchange of expe-rience with the VET Centre.

Introducing the new members of the Project MNE/011 Team

� Project MNE/011 has strengthened its project team and in 2012 has welcomed some new team members on board. Jim Reid takes over as the Chief Technical Adviser of Project MNE/011 replacing Tony Donovan who has returned to Ireland. Jim brings extensive ex-perience to the project having worked in public sector education and training for over 25 years. He has expe-rience within the UK Civil Service as a senior manag-er developing and delivering active labour market mea-sures and developing and leading related management of change programmes. Such projects include develop-ing the Business Links network in England, establish-ing the UK University for Industry, and establishing the Learning and Skills Council in England. Since leav-ing the Civil Service, Jim has built further on this ex-perience through his work as a CEO developing a new NGO, Sheffield Futures, and his international work in Egypt and in Namibia.

� Oana Vodita joined the project team in January 2012 and is leading on the activities related to occupation-al standards, qualifications and curricula development. She has worked with various international donor organ-isations (European Commission, bilateral German Gov-

ernment Development Aid-GiZ, Swiss Development Cooperation, Asian Development Bank, Millennium Challenge Account, etc.). Her clients and network part-ners include the European Training Foundation (ETF), the European Forum for VET (EfVET), as well as Min-istries of Education, VET Agencies and schools in Ro-mania, Russian Federation, Poland, Bosnia and Herze-govina, Turkey, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

� Arber Luković has recently joined the project team as an Intern to learn about project implementation and inter-national cooperation. Arber has a bachelor’s degree in business English and will soon have completed his final studies specializing in English Language and Literature.

� Project MNE/011 welcomes Patricia Reid back to the project after a one year absence. Patricia will be respon-sible for a number of project activities including teacher training, developing public private partnerships and ca-pacity building of school management.

Steering Committee Meeting of the Andragogical Regional Academy (ARA)

� Steering Committee meeting of the Andragogical Re-gional Academy was held on 9 March 2012 in Vienna. Apart from dvv international representatives, the meet-ing was attended by representatives of Serbia, BiH, Koso-vo, Macedonia and Montenegro. At the meeting, presen-tations were held on: results of evaluation of previous two ARA held in 2011 in Skoplje and Budva; proposal of ARA flyers; review of approach to competences development in certain European countries; current dvv internation-al Project for development of competences of educators of adults and further possibilities of ARA development. Topics for the third and fourth academy were defined: “Quality Assurance in Adult Education “ which will be held in May in Priština, and “Education for Third Age” which will be held in October in Sarajevo. The meeting was attended by Lj.Garić from the VET Centre.

External Quality Assessment of VET Schools Educational Activity

� VET Centre Evaluation Department organized and com-pleted the second regular external quality assessment of educational activity in Kotor High School (20-23 De-cember 2011) VET School Cetinje (12-16 March 2012).

� In Kotor High School, the team composed of nine VET Centre advisors assessed the quality of key areas as well as quality of vocational and theoretical subjects and practical training by observing 18 lessons from the field of: economics, law, medical, chemistry group of sub-

Current activities

January/April 2012 Number 712

jects, as well as economic geography, ethics, psychology and communicology.

� In the VET School Cetinje, quality was assessed in the following areas: HR, material, technical and safety conditions of the institution as well as the cooperation of school with parents, partners and local communi-ty. Team composed of 13 advisors observed 19 lessons from the field of: economics, tourism, law, medical, mechanical, transport, electro, chemistry group of sub-jects, art, economic and tourism geography, psycholo-gy, business informatics and practical training with oc-cupational technology for serving and culinary.

Visit to Alicante University within Tempus Project

� In the period 20-23 March, Montenegrin delegation visited Alicante University within Tempus Project – Introduction of Life-Long Learning at University of Montenegro - DeLLco. Study tour was aimed at in-forming delegation about the design and development of programmes/modules in the field of tourism and visit to new faculties. Alicante University was visited by representatives of MoES, University of Montenegro, Employment Agency, Chamber of Economy, and VET Centre, represented by Lj.Garić.

Improvement of Educational Offer Quality in the VET school “Sergije Stanić” Podgorica

� Secondary VET school ”Sergije Stanić“ Podgorica formed working groups for improvement of educa-tional offer as a part of activities on the implementa-tion of School Development Plan. The goals of work-ing groups are to develop standards and programmes for adult and youth education, the employed and the unemployed, in order to implement appropriate train-ing programmes. VET Centre provided professional and consultative support to the school and its working group. The support has been provided by Ž.Raičević from Evaluation Department.

National Progress Report CONFINTEA VI – in Action

�Working group formed by the MoES developed Na-tional Progress Report CONFINTEA VI - in Action. The report was sent to UNESCO on 31 March. The working group was composed of: Ć.Fetahović from the MoES, M.Perazić from the Chamber of Economy, V.Radulović from Employment Agency of Montene-gro, B.Dabanović from Human Resource Administra-tion, Lj.Garić and M.Vuković from the VET Centre.

Capacity Development of the VET Centre staff

� Project MNE/011 supported the organization of foreign language training courses for VET Centre employees. The courses were held in the period November 2011 – April 2012 in English, French and German language. All trainees successfully completed final exams and expressed great interest for the follow-up.

Forthcoming activities: � Organization of andragogical seminars on “Moderation of Education Process and Group Dynamics” for teaching staff from North-East and North-West Region of Montenegro;

� Beginning of the Project “Development of E-learning Modules“ financed by dvv international;

�Manifestation: “Days of Adult Education and Learning “;

� VET Centre and Project MNE/011 will organize, at the end of April, the first out of five modules of train-ing of teachers in charge for vocational and theoretical subjects and practical training in the occupational field of Agriculture, food production and processing and animal health.

Getting to know...

13Number 7 January/April 2012

Electrical Engineering VET School ‘Vaso Aligrudić’ Podgorica

� Public Institution Electrical Engineering VET School ‘Vaso Aligrudić’ is an institution which continuously enhances the qual-ity of educational practice, develops and improves students’ key skills. Students are being educated for the application of acquired knowledge in practice; they are provided with a basis for lifelong learning and thus adequately prepared for the labour market. The school has implemented up-to-date technical solutions which are primarily student oriented. Classes are organized in such a way that most of the obligations can be completed within the class, thanks to the innovative methods of work.

� The school was established in 1946 in Podgorica and had 32 stu-dents at the time. The work of the school was conducted under modest conditions in the same building with Construction and Chemistry VET schools, the same situation as today. The school has a working space in the building (staff room, management of-fice, 11 classrooms, 3 PC rooms), 8 classrooms in pavilion, 1 class-room in the basement and 5 classrooms in additional facility for practical training situated in Mechanical Engineering VET School.

� This school year, 1180 students were enrolled in 37 classes for the educational profiles in occupational field of electrical engineer-ing. Teaching has been delivered by 84 teachers. In line with the development of technology and as schooling is being directed to-wards e-learning, the school has the following modern equip-ment: smart boards SB680 and multifunctional boards, projectors and projection screens, LCD televisions (more than 32 inches), up-to-date equipment in the laboratory for electronics, new gen-erations PCs, and fast Internet connection and surveillance cam-eras.

� With the aim to improve efficiency of the teaching process, the whole teaching material, including the one crated on smart boards during the class, is published on the school website by teachers (www.elektropg.me), while each student has their own account based on which they access and upload needed contents. This school year, there has been new model for majority of sub-jects introduced related to on-line testing.

� For the sake of developing working capability, creative and re-sponsible attitude towards the work of students, as well as link-ing school with entrepreneurs, there has been established a spe-cial unit within the school – Training Centre. In 2011, the School established Educational Centre in charge for training teachers in the field of applying contemporary technical solutions and meth-ods in teaching, with the aim to transfer the knowledge to other schools as well.

Secondary VET School in Nikšić � Public Institution Secondary VET School in Nikšić has a li-cense for educating students for VET curricula. It was built in 1968 and it worked as a Technical School until 1978. In the meantime, it changed several names, and by the decision of the Ministry of Education and Science, the school got today’s name in 2005. Basic activity of the school is educating students and candidates to gain educational degree in the following oc-cupational fields: electrical engineering for educational profile V, IV and III level and personal services for curricula in III level. Ministry of Education and Sports has given adult educa-tion license to the school, for the following occupations: elec-trical mechanic technician, electrical equipment fitter, electri-cian for vehicles, telecommunication networks fitter and male and female hairdresser, as well as for the ICT literacy and Eng-lish. In this school year, 591 student enrolled the school di-vided into 23 classes (19 classes of IV level, and 4 classes of III level). Teaching is conducted by 38 teachers. The school has 16 classrooms and laboratories: up-to-date classroom for ICT, physics classroom, classroom for foreign languages, energy, electronics, and telecommunications. Practical work is per-formed in modern workshops (three for electrical engineer-ing occupational field and one for hairdresser).

� The school takes part in many projects implemented by MoES, Employment Agency and VET Centre, such as: “VET Reform towards Improvement of Employment”; Teacher Training in occupational field of electrical engineering, Quality of teach-ing and learning, and Contemporary teaching aids. With the support of GIZ, the most up-to-date equipment has been placed in a workshop for practical classes in curriculum of Electrical equipment installer. Having regard to the needs of the labor market and interests of the young, the school, to-gether with Employment Agency and Labour Bureau in Nikšić, implements the projects for change of qualification and addition of qualifications of persons listed as unemployed to serve the needs of companies functioning in Nikšić. Thanks to a great cooperation with MoES and School Centre in Velen-je, the school has got an up-to-date classroom for teaching electrical engineering and energy classes. As a member of the project ‘Save the planet – save the ozone layer ’, the school has received cutting edge equipment for servicing the devices that use Freon. This school’s students have a lot of success at com-petitions, especially in the field of mechatronics.

Interviews

January/April 2012 Number 714

Ms. Jeanette Burmester, Ex-leader of the GIZ-VET Project� Howwouldyoudescribeexperienceyougaineddur-ingfive-yearperiodyouspentlivingandworkinginMontenegro?

� Before I started the GIZ-VET Project in Montenegro, I was leading a VET project in Bosnia-Herzegovina and thought, things would be pretty much the same……but off cause there are differences. Due to the fact, that Montenegro has a well-functioning VET Center, which oversees and coordinates the VET system, my job be-came easier and successes could be seen quickly. Per-sonally, my family and I loved to stay in Montenegro, and it is somehow the home country for my children.

�What was your cooperation like with VETCentrerepresentatives?

�The work relationship between GIZ-VET team and VET Centre staff was very professional from the be-ginning to the end of the project. During the period of more than 5 years we went through so many training sessions, work sessions, meetings, conferences, skills competitions, handing over ceremonies, study trips, fairs, etc.. I appreciated very much that VET Center Staff and Management was always reliable, they took care the project results meet their needs and their con-tribution was always to a high extend. I am sure, the es-tablished relationships to international organizations, Experts, German vocational institutions, etc. are sus-tainable, even without GIZ presence. The VET Center departments (like department for standards and cur-ricula, for M&E, textbook development) developed a good profile and their structure of work improved a lot.

� Doyouthinkthatteachersaresatisfiedwithtrain-ingsprovidedanddoyouthinkthattheywillapplythatknowledgeinpractice?

� From my point of view the teacher training was one of the core activities in the project. We concentrated very much on capacity development. The training was con-nected to the new curricula as well as to new teach-ing/learning equipment. I have visited many of these trainings, and I saw the evaluations. The teachers were more than happy, because some of the technical sec-tors were neglected in the past. After the first training phase, they could not wait for the next one. Teachers were very serious about the trainings; they acquired the capacity to learn in groups, by themselves and self-organized. They loved to do experiments and exercises

and they reported that their students learned also a lot by following the same action oriented teaching/learn-ing cycle.

� Are you satisfied with trainers who were trainedduringthelifeofyourproject?

� It is not so important if I am satisfied with the train-ers, the participants of the trainings have to judge, and the feedback was very positive. I have to admit, I had doubts, if local trainers would be able to continue with the same high quality of training, like the German trainers from the first training round. But the Monte-negrin trainers (most of them are teachers themselves) were so dedicated and developed a high standard of professionalism, that I could not recognize any dilem-ma. I hope VET Centre is continuing with the teacher training, using the trainers and the training modules!

�Would you change something in case you had achancetomanagetheprojectagainortocontinueit?

� No, not really. I tried to connect the project activities to the demands of the various partners, and beside the Ministry of Education, and VET Center, the project addressed VET schools, enterprises and many related organizations.

� Doyouhaveanythingtoaddfortheend?

�My new challenge is to manage the implementation of a new project in Ghana. Focus is on improving the ap-prenticeship system. You can imagine that this is a dif-ferent world, and that I am missing Montenegro a lot. I am very thankful for all the professional and personal experience I could collect with you in your beautiful country. And I would be happy to stay in touch.

Interviews

15Number 7 January/April 2012

Mr. Tony Donovan, Ex-Chief Technical Adviser of the Project MNE/011� Howwouldyoudescribeexperienceyougaineddur-ingthree-yearperiodyouspentlivingandworkinginMontenegro?

� I had a very positive experience during the time that I spent living and working in Montenegro. From the beginning, it was very clear that the counterpart (Min-istry of Education and Sports and VET Centre) knew what they wanted to achieve for the VET sector and, therefore, what they wanted in terms of support from Project MNE/011. The level of engagement in the proj-ect from all stakeholders was very high from the begin-ning, leading to a sense from the outset that the coun-terpart was very much in the ‘driving seat’ in terms of project planning and implementation.

�What was your cooperation like with VETCentrerepresentatives?

�The representatives from the VET Centre extended a very warm welcome to me and the rest of the project team when we first started, and ensured that we were fully integrated in the activities of the Centre. The commitment and enthusiam of VET Centre staff was evidenced by their motivation and willingness to be in-volved in and lead project activities. It was very re-freshing to work in a project environment where coun-terpart representatives have strong opinions and are not afraid to express them.

� DoyouthinkthatafterrefurbishmentofschoolsontheNEMontenegro,theimageofVETwillincrease?

�There are many factors that contribute to the image of VET as a viable and attractive option for young people. Together with the VET Centre and the Ministry of Ed-ucation and Sports, the project was pleased to be able to address some of those factors, not least through the promotional campaign “Stručno je Ključno”. There is no doubt that the refurbishment of VET schools will improve the image of VET as it will demonstrate clear-ly to young people and their key influencers, such as their parents, that the Government of Montenegro has a very strong commitment to the development of VET as a key tool for the socio-economic advancement of Montenegro.

�Would you change something in case you had achancetomanagetheprojectagainortocontinueit?

�The mid-term evaluation of the project which was con-

ducted at the end of 2011 rated the work that was com-pleted to date very highly - this was an independent evaluation that the project was doing what it planned to do and achieving what it set out to achieve. As I mentioned earlier, the counterpart is in the driving seat in relation to the project and, therefore, I would not change anything unless the counterpart felt that such a change would increase the contribution of the project to the development of the VET sector.

�Would you come again toMontenegro, andwouldyou recommend it as attractivedestination for lifeandwork?

� Prior to coming to Montenegro to work with Proj-ect MNE/011 I had never visited the Balkans. I think there can be no better introduction to this region of the world than Montenegro. Scenically it is spectacu-lar and, though it has been said many times, the possi-bility of being at the seaside in the morning and in the mountains in the afternoon is something very special. The Montenegrin people are warm and welcoming and it is a very safe environment in which to live. I would definitely recommend it as an attractive destination to live and work, and I hope I myself will have the oppor-tunity to do that again in the future.

� Doyouhaveanythingtoaddfortheend?

� I would like to send my very best regards to everyone in the VET Centre and wish you continued success in your ambition to grow and improve the VET sector in Montenegro. I have no doubt that, with your direction and ongoing commitment, Project MNE/011 will con-tinue to be a valued support to the Centre in realising this ambition. I look forward to seeing you again in Montenegro and so I say “Slan go foill” (Irish language meaning goodbye for the moment).

January/April 2012 Number 7

International organizations

16 January/April 2012 Number 7

ETF(European Training Foundation)

GIZ

KulturKontakt

DVVInternational

EuropeanUnionDelegation

LuxDevelopment

BritishCouncil

BiBB(Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training)

Chief Editor: DuškoRajković Editor: SrđanObradović Editorial board: IvanaMihailović,SandraBrkanović,GordanaBošković,JadrankaRadunović,JelenaKnežević,MilenaDragovićTranslation: IvanaMihailović

Technical Editor: DejanStanić* * *

Published by: CentreforVocationalEducationAddress: VakaĐurovićabb,81000PodgoricaPhone: +38220664713Fax: +38220664714

e-mail: cso@gov.meWebsite: www.cso.gov.me,www.cso.gov.me* * *

Podgorica,April2012