30 years, 30+ stories: Kosovo*, shaping youth futures
Since 1999, the European Training Foundation has been a consistent and reliable partner in Kosovo’s efforts to build a new future. Kosovo has a clear European orientation as part of the wider Western Balkans region.
With an official population of around 1.77 million, Kosovo is one of Europe's newest political entities, seeking sovereign statehood since its declaration of independence in 2008. According to the last census in 2011 (results of the new census in 2024 are not yet official), almost half of the population is under the age of 25. This makes Kosovo the youngest of the EU candidate and potential candidate countries.
Despite positive economic growth in recent years, more than half a million people (around 30% of the population) have left the country in the last 10 years. This makes Kosovo the country with the second highest emigration rate in the Western Balkans. In terms of qualifications, 52% of Kosovar migrants of working age in OECD countries have a low level of education, while 13% are highly skilled.
Migration issues are reflected in the high impact of remittances on Kosovo's economy, as well as the large share of the informal economy.
Complementing the work of the European Commission and the European External Action Service, the ETF supports Kosovo in developing education and training to enhance employability, improve access to the labour market and promote social cohesion.
Using expertise and partnership to improve education
Despite long-standing structural problems in education and employment, Kosovo is making significant progress with vocational education and training (VET) and labour market reforms.
"There have been recent and encouraging advances in dual VET, work-based learning and career guidance," says Matthias Themel, ETF Human Capital Development Expert and Country Liaison for Kosovo. "Looking back in time, the establishment of a national qualifications framework was a major milestone some years ago and is starting to bear fruit today. Improving the governance of the VET system is an ongoing challenge, as in many countries. The ETF’s 2023 Rapid Education Diagnostic (RED) for Kosovo showed that one major challenge is related to the systematic collection and use of data about the education system and its effectiveness.”
RED is an important and useful methodology that identifies the main areas of intervention and provides practical recommendations for improving the quality of education.
"VET is particularly important in Kosovo because of the young population and the social and economic challenges facing the country,” says Lucia Parducci, Programme Officer at the European Union Office to Kosovo (EUOK).
The EUOK supports education in Kosovo at all levels: from early childhood education and care, through primary and secondary education, to VET and higher education.
"The ETF has been instrumental in supporting both the EUOK and the Kosovo government in designing new VET policies and reforms, in particular work-based learning and the Youth Guarantee Scheme, and in ensuring that the legal and operational framework is as close as possible to EU standards," Anne-Sophie Houee, Team Leader for Inclusive Growth and Social development at the EUOK continues. The ETF also contributes with useful technical and comparative analyses and studies that help both the EU Office, EU projects and other donors supporting education, and VET in particular.”
For instance, RED "has become our guide for policy dialogue and IPA/Growth Facility support, and the EUOK counts on the ETF's support for our future support to education," Houee concludes.
Challenges ahead
Despite the many successes, much more can be done, "especially in terms of capacity development at all levels and ensuring the continuous quality improvement of the education offer", Themel adds.
Overall, the high level of engagement and collaboration of national authorities with the ETF in developing a strong skills base for social and economic growth is rooted in the past.
"Personally, what I liked most was the high level of inter-ministerial coordination, which made our work more effective and extremely rewarding: the ETF's activities in Kosovo benefited greatly from a fruitful cooperation with the Prime Minister's Office," recalls Simona Rinaldi, ETF Human Capital Development Expert and Country Liaison for Kosovo between 2013 and 2016. "In particular, the FRAME regional project ensured a dynamic participatory process throughout its implementation, strategically linked to the IPA II HRD programming, thanks to the key role played by the Prime Minister's Office and the EU's Office."
This has led to a high level of ETF involvement in current key policy initiatives in Kosovo, such as the new VET Law reform "on which we have received comments from public discussions, including from the ETF, as we plan to work very closely with ETF experts and other stakeholders in the near future," says Lah Nitaj, Head of the VET Department at the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI).
"We have launched dual training in 12 profiles and in very close cooperation with the social partners. The high level of involvement of the companies has ensured the success of the initiative and the employability of the candidates," explains Nitaj. "The challenges we expect to face relate to trained trainers in the companies and the size of the companies. Of course, issues of compensating the apprentices can be a challenge and that is why we are continuing the initiative step by step."
A youthful programme for a youthful population
Regarding the Youth Guarantee, MESTI's first focus was on informing VET providers about the programme and its benefits, coordinating with relevant institutions to raise awareness among social partners and institutions.
"As we are in the process of revising the VET Law, we have the opportunity to adjust the processes and harmonise our legislation with EU recommendations for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee," says Nitaj. "In the last two or three years we have managed to open several career guidance offices in VET institutions and these offices will also provide services to NEETs [young people not in education, employment or training]."
"Currently, a number of activities of the Youth Guarantee Action Plan are being implemented, with due focus on legislative and institutional reforms to facilitate the implementation process and improve the functioning of institutions," continues Leunora Ahmeti, Youth Guarantee Coordinator at the Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers. "In the Action Plan, the government has set indicators and targets for reducing the number of NEETs in the country: young people have been a key target group in the measures used by the government, so we expect positive trends in their economic prospects in the future."
According to the most recent data, there has been a steady increase of almost 15% in the number of people in employment between 2020 and 2022.
"Kosovo's economy has performed very well since the pandemic, with significant growth, among the highest in the Western Balkans," continues Ahmeti. "Employment has been one of the government's priorities, and as such has been addressed through a variety of measures, particularly as part of the pandemic/post-pandemic Recovery Package, where a significant amount of money has been spent to incentivise employment, especially for vulnerable groups."
With many challenges from the past and its social structure, and many achievements in recent years, Kosovo's path towards Europe continues and motivates its young population. As always, skills are an important part of the equation.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
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