SEED project for educational and employment development in the region

Since January 2014, a project that deals with vocational education in the southwestern region of Kosovo, has begun to implement. SEED program (Mbeshtetja e zhvillimit te arsimimit dhe punësimit ne Shqipëri, Kosovë dhe Serbi) which is supported by ADA  is realized in three countries: Kosovo, Albania and Serbia, and aims to improve youth and females accessibility in the labor market as well as to contribute in gender equality supporting positive social-economical developments. This three-year program in Kosovo is realized by the organization “Syri i Vizionit” in cooperation with Solidar Suisse, and focuses on establishing cooperation between the vocational high schools in Peja, Gjakova and Prizren – Tourism and Hotel  branch with active businesses in these municipalities. It will also foster the creation of the possibility for students who attend these branches to finish the practices as are set forth in the curriculum, in the businesses of these municipalities.
To achieve this, “Syri i Vizionit” has foreseen to perform these activities within three years:
1. Creating a group of stakeholder and organizing workshops
In these three municipalities Peja, Gjakova and Prizren, where the project is foreseen to be developed, will be contacted with educational institutions as the directory of education, economical high school, economical development directory, tourist offices, businesses representatives, tourist operators, tourist agencies, hotels as well as other stakeholders to be part of the stakeholders’ group, which has the responsibility of establishing cooperation between businesses and education, sector analysis, creating the list of priorities in the sector, intervention strategy and active participation during the project.
2.   Support grants
 The call for application in grants will be done from the intervention strategy  created by the stakeholders’ group .  The planned amount to assist in facilitating of problems foreseen by the stakeholders, as well as to facilitate the creation of the system of performing practices by the students of hotel and tourism branches in the actual businesses in the municipalities where the project operates, is 78 000 euro. Applying for grants will be published in the media in order to enable the information of all interested parties to apply. The aims and criteria that the applicants will obey are going to be realized in cooperation with the coordination group based in the intervention strategy.
3.  Research on gender barriers in the tourism and hotel sector
By collecting the sector’s information and problems  to write the project, it was noticed that a very low percentage of women are enrolled in  e secondary vocational schools in the branch of tourism. Only 5% of the students in this branch are females, although the tourism profession should not be dominated by males.  The tourism sector has a potential to offer good workplaces, especially for females. The research should assess the reasons  for the low degree of female students in the tourism branch and also the low degree of employment females in the tourism sector. The results of the research will be integrated into a common analysis of the problem in the sector.  The research will be performed by the expert based in ToR drafted by the international experts of Solidar Suisse and Volkshilfe.

4.   Study visits and Trainings
The program includes a study visit in Austria, where the group of beneficiaries will have the opportunity to become acquainted with the form of cooperation between the secondary vocational schools-branch of tourism with the businesses. It will also organize training in advocacy, gender equality etc..