MEDIA RELEASES
The implementation of 9 projects in hotel tourism education begins

Peja, March 24, 2016-
The implementation of projects aimed at improving access to the labor market for young people and women in vocational schools in the areas of hospitality and tourism, mitigating unemployment and identifying gender barriers in this sector has begun. Contracts for nine projects that aim to achieve these objectives were signed on Thursday in Peja, while a few organizations from Peja, Gjakova, Prizren and Prishtina have benefited from Eye of Vision grants for the development of these projects in their municipalities.
The contract signing ceremony also marked the beginning of these projects that will be implemented in the next seven months in cooperation with three economic high schools in Pejë, Gjakovë and Prizren, within the framework of “SEED Kosovo – Support for the Development of Education and Employment in Kosovo”, a project supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) implemented by the NGO Syri i Vizioni and Volkshilfe Solidarität.
“This program benefits students, especially women, in secondary economic schools – the direction of tourism in the Dukagjin region, but the project includes all the actors of tourism in this region. The community in the municipalities of Pejë, Prizren and Gjakovë also benefits with the improvement of the situation in the field of employment in tourism, enterprises and businesses,” says Dukagjin Nishiqi, project manager from the Eye of Vision organization from Peja.
The amount made available for these projects is 78 thousand euros. During this ceremony, the beneficiaries of the projects presented their projects to each other and to the interested public, including the expected activities and results.
The SEED Kosovo project started in January 2014 and it includes a wide range of activities that will be implemented in a three-year period. The aim of this call is to improve the quality of education in terms of business orientation and/or the reduction of obstacles for women’s careers in the sector and has been focused on three themes, the change of which has previously been identified as proactive for improve the situation in the sector: Improving the quality of education within existing curricula, Reviewing curricula for existing profiles or elaborating new curricula for additional profiles and Overcoming gender barriers in the hotel and tourism industry.
Qenan Bardhaj, deputy director of the NGO Syri i Vizionit, says that most of the projects are focused on overcoming gender barriers in tourism, namely the commitment to include women in hospitality and tourism education where there is a very small number. While importance in this call has been given to the complete review of the program plans of the hotel and tourism departments, as well as the drafting for the first time of the program plan for the tourist guide-ciceron profile.
The financed projects are 9 projects amounting to 78,000 euros. Syri i Vizioni projects have been helping professional education in Kosovo for six years, with a focus on hospitality and tourism.

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