The path towards vocational education and training is attracting a growing number of young people each year, offering them employment and career opportunities in a market constantly demanding skilled workers.
Prime Minister Edi Rama visited the vocational education school “Shën Jozefi Punëtor” in Rreshen, established through support from the Catholic Church in Albania and the passion of priest Dom Gjergj Meta, offers a well-organized vocational training on various trades for young boys and girls in areas of tourism and hospitality, electrotechnics, informatics, vehicle and transport services, installation of hydro-sanitary systems.
More than 400 students attend the vocational education centre “Shën Jozefi Punëtori” in the northwestern town of Rreshen and the government will support a project to further expand the school’s capacities and provide optimum habitual and education conditions. “It was first launched as a vocational education centre and it worked like that for three years until 2012. More than 900 vocational education trainees have been certified since then, after attending four-month, one-year and two-year courses,” the Deputy Finance Minister Olta Manjani said.
The local and national business needs for skilled and qualified workers has allowed more than 60% of the vocational education graduates to find a job immediately upon graduation. “This trend will further consolidate as businesses are increasingly realizing that they should invest themselves in vocational education otherwise nobody will show up and knock on their doors,” the Premier Rama said.
“This is one of the efforts we are doing to urge business community to invest and provide funding for the school and show greater interest in it. It would be really great for teachers and students alike if we were to find cooperation opportunities. We have best cooperated with a vocational education school in Italy’s Trento region. They have amassed great experience in this area and we have cooperated frequently with the school in Trento, because it is an autonomous region and provides us a lot of opportunities,” Dom Gjergj Meta said.
The school also works as a vocational training centre, offering courses for employed adults who need a certificate.