On April 27, the fourth national grant awarding event by the Regional Challenge Fund was held at the premises of the Economic Chamber of Macedonia, aimed at supporting the development of vocational education and connecting with the business sector.
This time, a grant in the amount of 500 thousand euros was awarded for the implementation of the project “Smart Training in the Processing of Milk and Meat Products” at the Faculty of Agriculture at the “Goce Delcev” University in Stip and the “Kocho Racin” Municipal High School in Sveti Nikole, together with six companies.
Through the instruments of the Regional Challenge Fund program, financed by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Government of Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, it is planned to establish a training center for vocational education in the educational profiles of Milk and Dairy Product Processor and Meat and Meat Product Processor.
The main goal of the formed consortium between the Faculty of Agriculture, University “Goce Delcev” in Stip, Secondary Municipal School “Kocho Racin” in Sveti Nikole and the business sector is to offer two cooperative trainings according to the highest educational standards based on the latest scientific achievements in order to acquire students with competencies and skills recognized on the labor market.
The Faculty of Agriculture at the University “Goce Delcev” in Stip and Secondary Municipal School “Kocho Racin” in Sveti Nikole have a long tradition of successful cooperation with the economy from the agricultural production and food industry sector, and this project will represent a step forward towards strengthening the cooperation. The program foresees that part of the training will be implemented in the newly established training center in the village of Amzabegovo as part of the Faculty of Agriculture, part in the scientific research center UNILAB and in the companies that are part of the consortium. This will create an innovative and inspiring learning environment and acquisition of competencies and skills in the dairy and meat processing sector.
The active involvement of coordinators and trainers from the industry will enable strengthening the connection between education and the labor market, which will guarantee that the participants in the training have developed practical competencies and skills, work discipline and work experience in the real sector, necessary for successful employment. At the same time, the project activities covered by the cooperative training programs promote dual education and the benefits in acquiring practical skills and career development for students.
