The Education for Employment in BiH project’s Teacher Training Competence Working Group (WG) held its final meeting in Mostar on January 27, 2023, bringing its project activities to a close and achieving the set goals.
At the meeting the members of the WG were presented with the Report on university teachers’ training, which enabled development of draft curricula for 108 study programs. Following a brief discussion, this WG unanimously adopted the Report, which will be forwarded to the Project Steering Committee for approval in its current form.
The training, titled “Implementation of occupational/qualification standards in teaching study programs,” was conducted from September to December 2022, and it was successfully completed by 65 participants from eight public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ultimate goal of the training was for current university teachers to gain knowledge and skills necessary to independently create study programs based on learning outcomes.
The working group members also approved the proposed draft certificate that will be given to the teachers as proof of successful completion of the training. Along with the certificate, participants will receive an addendum to the certificate containing more detailed information about the training.
“This method of awarding certificates serves as an educational model for higher education institutions, if they plan to conduct lifelong learning programs in the future and issue certificates to participants, which would also have the value of a public document. Such certificates, with an addendum, would be far more informative, attesting the content and structure of the mastered program, as well as the learning outcomes and knowledge acquired by a specific program participant,” explained Luciana Boban, project expert for initial teacher training, associate professor of Latin and quality coordinator at the University of Mostar.
The final draft of the Manual for the Implementation of Occupational/Qualification Standards in BiH Study Programs was also presented at the meeting in Mostar. This Manual will be submitted to the Project Steering Committee for approval, proofread in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, and English, and delivered to all public universities and interested educational authorities for use. The final draft of the Manual was supplemented with an appendix containing examples of training materials.
“The developed study plans and programs that we chose to include in the appendix are mutually comparable and demonstrate how the same study programs, at different institutions and in different structures, manage to implement certain occupational standards and teacher qualifications. This means that in order to successfully implement the same standard, study programs do not have to be identical “, said Luciana Boban.
To improve the reform of teachers’ education in BiH, the Education for Employment in BiH project worked with members of the Teacher Training Competence WG on establishing a
teacher training model that would be a key reference point for the development of study programmes based on learning outcomes. The Teacher Training Competence WG was composed of representatives of higher education institutions, competent ministries, and pedagogical institutes.
In order to overcome the high unemployment rate and a huge mismatch of the education and training systems with the demands of the labour market, the EU funded project “Education for Employment, BiH” aims to produce human resources in line with the labour market needs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project assists BiH authorities in improving capacity and structure for planning the educational process and quality of educational outcomes.
