On 2 April 2018, the “follow-up” apprenticeship partnership formation workshop for Serbia, called “Partnership Formation in Dual Education”, was organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Serbia – the Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Moravice and Raška Administrative Districts at the Regional Centre for Professional Development of Education Workers in Čačak as the activity within the Erasmus+ KA3 project Get Involved in EP4A: European Partnerships for Apprenticeships.
The representatives of City of Čačak, companies and vocational schools from Čačak and representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Serbia – Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Moravice and Raška Administrative Districts participated in the workshop.
The EP4A project was presented to participants by Ms Ivana Marković, the project manager for Serbia, and pointed out the main goals of project and realised activities so far. At Information Open Day in December 2017, Employers’ Guide and help-desk lines for Moravice and Raška administrative districts were presented. By calling telephone numbers 032/343 085 and 036/322 495, employers have the opportunity to get the information on the dual education and educational profiles, which will be conducted as the dual model of education from the school year 2018/19. From 12 to 14 March 2018, the craftsmen and small and medium enterprises from Croatia, Slovakia and Serbia participated at the study visit in Munich. The host was the Chamber of Skilled Crafts for Munich and Upper Bavaria, and participants visited the International Crafts Fair as well. At the fair, participants had the opportunity to meet German employers and see how they are being involved in the dual education system. The representatives from Elektomontaža d.o.o Kraljevo and P.S Fashion Čačak shared their knowledge and experiences from the study visit at the workshop in order to motivate more employers from small and medium enterprises for participating in the dual education in the area of Moravice and Raška administrative districts.
The second part of the workshop was reserved for the discussion on the Memorandum of Understanding which is planned to be signed by local authorities from Čačak, employers, vocational schools and the Chamber from Kraljevo.
Once again, the importance of communication between all stakeholders was emphasized as the key to establish quality practical training. In September 2017, the Engineering and Transport School in Čačak enrolled students in the fashion tailor educational profile for the first time, and in order to realise the practical training part according to the school plan and programme, the workshop for training students needs to be equipped. Companies P.S. Fashion d.o.o, Tiffany d.o.o and Weltex d.o.o. from Čačak as well as local authorities from Čačak wish to contribute in equipping the workshop so the practical training both in school and company becomes better.
During the discussion, workshop participants determined the good points of signing the Memorandum, but also the challenges which schools, students and especially companies are facing when conducting the dual education. The participants will soon receive the Memorandum of Understanding draft and after agreeing on the final document, the Chamber from Kraljevo will organise the round table by the end of April, where the Memorandum will be signed by participants from the workshop.
