On 26 December 2017, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Serbia – Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Moravice and Raška Administrative Districts organised the Open Information Day in Kraljevo as the part of Erasmus+ “Get Involved in EP4A: European Partnerships for Apprenticeships” project.
The hosts of event were the Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry Kraljevo director, Mr Zvonko Tufegdžić, the Secretary of Commitee and Project Manager, Ms Ivana Marković, and the Head of Organisational Unit Čačak, Gorana Tanasković. The company representatives from PS Fashion, Tiffanny and Moja soba were also present. Moreover, the representatives from the Engineering – traffic school from Čačak and Forestry school from Kraljevo as well as students, who attend dual model of education for the furniture production operator, fashion tailor and shopkeeper, shared their experiences.
Open Information Day was organised with the aim to provide concrete information from multiple sources, that is directly from participants involved in the process of dual education. The participants had the opportunity to hear first-hand experiences, to see how everything functions in practice, but also to perceive their own contribution, responsibility and role in the dual system of education.
Mr Tufegdžić emphasized the effects of dual education, what is needed for the sustainability of the model, how to increase the interest of economy and how to secure the feedback from enterprises regarding sectoral needs for certain profiles. Sustainability and interest of enterprises were exactly topics which encouraged entrepreneurs to point out why is beneficial for them to get involved in dual system and what is needed for this system to be sustainable in the long term.
Ms Ivana Marković presented “Employers’ Guide to Work-Based Learning” for all employers interested in participating in dual system of education, with the aim to provide them with all the necessary information. Apart from the Guide, employers can call help-desk lines 036/322 495 and 032/343 085 where they can get all the information from the area of dual model of education.
Good practice examples from Čačak were presented by Ms Gorana Tanasković, who emphasized specially the support from local authorities which cover transportation expenses of students who learn in the dual model of education.
Vocational school representatives pointed out current challenges they face and what changes should be made in order to make craft occupations more attractive.
Also, students shared their first experiences and described how does look their school day both in vocational school and at the company.
During the discussion, participants recognized good aspects of dual model of education and provided concrete suggestions in order to make the dual system more efficient in practice. Above everything, they emphasized bigger support from the state and local authorities, efficient co-operation between schools and companies, and more adequate bridging of the gap between supply and demand on the labour market.
At the very end, the prize contest for participating employers was organised and one employer got the opportunity to participate in the study visit to Munich in the March 2018.
