Career Guidance in the Western Balkans: A Synthesis Report

Career Guidance in the Western Balkans: A Synthesis Report

A new report by the European Training Foundation (ETF) provides a state-of-the-art account of career guidance in the six Western Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia (WB6). The publication is based on country papers prepared by national experts, all of whom carried out desk research, interviews as well as consultation and validation meetings with relevant national stakeholders, including ministries, civil society, practitioners, social partners, and donors. The synthesis report, authored on behalf of and in collaboration with ETF by Professor Ronald G. Sultana, is informed by the outcomes of this process, and aims to support policy developments in the field of lifelong career guidance policies, systems and services at regional, country and sector level. Its findings and recommendations will also inform, inter alia, the implementation of the European Union (EU) Council Recommendation for Vocational Education and Training (VET), the Osnabrück Declaration and the EU Youth Guarantee Scheme in the countries in the region.

The report starts off by considering current thinking regarding career development in response to COVID-19, by highlighting the ingredients required to cultivate progress in the design of guidance systems, policies and services, and by identifying the contexts in which such progress can be attained. The rest of the report addresses different aspects of policies being planned or already enacted, the main guidance services and activities that are to be found in the education, labour market, and community sectors, and the responses that are made to a range of challenges. At each point, examples of promising initiatives and practices are presented, serving as a source of ideas and inspiration. The report therefore provides an insight into what is still an emergent field in the Western Balkans, where sophisticated approaches using some of the most up-to-date strategies and resources can be found alongside more basic services, where these exist at all.

The list of challenges considered are similar to those facing other countries and regions world-wide. One such challenge involves ensuring coordination between different partners to establish a truly lifelong guidance provision. Another is the allocation of sufficient resources to a field that is often fragmented and deprived of a dedicated budget, with many initiatives being dependent on funding streams from development agencies that dry up once a project cycle is completed.  Access to guidance is often limited, with most of the provision falling into the hands of community-based organisations, who are often nimbler in identifying and responding to service gaps. Increasingly among the WB6 we find efforts to increase access thanks to the use of information technology that helps bring career‑related information to the public and private space. Yet another challenge is to ensure that services are marked by quality. Efforts that many of the WB6 are making in this regard include investing in the training of practitioners, establishing a set of standards and procedures, and embedding a monitoring and evaluation function across the whole range of services offered.

The report concludes by pointing towards the way forward, highlighting a set of priorities for action and system development in the short-, medium-, and long-term. Chief among these priorities is the establishment of a clear, overarching set of goals and strategies for the field, governed by an action plan whose implementation is carefully monitored and adequately resourced. Strategic leadership is however required to steer this process, and for that more investment in capacity building needs to be made. Most importantly, career learning needs to be firmly embedded in schools at all levels, as this is one of the best ways to reach a whole generation, and to promote reflexivity about oneself in relation to work, to explore options and opportunities and to develop the skills required to plan and make wise and informed decisions, choices, and transitions.

The wide consultation involved in preparing this ETF report suggests that the thematic presentations as well as the conclusions reached are robust enough to serve as a basis for important conversations between policy makers, providers, citizens and stakeholders at all levels of society. It is thanks to such conversations that the way forward can be charted in a world where change is the order of the day.

Full report: https://www.etf.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/publications/re…;