(Bando 2023 Iniziative Promosse da Enti Territoriali e OSC)

In cooperation with ENGIM 

Implementation period: 02/2025 – 02/2028             

Location: Tirana, Fier, Berat, Shkoder, Korce, Albania            

SkillALB is a comprehensive skills development program aimed at strengthening vocational education and training (VET) in Albania through digital innovation, advanced career guidance services, and entrepreneurship support for young people.

This initiative will create new opportunities for at least 1,500 young people (aged 15-35) attending vocational schools and training centers or seeking job placement and self-employment financing. Additionally, it will engage at least 100 teachers, trainers, and youth workers in training and career guidance activities.

Key objectives:

Strengthening VET institutions by enhancing digital innovation and labor market adaptability.
Improving career guidance services to increase job placement effectiveness.
Expanding training and financing opportunities for young people looking to start their own businesses.

In collaboration with ENGIM, this project will empower Albanian youth with the skills they need to succeed in the labor market and entrepreneurship.

Implementation period: 12/2024 – 06/2025             

Location: 14 regions across Albania, including Berat, Diber, Durres, Elbasan, Fier, Gjirokaster, Korce, Pogradec, Kukes, Lezhe, Shkoder, Tirane, Vlore, Sarande.

The Journey Towards Employment project aims to enhance the employability and career readiness of young people across Albania by providing targeted training, psycho-social support, and labor market integration opportunities. This initiative is designed to equip unemployed youth, educators, and social service professionals with the necessary skills to drive sustainable employment solutions.

Key objectives:

400 unemployed youth (ages 15-29) will participate in employability training to enhance their job readiness.
40 VTC instructors and VET teachers will receive specialized training to improve vocational education quality.
20 psychologists and social workers will be trained in psycho-social support, ensuring holistic youth development.
A skills development program will engage 500 adolescent participants, preparing them for the workforce.
A new curriculum for VET and labor market integration will be developed and validated.
A comprehensive psycho-social support package will be implemented to assist young job seekers.
The project will be implemented in collaboration with NAES, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and local VET institutions to create a lasting impact.

By bridging the gap between education and employment, Journey Towards Employment empowers Albanian youth with the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to build a successful future.

Investing in youth today means securing a stronger workforce for tomorrow.

Financed by: EU4Innovation (EU4I) is a Multi Donor Action jointly co-financed by the European Union (EU), the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and SIDA and implemented by GIZ and SIDA

Implementation period: 12/2024 – 11/2025             

Consortia: CCS, Mihali Shahini VET school Cerrik, Gjergj Canco VET school Tirana, Luarasi University Tirana.      

This project aims to empower vocational education and training (VET) students in Tirana and Cërrik by fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital skills. Through a collaborative model between VET schools and Luarasi University, the initiative will provide hands-on learning experiences that connect education with real-world applications.

Project objectives:

Engage 500 VET students in digital innovation activities.

Establish a Genetic Seed Bank to preserve 80+ varieties of Albania’s native seeds.

Digitalize the seed bank and create an online platform developed by students.

Organize an entrepreneurship competition, encouraging students to develop business ideas related to native seeds.

Strengthen collaboration between VET institutions and University.

Integrate digital tools and innovation into vocational education.

Enhance teaching methodologies and promote an entrepreneurial culture in public VET schools.

Implementation period: 07/2022 – 07/2023

Financed by: UNICEF Albania

Over a timespan of two years, our project has made significant steps in engaging youth and promoting Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Albania. We targeted two key groups: 9th-grade students with the aim of introducing them to VET and 10th-grade low-performing students already enrolled in VET to enhance their integration and reduce dropout rates.

“Skills Boost Camps”

In July 2022, CCS launched the “Skills Boost” camps in Tirana and Korca districts. Welcoming over 150 youngsters that finished 9^th grade, these camps served as incubators of creativity and skill development, by providing hands-on experiences in VET subjects like cooking and sewing, career orientation sessions, and opportunities for personal growth through activities such as communicating through arts, sports tournaments, IT workshops and much more. Guest speakers, such as the singer Marsela Cibukaj, added a touch of inspiration to career orientation sessions, by sharing the challenges, lessons, and skills necessary for a successful career.

“The VET Days”

Transitioning into the second year, the focus shifted to 250 9th-grade students enrolled in secondary education schools across the project areas. Through “The VET Days,” students visited professional schools’ ground, engaged in mini-courses, and interacted with teachers and former students. This immersive exposure to VET education encouraged many students to consider enrolling, thus contributing to their academic and personal development. VET days have been embraced with enthusiasm both from secondary and professional schools representing a model to be followed and multiplied at a larger scale. 

“Skills Boost Weekends“

At the heart of this project are the “Skills Boost Weekends”, that have had the largest impact and reverberation thought VET schools. Implemented in 19 schools in 7 districts of Albania, this component of the project targeted around 1000 10^th grade students in 7 districts of Albania. In a series of colourful activities carried out both in Albania’s beautiful touristic attractions, and in schools, students immersed in activities that combined subjects as language and communication, math, and ICT with career orientation discussions, softs skills focus group discussions, environmental protection and voluntary work, hands-on workshops, including bicycle days maintenance, which propelled students towards personal growth, stronger connection with peers and educators, and increased involvement and desire to attend school.

Impact Beyond the Classroom

The project’s impact extended beyond confines of school walls of the participating schools, fostering collaboration among educators, students, parents, businesses, municipal and educational institutions, and the local community. Improved group dynamics and communication skills among students and teachers is but one of the many positive outcomes of our approach. Together, we hope to have provided a model that the schools can replicate for a more integrated and empowered generation of youth in Albania.

Beneficiaries:

• +250 9^th grade students have participated in the VET Days aimed at familiarising and promoting VET education.
• Two ‘Skill Boost Camps’ organised and Korca and Tirane with the participation of around 150 9^th grade students.
• +330 Skill Boost Weekend activities organised to date within the school grounds, businesses, cultural and historical sites, museums, natural parks, nature etc. 
• +1400 10^th grade VET students have participated at least once in the Skill Boost Weekends, to date.
• +40 VET teachers trained in program implementation and identifying and addressing behaviours related to trauma in students.
• +40 Secondary Education and VET teachers trained in program implementation for the VET Schools Days
• 21 VET schools in 7 regions
• 6 Secondary Education schools from 3 regions
• +15 experts on education, Career orientation, environment, arts, psychology, sports, and green mobility involved.

Designed documents:

• Program in modules for the development of VET student’s basic skills.
• Guidelines for testing practical learning experiences of 9th grade Secondary Education students in VET schools.

Achievements:

• In the first year of implementation of the project, about 90% of students have had positive changes in the psycho-emotional aspect: they are friendlier, more communicative with their teachers and peers.
• Also, 86% of students have had positive changes in school attendance. None of the students involved in the project has left school.
• 79% of students have improved basic digital skills in the use of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, the use of computers for collecting and processing information, etc.
• 75% of students have improved basic communication skills through self-presentation, interpersonal communication, graphics, PowerPoint, photos, and videos, etc.
• 79% of students have improved basic mathematical skills in using measurement units, calculating the costs of a trip, or a meal, etc.

Implementation period: 01/2024 – 12/2024

Albania has progressed in its economic growth, but still has high rates of unemployment and informality, accompanied by a high number of returnees and low qualified vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities (PWD), whom particularly face psychosocial distress and are disadvantaged in the labor market. The Program “Centres for Migration and Development” (ZME), implemented by GIZ in Albania, aims at supporting returnees and other local vulnerable groups, including PWD to enhance hospitality technical skills and soft skills, with the final aim of improving employment opportunities in agritourism and hospitality.

Center for Competitive Skills aims to assist returned migrants and marginalized individuals, including PWD in enhancing both hospitality technical skills and soft skills. This will be achieved through effective task-oriented on-site career orientation and training, ultimately aiming to improve employment prospects within the agritourism and hospitality sectors. The delivery of on-the-job career orientation and training will take the form of internships at suitable premises for the target group. As a culmination of the project, a Job Fair will be organized, featuring the participation of returnees, vulnerable groups, individuals with different abilities, the regional Employment Office, and companies from both the private and public sectors.

Implementation period: 05/2022 – 07/2023

Financed by: DIMAK program, GIZ Albania – Programme Migration for Development (PME)

Returned migrants and other vulnerable groups in comparison to the general population find it more difficult to adapt to the demands of the labour market in Albania because they lack many of the required educational and vocational qualifications and expertise. Along with the difficulties to adapt to the labour market, returnees face psychosocial distress in the re/integration cycle pro-cess and this situation puts additional strain on the mental health of this vulnerable group. To easily integrate they need to receive career advice and attend on-the-job career orientation and training to get empowered with skills, build confidence and get enabled to gain employment and generate income. Therefore, specific employment promotion and psychosocial measures that respond to the characteristics and needs of return migrants shall be taken to enable their re-integration into Albanian society and economy.

Our aim is to help returned migrants and marginalized individuals:

• develop task -oriented technical hospitality and soft skills to re/integrate in the labour market
• increase their access to information and employment opportunities in hospitality sector and beyond
• empower them with practical employability skills gained on the internship.

We aim on providing counselling and conduct on-the-job career orientation and training for up to 240 returned migrants and marginalized individuals (engaged as interns) based on the didactical package for four hotel departments (1. general hotel organisation, 2. restaurant/bar, 3. housekeeping, and 4. kitchen).

Financed by: UNICEF Albania

Implementation period: 02/2023 – 02/2025       

For the first time in VET schools, the Early Warning System aims to address dropout prevention in a structured and measurable approach. Our objective is twofold – to significantly reduce dropout rates by identifying at-risk students through the EWS and to foster a supportive learning environment that cultivates socio-emotional skills essential for personal and academic success of the youth in Albania.

School staff in 14 piloting schools has been trained and mentored by national and international experts on the implementation of the system by better understanding the difficulties they face with at risk students and challenges related to keeping them in school.

Another main objective of the project is providing grants to schools for the implementation of school-based projects, with ideas given from VET students. Projects from all 14 schools include the involvement of educators, parents, dormitory, local community, local businesses and the municipalities institutions.

Center for Competitive Skills wants to impact VET schools through a targeted and impactful intervention, with the help of UNICEF and NAES.

Anticipated outcomes include improved student retention, enhanced academic performance, and a generation of students equipped to face challenges both within and beyond the classroom walls.

Beneficiaries:

• +200 VET educational workers trained and mentored for the implementation of the EWS (including general & professional subjects teachers, representatives from the Development Unit, psychologists & social workers)
• +150 VET students mentored for sharing ideas on dropout prevention projects and peer to peer activities
• +70 VET students’ individual dropout prevention plans
• 14 VET schools in 6 regions
• 15 educational experts
• 6 NAES employees for EWS and socio-emotional learning

Designed documents:

• Training curricula
• Training Manual for EWS and socio-emotional learning
• Monitoring and QA instruments for implementation of the EWS in VET schools
• Project related templates with focus on EWS and socio emotional learning for dropout prevention
• Providing small grants to VET schools to implement school-based dropout prevention projects (financial mechanism/criteria for the funding disbursement)

Achievements:

• EWS working group is established in 14 VET schools, with the support of NAES
• Integration of the EWS & SEL activities on the school’s annual plans