DRUPWB: about the project
The countries of the Western Balkans face a skills mismatch, caused by the rapid obsolescence of traditional skills, insufficient employer investment in training and limited opportunities for lifelong learning. Vilnius University, together with its partners (our organisation among them), launched the DRUPWB project to address this by developing a modular vocational education curriculum with an emphasis on STEM, soft skills and skills for remote work. The project also involves developing a digital platform that will let unemployed and NEET young people acquire new skills. Its aim is to improve the knowledge and skills of unemployed people and to strengthen the capacity of VET providers in the region. In doing so, the project contributes to reducing unemployment and improving employability in the Western Balkans.
The project will help build the capacity of VET providers for cooperation between the private and public sectors and support the development of innovative STEM-based curricula, through cross-sector cooperation and a digital learning platform with online courses and maps of VET providers and of companies offering placements. The quality of VET and its ability to adapt to market needs will increase through developing materials together with employers and through making placements available to pupils, students and unemployed young people. Aligning VET with development strategies will be achieved by analysing existing curricula at local and European level.
The key activities contributing to these aims are the development of a non-formal vocational education curriculum built on a STEM approach, and the development of a digital platform with its e-learning system and accompanying digital educational tools.
More detailed information about upcoming activities will be published in good time as the project develops, in line with the pace and progress of delivery, on the project website https://digital-response.eu/ Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.