Commission selects three projects for pilot Vocational Education and Training mobility scheme for Western Balkan and African countries

The Commission has made available €8.5 million for two pilot projects with Africa and one with the Western Balkans in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, said: “Africa and the Western Balkans are a political and strategic priority for the EU. We therefore have to ensure the full use of all our existing instruments and offer real opportunities to our partners. The three projects selected for the pilot Vocational Education and Training mobility scheme are concrete examples that meet the needs of both enlargement countries and Africa. We must make sure to link vocational education and training to the needs of their labour markets, specifically in sectors with high potential for job creation, such as manufacturing and agriculture.” The pilot project ‘Internationalisation of VET systems in the Western Balkans’ includes six Western Balkans partners as well as eight partners in EU Member States. The ‘joint alliance to develop a mobility scheme and share best practices between African and European VET systems (Overstep)’ involves three EU Member States and ten African countries. The ‘Supporting Alliance for African Mobility (SAAM)’ involves 32 organisations from eight EU Member States and 13 African countries. The projects are starting their activities in January 2020. More details on the selected projects can be found here.