Bosnia and Herzegovina—Technical Assistance for Vocational Education and Training (VET) Education

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) system faces severe challenges in integrating key competencies and improving the quality of vocational education. Employment rates for VET graduates have fallen below EU targets, highlighting the need for better recognition of non-formal education and informal learning. The Technical Assistance (TA) for VET Education project, continuing the impactful work of the Education for Employment project, aims to address these challenges with an emphasis on strengthening the process by which skills are verified, thereby enhancing the employment prospects of students and other skills holders.

The TA for VET Education project enhances coordination among education authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), offering targeted capacity-building activities and raising awareness to bolster the employment prospects of students and skill holders. It will also support the implementation of policy reforms, striving for greater uniformity in quality assurance across BiH entities.

The initiative places significant emphasis on improving digital and entrepreneurial skills in alignment with EU requirements. This involves transitioning to outcome-oriented education, institutionalizing competency-based education, and enhancing teachers’ skills.

Lastly, the project leverages donor coordination to maximize impact and build upon the achievements already made in the VET education sector. TA for VET is focused on navigating the complex institutional framework in the sector, operationalizing the policy reform agenda, and supporting a system-wide approach to VET quality assurance.

Sample Activities

• Supporting greater mobility between training programs and professions through the improvement of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) systems.
• Developing and piloting models for the recognition of non-formal education and learning.
• Advancing the Digital and Entrepreneurial competencies agenda in BiH in line with the EU’s Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DIGCOMP) and the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (ENTRECOMP).
• Improving coordination among education authorities in BiH, providing targeted capacity-building activities and raising awareness to strengthen employment prospects for students and skill holders.