A two-day seminar on the topic “Lifelong Learning and Labour Market Needs Analysis” took place in Mavrovo on the 15 and 16 of March 2017, uniting 32 representatives of VET schools, Workers Universities, Centre for Adult Learning, municipalities and local self-governments, local agencies for employment, local Chambers of Commerce and of the Ministry of Education from the country’s North-West (Tetovo, Gostivar, Brvenica, Rostuse, Jegunovce, Vrapciste).

The goals of the seminar, organised by the EU-funded project’s key experts Mr. Stephan John and Ms. Mariana Matache, were to help improve participants’ abilities to understand and perform labour market needs analysis, including training needs analysis, but also to develop their capabilities for critical assessment of reliability and usability of labour market needs analysis. The seminar was led and conducted with the assistance of an expert in this area, Professor Miomir Despotovic from the University of Belgrade, Serbia.

The main topics discussed during the seminar were related to: the concept of lifelong learning in the context of labour market needs, personal skills as key asset for social and economic development, the relation between education and skills shortage, skills gap and skills mismatching, as well as the balancing among education and employment. The participants had the opportunity to explore these topics from the perspective of vocational education and adult education, both in local context and on EU level, advance their knowledge and understanding, present ideas and exchange experiences.

The agenda of the seminar also envisaged introduction to the methods and procedures for conducting analysis of the skills needed on the labour market. By working in groups, the participants estimated labour market demand for skills on the basis of demographic and educational trends in the country, and assessed the need for specific skills on the labour market in the EU both on the basis of trends in employment of different professional categories and on the basis of trends in employment of workforce in various sectors.

This seminar was organised in the frames of the EU-funded project “Enhancing Lifelong Learning through Modernising Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education Systems”, implemented by the British Council.