DSU - RCSOO Nikola Karev Strumica (North Macedonia)
NIKOLA KAREV is a public state-owned school and a Regional vocational education and training centre offering formal education with duration of three and four years and education for adult learners, as well as validation of non-formal education and informal learning in the vocational professions it covers.
As a Regional VET Centre, formerly a municipal high school, it is engaged in carrying out research, development and innovation activities; improved cooperation with the business community and business relations and networking, international cooperation and marketing. With that, the activity of the centre expands both in scope and geographically, and thus it includes a larger number of users of different ages. There are 6 vocational sections comprising the curriculum, namely: Mechanical, Electronics and Energetics, Traffic and Logistics, Construction, Wood processing, Textile and leather.
These are all divided into 16 educational qualifications. Mechanical, wood processing and textile and leather vocations incorporate the dual vocational education concept with an increased number of lessons in work-based learning. The teaching process includes theoretical classes and practice in local businesses as work-based learning activities.
With 117 specialized teachers and non-teaching staff actively involved, the centre provides education for almost 1000 students and beneficiaries from the area of Strumica and the South-East region of the country. The students in formal education are 14 – 18 years old and they enroll in our school after completing their primary education. The student is the center of the institution’s commitments and efforts. Nikola Karev is a centre of all ethnicities and an inclusive institution not only for students with fewer opportunities, but also for students with special educational needs (SEN) who live within the municipality and beyond.
The centre has been aiming at achieving high-quality vocational education so as to enable out learners to be more independent after completing the educational process, not only at the local market, but at the wider European market as well, for the purpose of acquiring skills and competences that would be applicable everywhere. It therefore strives to provide additional practice for the learners before letting them be part of the labour market, thus contributing to high-quality service after they complete high school and be able to show their competences and skills.
Being a VET centre, it incorporates not only technical skills, but also creativity and soft skills considering that a great number of technical activities require creativity at all levels.
Fields of particular interest are STEM, digital tools in VET, enriching creativity skills through various forms of their sustainability, environmental sustainability, entrepreneurship in relation to VET and similar.
Additionally, there is well-developed communication with the business sector, having regular meetings to discuss the needs of the industry. This cooperation resulted in the development and implementation of a dual education system which combines an apprenticeship in a company with education in a vocational school in one single course. Work-based learning has shown great results in increasing employability and responding to the needs of industry and the business sector in general.
Adding value to the operations of the Regional VET centre, Nikola Karev has started the procedure for being recognized as a Centre of Vocational excellence by indulging in activities and projects in cooperation with the European Training Foundation, namely the Entrepreneurial CoVEs Network, the ISATCOVE Internationalization of VET and all webinars and trainings offered by the ETF.
