In the beginning of the year, the International Office at MCAST, started working on the INTERVET Western Balkans project, which is funded by the European Union. The aims of the project are to create opportunities for learning mobilities in the training centers of Western Balkan countries that are not yet members of the EU and to improve the culture of learning mobilities in the field of VET in a time when this form of education is becoming more important due to its positive impacts on economies and societies.

The INTERVET Western Balkans project will promote mobilities of both learners and staff in VET. It will also allow participants to have access to resources related to international training mobilities and to learn more about existing opportunities.

Concretely, the INTERVET Western Balkans project intends to provide a significant number of important opportunities which include:

• 56 mobilities of 3 months for recent graduates and apprentices;
• 360 mobilities of one month for high school VET students;
• 54 job shadowing experiences for VET teachers and managers;
• participation of 36 VET teachers in summer schools;
• participation of 72 VET teachers and managers in the Thematic Themes organized by EFVET and hosted by different partners from EU Member States.

The consortium working on this project is composed of a number of stakeholders including associations, SMEs, VET institutions, chambers of commerce and a university from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, The Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia. It also includes eight partners from EU Member States, namely Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Malta, Spain, Slovenia and Poland.

Besides participating in the initial online transnational meetings, MCAST has also hosted a Thematic Theme Event on the area of “Internationalisation & Learning Mobility” which was organized by EfVET.

Through the participation of this project, besides reaffirming its 2019-21 Strategic Direction 5 which aims to broaden the local and international MCAST partner network, the college is also supporting Western Balkan countries to further improve their students’ learning experiences in VET.

More information on the project is provided in the website https://intervetwb.net/ and facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Intervetwb.