The aim of this project was to develop links between universities and enterprises in order to enhance teaching and learning, upgrade the curricula in line with the needs of enterprises and improve the financial sustainability of HEIs in Kosovo. Enterprise managers were appointed to Industrial Boards (or Advisory Boards) as the voice of the private sector to help universities design programmes of study in line with the needs of enterprises and the labour market. Universities established Placement Offices, with the Placement Officers trained at an EU partner, to manage their relations with partner enterprises. They arranged for formal agreements with partners in the form of MOUs, found placements for students, and made arrangements for a number of their lecturers to visit companies for a short period to observe the working of companies and identify challenges facing them. The lecturers used the knowledge and insights they gained to prepare material for case studies of Kosovar companies. EU partners assisted the Kosovar lecturers to write case studies which are being used in the classroom. These case studies were published in a book ‘From Theory to Practice: Case Studies of Kosovar Companies’ as the first book of its kind. The use of case studies, particularly those based on Kosovar companies, is rare in Kosovo and required a change in teaching, learning and assessment methods with a positive impact on students’ preparedness for the labour market. The project also identified the knowledge and skills gap of university graduates through two Surveys of 150 companies (100 large and medium sized companies and 50 small and micro enterprises). The results of the surveys were used by partner universities to revise their curricula in order to embed the knowledge and skills required by enterprises in their programmes. EU partners, using their own experience, supported Kosovar colleagues in this endeavour. Using the Survey, the project also identified the training needs of enterprises. Partner universities in Kosovo, supported by EU partners, offered training courses to company employees. EU partners also provided updating visits for Kosovar teaching staff to prepare material for the training courses. The provision of these services has the potential to improve the financial sustainability of Kosovar universities. The NGO partner Kosovo Chamber of Commerce provided links to their member companies, informing them of the availability of training courses. Kosovar universities established arrangements to provide advice to SMEs, and using the survey of small and micro enterprises, identified the training needs and organised workshops to meet these needs. The NGO partner ‘Women in Business’ provided the link to women-owned and managed SMEs to identify their needs and also help run the Workshops for these SMEs. The project also provided the partner universities in Kosovo with equipment and books to enhance the teaching and learning experience of students.
This project aims to develop links between universities and enterprises in order to enhance teaching and learning, upgrade the curricula in line with the needs of enterprises and improve the financial sustainability of HEIs in Kosovo.Enterprise managers will be appointed to university boards as the voice of the private sector to help universities design programmes of study in line with the needs of enterprises and the labour market. Universities will send a number of their lecturers to companies for a short period to observe the working of companies and identify challenges facing companies as well as the business environment in which they operate. The lecturers will use their knowledge of the companies and the insights they have gained to prepare material for case studies to be used in their subjects. EU partners will assist the Kosovar lecturers to write case studies which can be used in the classroom. The use of case studies, particularly those based on Kosovar companies, is rare in Kosovo and will require a change in teaching, learning and assessment methods which will help improve students' knowledge of the actual conditions of Kosovar companies and will improve their preparedness for the labour market. A book of case studies of Kosovar companies will be prepared in Albanian so that it can be used by students at partner and non-partner universities in Kosovo.The project will also identify the knowledge and skills gap in university graduates through a Survey of the 150 largest to micro companies. It will be used by universities to revise their curricula in order to embed in their programmes the knowledge and skills required by enterprises. EU partners, using their own experience, will support the Kosovar colleagues in this endeavour.Using the Survey, the project will also identify the training and other needs of enterprises. Universities will offer training courses and consultancy services to companies. EU partners will also provide updating visits for the Kosovar teaching staff to prepare themselves for conducting training courses. The provision of these services can potentially contribute to the financial sustainability of Kosovar universities.Finally, universities will work with NGO partners and SMEs (using the Survey of 50 SMEs) to identify training needs of SMEs. University staff and NGO partners will prepare training workshops for SMEs in the range of subjects which have been identified. These training courses will also help foster closer relationship between universities, their staff and SMEs.Kosovar partner universities will be provided with modern equipment that will help them improve the teaching and learning process particularly on the subjects which have had their curricula improved or case studies offered to students. Some of the specialist equipment will also be used when offering training courses for company employees.The closer links with the enterprise sector, improved curricula with embedded employability skills, case studies of actual Kosovar companies, combined with student placements will enhance the employability of university graduates. In this way, some of the targets of the national strategy for higher education will be realised.