WINFORVET TRAINING COURSES HELD IN ALBANIA AND KOSOVO*
Two mentors’ trainings themed „The role of the mentor and the strengthening of life skills and competencies in the labor market and vocational training courses, for vocational high school students“ have been held by Roma Versitas Albania and Roma Versitas Kosovo in late January 2021 within the framework of the project “Education, Employment, Partnerships and Gender Equality: A Winning Formula for Roma in Vocational Education and Training”. The project is implemented by Roma Education Fund and funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation.
The nine mentors from the seven target municipalities in Albania have been trained online and the ten mentors from the seven target municipalities in Kosovo have gathered at hotel Sirius in Prishtina.
Roma Versitas Albania
During the mentors’ training the covered topical areas ranged from the concept of mentoring in the context of the relationship between the mentor and the student; knowledge sharing; the smart goal setting model; problem solving; counselling and career guidance; building self-confidence as a component of the students’ career orientation to the financial aspect (such as the lack of technological equipment in pandemic times), similarities and disparities with other roles such as those of the mediators or teachers and the ethical rules.
Roma Versitas Kosovo
The training format was semi-formal thus enabled the participants to discuss, share their experiences as mentors in secondary, tertiary education and Roma Versitas models.
The training for mentors was preceded by a Training of Trainers on Mentoring Support, as the latter took place in late October 2020 and embraced 21 participants. The ToT trainees were empowered to distinguish the range of mentor’s tasks, responsibilities, boundaries and challenges in performing the assignment and transfer it to the teachers and/or other adult learners. Also, the participants were encouraged to instruct and help mentors to draft individual plans of action for specific students. The ToT trainees were expected to recognise the role of mentors in career counselling of the mentees on the skills necessary to enter the labor market or to develop entrepreneurial competences.
WinForVET project focuses on strengthening professional skills of REF scholars and other beneficiaries through vocational trainings, internships, professional skills development, cooperation and partnerships with employers. The project provides a wide range of vocational trainings, paid professional internships in the public or private sectors and supplementary education, which includes scholarship and mentoring support.
Background information:
WinForVET project is implemented in Albania and Kosovo. The local project partners are Roma Versitas Albania and Roma Versitas Kosovo. The activities and outputs of the project are focused on two specific outcomes: education and employability. The primary target groups are up to 300 Roma beneficiaries (50% female) in both countries, as they will receive VET-related scholarships, training or employment.
Project “Education, Employment, Partnerships and Gender Equality: A Winning Formula for Roma in Vocational Education and Training”, is implemented by Roma Education Fund (REF), Roma Versitas Kosovo (RVK) and Roma Versitas Albania (RVA) and funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
