Better education and more relevant competencies are prerequisites to boosting productivity, creating jobs, encouraging civic participation and making the Western Balkans an attractive place to live, work and invest in. This chapter puts forward policy recommendations to strengthen education systems at all levels and to build competencies both within and beyond formal education. Over recent decades, Western Balkans economies have made important progress in modernising their education systems, notably with the development of core competency-based curricula. However, people across all age groups still lack competencies relevant for the labour market and for civic participation more broadly. Boosting youth and workforce competencies can foster innovation and unlock new opportunities. Across diverse policy areas, priority should be placed on technical, cognitive, social and transversal competencies, and on creating strong partnerships, especially between the education system and the private sector.

Over the past decades, Albania has taken important steps to strengthen domestic competencies. Learning outcomes, as measured by the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), have been rapidly improving. Recent adoption of competency-based curricula and teacher standards are an important basis to improve learning outcomes. To further boost domestic competencies needed for Albania’s economic transformation and civic participation, this chapter puts forward key policy priorities at the formal education setting and beyond. Boosting the digital skills of students should be a top priority, given Albania’s thriving information and communication technology sector. As two distinct ministries hold responsibility for competencies in education, scope exists to improve governance through effective co-ordination and policy coherence. Albania should also improve the quality and attractiveness of vocational education and training (VET), a key education stream to provide job-ready skills. Increasing collaboration between VET and the private sector would be particularly important. Given the rapid pace of technological progress and changing business needs, creating better opportunities for adult learning is also vital to boosting competencies of the current workforce.

Over the past decades, Bosnia and Herzegovina has made important progress to strengthen domestic competencies. Many education authorities, at entity, canton and district levels, have started to integrate a competency-based approach into their respective curricula. To improve the quality of teaching, Bosnia and Herzegovina established a body to accredit education institutions and programmes for initial teacher education. This chapter puts forward policy priorities to sustain such progress, and to provide the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the modern labour market and transversal skills needed for economic transformation and civic participation. Much can be achieved through investments in early childhood education and care (ECEC) as a means to strengthen the foundational skills of children. Considering the decentralised governance structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, more systematic engagement in the policy-making process by all relevant stakeholders would better support alignment of key objectives and activities across different government levels. Collaboration with the private sector should play a key role in this respect.

Over the past decades, Kosovo has taken important steps to boost domestic competencies. Roll-out of competency-based curricula in primary and secondary schools has fostered progress in competency-oriented learning. Participation at all levels has been steadily increasing, especially at the primary level. Education is one of the top priorities in Kosovo, as shown by education spending at 4.6% of GDP, well above the regional average. This chapter puts forward policy priorities to sustain progress in building key competencies of both students and adults. Given its large young population and low labour market participation, boosting domestic competencies can create more job opportunities and strengthen civic participation. Kosovo has solid strategic documents, bylaws and action plans for quality assurance in education. The focus must now be on implementation, which includes strengthening capacities at the local level, increasing the number of quality assurance co-ordinators in schools, and strengthening mechanisms to work with companies, including through work-based learning. The latter can lead also to significant improvements in vocational education and training, an important education stream in Kosovo. Improving teacher training, by improving initial teacher education and providing opportunities for continuous professional development, should be another priority.

North Macedonia has made great strides toward boosting domestic competencies. Significant progress has been made in ensuring full participation in basic compulsory schooling and in introducing competency-based curricula to make learning more competency-oriented. This chapter puts forward policy priorities to further build competencies among students and adults. Attaining excellence in its vocational education and training (VET) should be key for North Macedonia to boost competencies. Despite a large network of VET institutions, current VET is characterised by poor educational outcomes. Establishing major regional VET centres can improve overall quality, including by providing VET students with better access to technical equipment. This will require buy-in from municipalities, which have traditionally been keen to have VET institutions within their constituencies, and strong collaboration with the private sector. To further boost the size and quality of the workforce in North Macedonia, it is also important to scale up initiatives that target disadvantaged students, minorities and students from rural areas at all levels of education. By strengthening access to adult training opportunities and better tapping into the knowledge of foreign investors, North Macedonia could substantially boost the skills of adults and enterprises.

Serbia has made a great progress in boosting domestic competencies over the last decades. Nearly all children participate in compulsory education. Serbia also has a very high proportion of students who go into upper-secondary vocational education and training (VET). Participation in adult learning, both formal and informal, is among the highest in the region. To sustain progress in building key competencies of citizens and unleash their full potential, this chapter puts forward policy priorities for formal education and beyond. Critical foundational skills of children can be developed by providing better access to early childhood education and care (ECEC), especially in rural areas. While VET is the most popular education track in Serbia, it requires more equipment and better financing to leverage its full potential. At all education levels, Serbia should further improve the quality of teaching by strengthening initial teacher education and offering more opportunities for continued professional development. Setting higher standards for entry into the profession and having clear performance and competency components for teacher compensation and career progression would also improve teaching quality. Finally, Serbia has attracted significant foreign direct investment, which can serve as a springboard for increased linkages for knowledge transfer.