Skopje, 18 November 2025 (MIA) - The Economic Chamber of North Macedonia held a conference Tuesday titled “Building a Future – Practical Skills for the New Generation” within the project “Education for Employment in North Macedonia” funded by the Embassy of Switzerland in Skopje.

Antoni Peshev, Executive Director of the Chamber, spoke before the conference about the reforms needed in education to meet industry demands and to stop “the fabrication of diplomas”.

“We are critical of the fact that in Macedonia there is fabrication of diplomas and very little knowledge. We call on all higher education institutions to make maximum efforts to raise the level of education so they can meet the needs of the business sector. We can be proud of what has been done in dual education and the overall reform process in secondary vocational education, but we must signal that it’s time to do the same in higher education,” Peshev noted. 

Peshev said “Macedonia must not remain on the sidelines of current global trends,” noting that several global business leaders have recently stressed that “in the coming years, the world will need far more people with practical skills than university graduates who lack applicable knowledge”.

Minister of Education and Science Vesna Janevska said the country’s education system must respond to the demands of the labor market in the future.

“At this moment, we are particularly focused on skill acquisition because, indeed, various skills will be increasingly in demand in this period. Vocational education in Macedonia is becoming one of the strongest links in the education system, not only in secondary education, but now also starting to be introduced in higher education,” Janevska said. 

Michal Harari, Deputy Head of Mission at the Swiss Embassy, said Switzerland is proud to support North Macedonia in strengthening cooperation between educational institutions and the private sector, which, she said, is built on their successful model of dual education.

“Dual vocational education and training began as a pilot initiative and has now grown into a recognized approach that benefits both students and companies by aligning skills with economic needs. With Swiss support, the principles of partnership, relevance, and practical training, which have proven to be successful in secondary education, are now being applied in higher education as well. Switzerland remains committed to sharing knowledge and fostering innovation, competitiveness, and youth employment opportunities,” Harari said.

Photo: MIA