Skopje, 10 November 2022 (MIA) - The human capital of a country depends on quality education. A society can only progress if it has an education system of high-quality, which will prepare human resources who will drive positive social change, Deputy PM for good governance policies Slavica Grkovska said Thursday who together with the UNICEF Representative to the Republic of North Macedonia, Patrizia DiGiovanni organized the meeting that was attended by UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Afshan Khan. The meeting discussed efforts to improve efficiency, effectiveness and equity in government spending in primary education. During the meeting that brought together Ministers, members of the Parliament, representatives of the World Bank and mayors, partners concurred that improving how resources are allocated and utilized is key to ensuring all primary schools can deliver quality education in line with national educational and infrastructural standards. “Unfortunately, all international reports show that we have a problem with the knowledge and vocational training of young people. The alarm has been sounded, both for the Government and local governments, as well as for all education sector employees. If we do not take immediate concrete measures, it will be too late. We no longer have the right to make mistakes, we no longer have the right to improvise, we no longer have the right to political party divisions, we no longer have the right to label reforms as ‘ours’ and ‘yours’. Let's all roll up our sleeves together. Let's reach a consensus that education and our young people are most important to us, and let's get to work,” Grkovska said. “Adequate resources to schools and tailored support to teachers are critical to ensuring every child can learn and reach his or her full potential. The Government of North Macedonia has made tremendous efforts to increase investment and improve efficiency and equity in education spending so that every child, no matter who or where they are, is accessing quality education. Getting every child’s learning back on track requires strong partnerships and UNICEF remains committed to working with the government and all partners to make that a reality,” UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Afshan Khan said. “The Government is working to bring the country’s public expenditures on education as a percentage of GDP closer to the levels of developed countries, thus ensuring sufficient funding for capital expenditures, teaching aids, inclusive education, education in languages of various ethnic communities and teacher professional development,” Minister of Education and Science Jeton Shaqiri noted. UNICEF is supporting national and local authorities to strengthen their capacities to finalize and implement a new system for transparent and equitable allocation of funding for primary schools. Ten pioneer municipalities are currently receiving support to prepare local optimisation plans, in close consultation with students, parents and teachers. This initiative is part of UNICEF’s cooperation with the World Bank in support of the Ministry of Education and Science efforts to improve the adequacy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity of public spending in primary and secondary education.