Around 70% of Students from Dual Education Program Employed Immediately After Finishing School

Around 70% of the students from the dual education program were employed immediately after finishing school, according to the latest data of the Office for Dual Education. That model, which was implemented in Serbia in 2016, is gaining in importance, because the list of profiles which entail education along with practical work is expanded each year.

The idea is for it to be a link between the economy and the education system, and dual education is increasingly in demand among numerous local companies.

At over 700 companies in Serbia, the students who are educated within the dual education system go to practice, says the acting director of the Office for Dual Education, professor Dr Gabrijela Grujic. The economy’s needs are the priority, and the enrollment policy within the dual education system is adopted based on the agreement between the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and the Ministry of Education.

– It is very intensively deliberated which profiles these will be, which need to be insisted on in terms of modernization and increasing the number of hours. A harmonization between the economy and education is made, so that we offer the profiles that the economy actually needs in our schools – she clarified.

So far, 150 high schools have been included in dual education, and the number of study programs is growing as well. At the moment, around 4,000 students study within 36 programs in the dual education system, Grujic points out. She adds that it is very important for the obtaining of certificates to be enabled for those who have acquired informal knowledge working in companies, so that they would be visible in the labor market.

At the Polytechnic School in Subotica, 69 candidates acquired certificates that way for professions in construction. The development of dual education in Serbia at the same time incites the development of the economy, whereas the knowledge acquired by the students is harmonized with modern technological development, concludes Gabrijela Grujic.