Beyond Boundaries Equal Opportunities in VET - Kosovo Challenge Fund

#KosovoChallengeFund #KCF #Kosovo #VocationalEducation #EqualOpportunities

For many years, gender stereotypes have influenced the career choices of boys and girls.

Historically, women were steered towards careers in caregiving and education, while men were encouraged to pursue technical and industrial fields.

Even today, we see girls who love building things nudged away from engineering, and boys passionate about caregiving dissuaded from nursing.

According to Education Statistics in Kosovo 2022, Vocational schools had less female students compared to Gymnasiums.

But, the Kosovo Challenge Fund is working to change that.

The Kosovo Challenge Fund is actively raising awareness about gender stereotypes in vocational education. It advocates for inclusive education policies and encourage women to participate in male-dominant trade sectors.

Therefore, the KCF promotes practices in line with A Teacher's Guide for Gender Sensitivity in Classroom that help bridge the gap incorporating the following practices:
➡️ Promote equal engagement among all students
➡️ Provide balanced and constructive feedback
➡️ Implement unbiased classroom discipline practices
➡️ Update textbooks to reflect diverse and equal gender roles
➡️ Adopt inclusive evaluation methods for all genders

KCF encourages VET providers to:
➡️ Advocate for balanced representations
➡️ Enhance rights and combat discrimination
➡️Enhance access to resources for all

The KCF raises the overall quality of VET and align it with the needs of the labour market. It aims to strengthen the employment-oriented economic development in Kosovo in accordance with the Stabilization and Association Process of the EU.

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The KCF is an initiative undertaken by German Development Bank (KfW) and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with 5,8 mil. EUR for the grants. The main implementation partner is the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) in Kosovo, whose operations are supported by consultants from the Fund Management Unit.