USAID Program Brings Macedonia Education Experts to Seattle
December 9, 2002
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Macedonia
team learns more about leading agriculture program at Stanwood
High School in Stanwood, WA. |
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – Local education experts from Macedonia
arrived in Seattle, Washington on December 8 for a week-long study tour
to the United States sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID). A team of four education consultants will be visiting Seattle,
Washington from December 8 to December 13, 2002 to examine various alternatives
in the education sector and to exchange ideas and concepts with educational
counterparts in the United States. The team members chosen for this program
are all well-known experts in the field of educational reform in Macedonia.
The study tour has been organized by the Washington-based non-government
organization World Learning through a training program designed by Global
Education Services. The agenda for the trip includes visits to traditional
secondary schools, vocational schools, and career skill centers in Seattle.
It will also review business-oriented education reform initiatives and
career training and technical opportunities in a variety of job sectors.
The participants will learn how schools can market their students and
how the private sector can support the school system. They will also
observe model high schools participating in career curriculum reform.
Prior to the U.S. trip, the team visited Slovenia from December 2 to
December 6, 2002 to examine education models that have successfully adapted
to evolving market labor demands.
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| Macedonian
leaders study the State of Washington's career and technical programs
and visit Mount Vernon High School's outstanding vocational-technical
programs. |
“Using the expertise of local consultants provides an excellent
opportunity for capacity building while undergoing a transition to a
market-based economy,” said Dick Goldman, USAID Macedonia Mission
Director. “Improved education programs will focus directly on preparing
the youth of Macedonia for the twenty-first century.”
USAID assistance to Macedonia in 2002 has totaled nearly $50 million.
USAID’s mission in Macedonia is presently administering an education
reform program to assist Macedonia’s Education Ministry in developing
programs to assist the youth in finding private sector employment. This
effort will improve the quality of high school education, increase access
to education and enhance decision making at the local level. A workforce
element to the program will target those most affected by the transition
to a market-based economy while better linking to the private sectors
those students who leave school without graduating.
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