“Start SMART” is the newest package launched by the National Employment Service to help long-term unemployed jobseekers, training them to develop basic job search skills.
The package was adopted at the end of last November and it was piloted in five districts of the country, namely Shkoder, Elbasan, Durres, Korçe and Gjirokaster. The package will be extended throughout Albania in 2019 and it is designed to provide training to over 20,000 unemployed jobseekers.
The Start SMART training package focuses on training exercises and assessment of work-related social skills required by employers. Exercises are of a practical nature and involve trainees in the training process.
Prime Minister Edi Rama today visited the Vocational Training Centre in Durres, which provides short-term training programs for applicants from the whole area of Durres district, Kruja and Fushe-Kruja.
The Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy Dajna Sorensen said that the program provides training opportunities to unemployed jobseekers to develop basic skills and other relevant skills to take up a job position. “The Vocational Training Centre in Durres provides short-term training programs for applicants from Durres district, including Kruja and Fushe-Kruja. Training programs last several weeks to six months. One of the latest packages launched by this vocational training centre is Start Smart, which targets unemployed for a long time and trains them to develop basic job search skills and other skills how to take up a job position,” she said.
One of the main problems facing the Employment Office service in terms of job and profession mediation is the passivity of unemployed jobseekers and lack of motivation to work. The Start SMART training program, not only helps profiling unemployed jobseekers in terms of basic employability skills, but at the end of the program an assessment on the trainees’ readiness to be fit for the labor market, so this training program can be used by Employment Offices as a career orientation tool for all registered unemployed jobseekers.
One of the teachers at the Centre said that all registered unemployed jobseekers will attend the training program. “The two-week program features four classes a day. At the end, we will assess the social and professional skills of every applicant and the relevant assessment will be then forwarded to the Employment Office. The latter will then guide them towards vocational training or employment.”
The Head of the National Employment Service Elira Çaushi said that cooperation between the employment offices and vocational training centers has strengthened this year. “This year, the vocational training centers and the employment service have set a shared target. About 70% of the individuals attending vocational training courses will be then handled by the employment service in order to strengthen cooperation so that jobseekers improve their social and professional skills to access the labor market. We monitor and assess the two targets. The two institutions are closely cooperating during this year.”
The objective is to make sure that every unemployed jobseeker is provided the opportunity to attend this kind of training program in the future. “This year, we plan to train some 20 000 unemployed jobseekers or one third of the total number of unemployed people in Albania, aiming every registered unemployed jobseeker for the first time is provided the opportunity to attend this kind of training program in the future,” the Deputy Finance and Economy Minister Dajna Sorensen said.
In a conversation with the trainees, the Premier said that the training program is very helpful to them and pledged continued support for them even after their job placement. “It is for sure that the program will be very useful because you are willing to work, but you still lack minimum qualification and skills. You will be equipped with some basic principles, while we will help you then by establishing contacts with enterprises in order to start a job,” he said.
