Life in Kosovo discusses about emergency situations
Tonight, Life in Kosovo will broadcast a debate on the emergency situations in our country.
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Every Thursday starting from 20:30, Radio Television Kosovo, RTK, broadcasts the TV debate show "Life in Kosovo", a joint production of BIRN and RTK.
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Life in Kosovo debates student internships and youth in the job market
13 August 2009 Life in Kosovo broadcast a debate on student internships and the presence of youth in the job market.
The main questions posed included: What job opportunities are there for students in Kosovo? Why don’t students take up internships during their studies?
What do leaders in the private sector think about the people entering the job market? How could the development of professional education help Kosovo’s economy? What can Kosovo offer the foreign market?
To discuss these and other issues and related to youth involvement in the job market, host Jeta Abazi was joined in the studio by the following guests:
Gjergj Dedaj, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Welfare;
Adnan Dragaj, an official from the Ministry of Education;
Mimoza Kusari-Lila, from the American Chamber of Commerce;
Besnik Krasniqi, from the Centre for Business Support;
Akan Ismajli, from telecommunications company IPKO.
Mentioning that 70% of Kosovo’s population is definable as ‘youth’, of which 40% are unemployed, Abazi asked Adnan Dragaj if the job market is analysed before students are accepted into the University of Prishtina.
Mr Dragaj replied that deeper analysis of the current and likely future job markets is needed in order to improve the opportunities for new students.
The needs, requirements and opportunities in each industry and sector should be factored into enrolment, Mr Dragaj added.
Asked if the Ministry for Labor and Social Welfare should provide such job market analyses, Deputy Minister Gjergj Dedaj argued that Kosovo’s unemployment problem should be of concern to all governmental institutions and Kosovo’s civil society in general, although admitting that it was a focus of his ministry.
In light of statistics issued by the University of Prishtina that each faculty has a different number of students enrolled, Mimoza Kusari-Lila from the American Chamber of Commerce was asked whether those in positions of influence understand the profile of Kosovo’s work force and those sectors that need more staff.
Ms Kusari-Lila replied negatively, saying that there is no evaluative measure by which the needs, demands, and opportunities of Kosovo’s society can be assessed.
Further, she added that the ministries for education and labour could both work much more effectively if they developed a way of evaluating the number, origin, and likely future employment for enrolled and enrolling students.
Asked what is needed in Kosovo’s job market, Ms Kusari-Lila stated that “based on the businesses we have, there is a huge need for people trained in specific fields and junior managers”.
She added that there are calls for the private sector to reach out to graduates who can join a more professional workforce that can fit into regional – rather than specifically local – job markets.
Akan Ismajli, an executive from IPKO, was asked what kind of staff his company is seeking.
Mr Ismajli respond that said that the kind of telecommunications specialists they often seek are very difficult find in Kosovo, saying that “because of the lack of professionalism or experience, [IPKO] cannot find the workforce that our business is looking for in Kosovo”.
He also claimed that ministerial analyses are not needed, but rather better communication between employers and educational institutions, in order for students to have a clearer view of the sector they would like to fit into, and thus gain appropriate training.
Besnik Krasniqi, a representative from the Centre for Business Support, argued that “the government must have better communication with the private sector in order to know what their demands will be in the near future, and try to recruit youth in the particular fields the market is looking for”.
He added that, as a not-for-profit organisation, his centre has been able to recruit more than 100 young people through targeted entrepreneurial and self-employment training.
Ms Kusari-Lila claimed that no society has short-term policies or strategies for the job market. “[Kosovo’s] society cannot train and prepare a workforce in a very short time, because there is a need for mid- and long-term specialisation, which cannot be fitted into a short, specific time period” .
In order to overcome the current lack of specialisation, Mr Ismajli argued that youth should try to gain work experience as early as possible.
He claimed that, at least with his company, interest in work experience or internships from young people is increasing every day.
Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television, RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.
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The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
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