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Education in Development
Traditionally, SPARK has focused on (Higher) Education Reform in South East Europe. SPARK's educational activities are now increasingly linked with economic development. SPARK aims to improve the quality of education and the educational institutional capacity of universities, alongside increasing young people's employability. We believe that universities should produce job creators not jobseekers. Our educational activities therefore aim to foster entrepreneurship.
Furthermore, education can serve as a neutral platform in (post) conflict societies. Through education, young people from different backgrounds have opportunities to not only gain new knowledge, but also to develop a greater understanding of other cultures, peoples and historical narratives.
Regional Cooperation
All SPARK's educational programmes in South East Europe have a strong focus on regional cooperation. Recent conflict has disabled constructive relations between different communities in the region. The summer universities play a particularly important role in fostering cooperation amongst young people from different communities in South East Europe.
SPARK's educational programmes also advance the planned integration of South Eastern Europe into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by 2010 through implementation of the so-called Bologna Declaration. Finally, each of our Higher Education activities supports the strengthening of universities' international cooperation as a tool for improving educational quality.
Summer University Programmes
Approximately 1,500 students from the entire Southeast European Region take part every year in one of the summer courses established by SPARK in Macedonia, Mitrovica, Pristina and Tuzla. The summer university programmes support higher education reforms as well as regional cooperation and economic development at different intervention levels in participating universities. At university management level, direct capacity building enhances positive reforms and inter-university cooperation. At the teaching staff level, SPARK is able to achieve direct improvement in the quality of education. At the student level, SPARK ensures that young people from relatively isolated environments are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to amplify their future opportunities and impact the future of their region as a whole.
All successful students in our summer university programmes receive official ECTS-rated diplomas. The Summer Universities support the implementation of the EU Bologna reforms, create awareness of European integration and build international (academic) networks. The Summer Universities in Tuzla and Pristina have been transferred to local universities and are now largely financed by local donors.
Bologna implementation programmes
SPARK is currently involved in ECTS and Quality Assurance implementation programmes in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Georgia and Macedonia. Our activities range from project coordination, financial administration, advising on higher education reforms and delivering of training. These programmes are crucially important for the universities involved, as they provide the possibility to develop international partnerships with other universities, improve education quality as well as the transparency of the university. Thus, this represents a direct investment in human capacity in (post) conflict and transition countries.
Vocational Training
SPARK has several programmes in South East Europe offering (informal) vocational training. The business start-up centres (BSCs) in Bar, Bitola, Kragujevac, Pristina and Zenica offer training modules on topics related to entrepreneurship, such as business plan development, entrepreneurship and marketing. Generally, the BSCs offer a long term training course where young people are guided from developing their business ideas to a place where they are able to establish their own business.
Other activities
Whereas most of our programmes lie in the field of higher education and vocational training, we are currently developing programmes in the field of teacher training, primary and secondary education as well as formal vocational education. Areas where assessments into future programmes are taking place include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Georgia, Iraq, Liberia, the Palestinian territories and Sierra Leone.
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