As part of the third set of economic measures, the Government plans direct support for young people, with three types of vouchers for secondary school and college students and for people younger than 29 years, said the Education Minister Arber Ademi during a press conference. This measure is expected to help the young people to easily adapt to the new reality.
-The first type of voucher in the amount of 6.000 MKD will be allocated to secondary school and college students from families with lower incomes, for covering university fees and accommodation in dormitories. The second type of support is a payment card worth 3.000 MKD for students and will be used for purchasing domestic products by certain businesses that were hit by the crisis. The third voucher worth 30.000 MKD will be given to young people for co-financing participation in IT training and courses and digital skills that are necessary and demanded, and have now become a basic condition when seeking a new job – said Ademi.
Regarding the education process i.e. the process of evaluation and taking exams, Ademi stressed that during this pandemic period all decision and decrees issued by the Government were made in the best interest of the students, professors, and pupils.
-Since the start of the pandemic, we decided to take the whole education process online, taking into account that everyone should continue with their education. All technical conditions must be provided in order to secure credibility in the evaluation. We are communicating with the colleges and if we decided to allow them to organize university exams i.e. the June exam session to be organized with a physical presence at the university, but in accordance with a previously prepared government protocol proposed by the Committee for Infectious Diseases – said Ademi.
There are certain courses for which there will be no possibilities for an exam to be organized since it will require a work in a lab or other means. That is why education authorities didn’t insist on taking exams at all costs, said Ademi.
