PROJECT Positioning level V qualification in BiH

REPORT
on conducted analysis of local job market for creating
plan and program for level V qualifications

Nermin Oru

March 2014

Content
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1. About project ............................................................................................................................... 4
2. Metodology ......................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 6
2.2. Targeted group for level V ........................................................................................................... 8
2.3. Needs for specific skills within certain occupations clusters...................................................... 9
2.4. Needs for specific skills within certain occupations .................................................................... 9
2.5. Gathering necessary data ........................................................................................................... 10
3. Analyzing data .................................................................................................................................. 11
4. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 19
5. References ......................................................................................................................................... 20
6. Appendix ........................................................................................................................................... 21

1. Introduction

All countries in the world, both developed and developing, are facing rapid changes in
society which pose new challenges in respect to flexibility and pace of adjustment to those
changes. The thing that is, for a while now, particular challenge to policy makers in all
countries is the means of adjusting formal education to the needs of job market. One of the
key factors which influence discord between skills provided by educational system of a
country and requirements of job markets is, just as well, tardiness and inflexibility of those
educational systems when it comes to adjustment to ever growing changes in job market, in
respect to structure of industrial sector, on top of technological advances which influence
work descriptions within a sector. Additional problem faced by the countries in transition is a
sudden change in structure of industries which was not accompanied by adequate adjustment
in educational system. As one of those countries in transition, which in addition suffered
great losses and destruction of industrial capacity, as well as loss of higher education
workforce during the 1990s, Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing many challenges. According
to many researches so far (e.g. ETF, 2006, Arandarenko & Bartlett, 2012) BiH falls within
countries with significant dissonance between education and job market (skills mismatch).
Therefore, every contribution to decrement this disparity is welcomed.
As one of educational institutions in BiH, with the aim of participating in processes
which will lead to improving services of education system to job market, International
University of Sarajevo (IUS) initiated project Positioning level V qualification in BiH,
which is financed by Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of
the activities on this project is researching local job market with the goal of gathering
adequate information which will be used in further phases of the project, for which the
creation and implementation of plans and programs of the level V qualifications in partner
schools was predicted. First part of this phase of the project is dedicated to developing
methodology for gathering information on the job market for development of future plans and
programs in partner schools, which will also be offered to other schools in BiH for
development of their plans and programs compatible with demands of job markets. Second
plan of this phase is analysis of local job market in accordance with developed methodology
in two cantons in which partner schools are located. Results of the first phase of the project
are presented in this report. Detailed description of the methodology is presented in the first

part (with additional tools for its use, such as polls, questionnaires, and instructions, all
attached in the appendix of this report), whilst the results of the analysis are shown in the
second part of this report.

1.1. About Project

Within the scope of activities and intensifying scientific researches, International
University of Sarajevo (IUS) has started with the implementation of new project under the
name Positioning level V qualification in BiH. Realization of this project, through the
means of financial assistance, was made possible by the Delegation of European Union to
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The goal of the project Positioning level V qualification in BiH was enhancing the
formal educational system in wood and furniture industry sector, through the development of
adequate plans and programs which are adjusted with the needs of the job market, which will,
furthermore, provide the students with additional knowledge and skills needed for quality
performance at work in companies in this sector. It is expected that activities of this project
will, through enhancement of quality and productiveness of the work force within the sector,
positively influence the international competitiveness within this sector. Previous researches
in the sector (such as USAID FIRMA) have shown that the lack of quality in the education of
the work force is one of the key reasons for low competitiveness and for factors which
negatively influence further development of this sector within the BiH.
Within the scope of this project following activities were planned:
Analysis of the needs in the job market and skills mismatch (presented in this
report)
Analysis of the best practice in the European Union
Development of plans and program for the level V
Development of plans and program for training of teachers for the level V
Creating model for fast implementation of new teaching plans and programs,
which correspond to need of the job market
Increasing capacities of schools for conducting the level V education
Increase of employment of students who completed level V training

Partners

in

this

project

are

JU

Mjeovita

srednja

kola

ivinice

and

JU Mjeovita srednja kola "Musa azim ati" Olovo. In cooperation with these schools,
through this project, it is planned to have the first generation of finished master studies at IUS
according to the new plan and program for training teachers in schools, as well as the first
generation of students who finished level V of the wood working industry education.
For a better implementation of the project, advisory body which includes wide spectra
of interested parties was formed (stakeholders), which follow activities on this project and
provide suggestions and insights related to the implementation of all activities associated to
this project. The list of members of advisory bodies of the project includes representatives of
following institutions:
The ministry of Civil Affairs
Federal Ministry of Education and Science
Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport from the Tuzla Canton
Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport from the Zenica-Doboj
Canton
Chamber of Commerce of the Sarajevo Canton
Chamber of Commerce of the Tuzla Canton
Chamber of Commerce of the Zenica-Doboj Canton
Association of Employers in BiH
Eco Company, d.o.o. Sarajevo
D. D. Konjuh Zivinice
Federal Employment Institute

Besides, expert team which participates in realization of this project regularly

publishes consultations with wider community which can provide useful suggestions on all
results of individual activities project, through individual meetings and workshops which are
organized on IUS, all with purpose of producing results which include consensus of all
interested parties.

2. Methodology

2.1. Introduction
First phase of project Positioning level V qualification in BiH, which is conducted
by International University of Sarajevo, High Schools Musa azim ati Olovo and
ivinice, is regarding analysis of job market in the areas of Zenica-Doboj and Tuzla cantons.
The primary aim of this analysis of local job markets is to provide necessary information
which will serve for development of quality teaching plan for Level V qualifications. The aim
of the methodology presented in this document is not exclusively to serve solely for this
project, but to potentially be an example of methodology for gathering information about job
market for development of future plans and programs in schools that are partners, as well as
other schools in BiH for development of their plans and programs in accordance with job
market needs. In accordance with that, in the process of development of the methodology it
was taken into account that it should be as simple as possible (as long as it does not
jeopardize its quality, that is its ability to respond to previously stated aims), so that future
research regarding needs of job markets for the development of plans and programs could be
implemented by schools employees, without needing to invest significant funds for those
purposes.
Before the development of methodology itself, it was necessary to define job market.
In that purpose results of preliminary desk and terrain research results were used, as well as
consultations with representatives of schools and companies from targeted sector. Based on
that information, it was established that geographical definition of job market for two partner
schools within municipalities is general, considering low mobility of workforce in BiH
generally (which was determined by analysis of existing reports and terrain research), since
people, mostly, are looking for jobs and employment in the municipalities of their residence.
However, with regard of greater encompassing potential market for highschool graduates
within these two municipalities, secondary job market was defined and it includes territory of
cantons plus Sarajevo as secondary job market for high school graduates from Olovo.
Considering sector definitions of job markets, problem is, somewhat more
complicated considering that preliminary research has shown that employers often employ
high school graduates which have not finished schools with wood making curriculums, which
points out to great degree of substitutability of skills between sectors. Unfortunately, this

mobility of work force between sectors, considering it is regarding greatly diverse skill sets
(for example employing a waiter to be a wood maker) is not a sign of quality of education
which equips students with vast transferable skills. On the contrary, this serves as indicator of
very poor educational system, where companies face the need of equally expensive informal
education and prequalification for their workforce and for those who do not have adequate
formal education. Based on that, we can conclude that all those who graduated from high
school, regardless of the kind of formal education, can be treated as equal candidates on the
job market for wood making industry. It was also important in the decision making that
students who finished 4 years of high school from all the different programs, can enroll in
level V education for wood sector.
After defining borders of the job market, which is necessary for establishing needed
data and correct sampling for future analysis, the next step was clear defining of goals of the
research. As it was already mentioned in introduction of this report, primary goal of this
research is to provide adequate information about local job markets to experts who will work
on development of plans and programs for level V qualifications. Based on that, with proper
understanding of the task of development of plan and program for level V qualifications,
three primary goals of researching job market were developed, and those are:
1. What is the target group for level V?
2. What are the needs for specific skills within a certain group of skill trade, in
respect to another?
3. What are the needs for specific skills within a certain skill trade?
In order to get these answers, it was needed to define adequate methods of gathering
and analyzing data about job market, including the sample of examinees. In the principle,
answers to these questions was highly possible to obtain based on available statistical data
from reports from institutions which deal with analysis of job markets and wood industry,
polls from employers, whilst only certain information about specific skills was necessary to
obtain through interviews with limited number of employers. The organization of workload
was prcised in the way so that key experts for analysis of job markets (IUS representative)
develops methodology for researching in consultations with experts for analysis for job
markets delegated by partner schools, and to analyze gathered data, whilst the local experts

(school representatives) will do the terrain research. The connection between aims of
research, examinees and methods of research is presented in graph 1.
Graph 1. The visualization of connection between the basic elements of the
methodological approach

Source: author
The basic elements of methodology, by pre-defined key issues of the research are
presented in report below.

2.2. Targeted group for level 5

For level 5 qualification at least three target groups of students of this program can be
determined. Those are: graduates of fourth year of this program, unemployed, and employees
of companies who need further training of skills. Level 5 students can be people from any of
those three categories, but during the development of curriculum it is necessary to define
dominant group, or the one that has special focus of this program in order to have the best
respond to needs of exactly that group.
In order to obtain the answer of question which group will be target group of level 5
several different methods of data collection will be used, where potential interest for this
program within each group will be explored. For identification of graduate interest
questionnaire for students will be used (Appendix 1). Data obtained from Public Employment

Service will be used to determine the needs for retraining and additional education of
unemployed (Appendix 6). Questionnaire for companies will be used to determine the need
for retraining and additional education of company employees (Appendix 2) and interviews
with CEOs of chosen companies (Appendix 3). In order to determine companies which will
be the pattern for survey of employers and interviews with owners/CEOs, data from schools
about the companies where former students are employed will be used.
Statistical analysis of the data collected will provide an answer on the potential and
interest of certain target groups, and on the basis of these results level 5 qualification program
will be created.

2.3. Needs for specific skills within the certain occupations' clusters
On the basis of available statistical data, it is necessary to determine current status and
further needs for personnel by type of occupation in wood industry. Data from statistical
reports of various institutions and data that will be collected from companies (Appendices 2
and 3) will be used for this part of analysis.
Statistical analysis of the collected data will provide an answer about the current level
of mismatch between the demands for certain professions and their availability, and show the
potential of introduction of level 5. The results of this analysis will be used for capacity
planning for the enrolment of students in the level 5 qualification, and to define the possible
focus of this program to certain professions. Results of these analyzes will be used to develop
level 5 qualification program.
2.4. Needs for specific skills within the certain occupation
For this analysis, it is necessary to have a survey and interviews among employers
(Appendices 2 and 3), in order to define the need for upgrading the existing knowledge and
skills, and types of skills needed by employers.
Statistical analysis of the data collected will provide an answer on the current level of
mismatch between the need for certain specific skills within each profession and their
availability, and to define a list of skills that need to be improved through the level 5
qualifications. Results of these analyzes will be used to create level 5 qualification program.

2.5. Gathering necessary data

Data within this labour market analysis will be collected from: institutions that have
administration data and/or are already dealing with labour market analyzes and/or wood sector; final
year students of schools that are partners in the project; and the owner/CEOs of the companies from
wood sector in the municipality. The method of collecting data from each of the sources is explained
below.

a. Letter to institutions
In order to collect all available data about the labour market and the wood sector in
the municipality and the canton in which the school is located, letter will be addressed to the
institutions in charge of administrative data and/or are already dealing with labour market
analyzes and/or wood sector, such as Municipal Public Employment Service, cantonal
chamber of commerce, business associations in the wood sector, etc. The full list will be
defined by researchers from the partner schools. Appropriate appendix (Appendices 5-7),
with an explanation of the data that they should deliver, will be attached to letter to
institutions.
In a letter to Central Employment Service, before sending table from the appendix 6,
it is necessary that researchers from the schools in the remaining fields of the first column
indicate all other occupations related to the wood sector for which there are programs in their
schools, and to leave 2-3 fields for other occupations related to wood sector where there can
still be registered unemployed, and what will be written by employees of the bureau, as it was
explained in the introduction of Appendix 6.
During the process of collecting data from the schools themselves, beside curriculum, and
data of enrolment in the directions, a short explanation is needed to be written (up to 1 page),
which will be the answer to the questions set out in Appendix 5, which will be written or
collected through interviews with the school principals by a researcher. Answers to these
questions will be additional useful information for the creation of curriculum for the level 5.

b. Student Survey
Survey (Appendix 1) will be distributed among all students of 3rd and 4th grades in
high schools, whose programs are related to the wood industry, as a means of gathering data
about their interest. The student survey has been developed using questions chosen from a
previous survey of high school education, implemented by LSE for the project Mapping
VET politics and practices for social involvement and social cohesion in West Balkans,
Turkey and Israel, which was founded by European Training Foundation, and survey sets
from previous, similar, researches, chosen while reviewing literature for methodology design.
c. Employer Survey
Survey (Appendix 2) is needed to be distributed to as many employers located near
the high schools as possible (because they are the ones who will be offering most jobs to the
students, once they graduate). The survey can be distributed via fax, e-mail, or in person. The
type of employers varies depending on the wood industry structure in that area. Therefore, it
could be big companies, but also small businessmen with just a few employees.
d. Interviews with the Employers
Interviews with a certain number (5-6) employers who usually employ graduate
students will be implemented as half-structured interviews, which mean that questions from
Appendix 3 will be used as an introduction in order to gather all useful information regarding
local working market and upgrade high school curriculum. During the interview, the
researcher will keep a detailed record of the employers answers, all useful information and
comments given by the employer. After the interview, the researcher will write a short report
which will sum up the answers and gathered information.

3. Data Analysis
All the collected data, delivered by local experts, contain a total of 75 surveys filled
by students, 19 by employers, 19 surveys on semi-structural interviews with employers, and
one by each targeted institution (Biroa za zapoljavanje, Kantonalnih privrednih komora,
Kantonalnih ministarstava PV). Survey data is analyzed via statistical analysis, while
interview data are analyzed qualitatively, and the quantitative analysis results are compared
because of triangulation. Results of the data analysis are presented in the extension of the
report.

Student Survey
In the first part, we present the results of the student survey. The goal of the survey
was to keep it simple, so that these questionnaires could be used in schools in future surveys
of similar focus. Therefore it had a limited set of questions. Still the collected data gave a lot
of useful information for extraction of interest of high school students about the Level V
qualifications and possible guidelines. Out of 75 students surveyed, there were 61,7% of male
students, and the average age is 18,39. The replies to the question about their plans after
finishing high school are presented in graphs 2 and 3.
Graph 2. Do you plan to look for a paid job after finishing your education?

4%
20%
Da
Ne
Ne znam
76%

Source: Authors calcualtion

Sketch 3. If you do not plan to look for a paid job, what do you plan to do after
finishing your education?

60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
1

n/a

Source: Authors calcualtion

From this, we can see that the majority of students do plan to look for a job after
graduating from high school, which is in accordance to previous surveys. This is linked to
limitations about the continuation of education. For example, students who finish 3 years of
high school cannot enroll into universities, by the law of education. As we can conclude from
the Sketch 3, almost 40% of students plan to continue their education, while a smaller
number have other plans (like taking care of their parents, or moving out). Still, taking into
consideration a very high rate of unemployment among young people in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (60%), a high number of those who had intentions to find a job, in the end
decide to continue their education. The level of pessimism concerning chances in the work
market is clear from the sketch below.

Graph 4. How likely is it that you will find a job after graduating from high school?

4%

13%

12%

51%

a.

Za mjesec dana

b.

Za est mjeseci

c.

Za godinu dana

d.

Za due vrijeme

e. Ne znam

20%

Source: Authors calculation

Here we can see that only a quarter of students believe that they will have the
opportunity to find a job in less than 6 months, while more than a half (51%) do not believe
that they will manage to find a job even in a year.
One of the key problems is disharmony between skills required by employers and
skills acquired in high schools. Therefore, the students were asked about the number of
practical classes. The results are placed below.
Image 4. Are you satisfied with number of practical classes in your education?
a. At schools

b. In the companies
3%

1%
Da

20%

38%

Ne

77%

Nema
odgovora

Da
Ne

61%

Nema odgovora

The big difference between the answers about practical classes at schools and at
companies, and a high percent of those who did not answer at all can be explained with data
from previous surveys, which show that many practical occupations do not organize practical
classes in local companies, mostly because there is no cooperation between schools and local
job market.
The average answer to the question about the likeliness of using their skills acquired
at schools at their first job is 3.17 on Likert Scale from 1 to 5, which means that their
expectations about using the skills are pretty limited.
The students have also been asked about their interest about Level V qualifications.
Out of the total number of surveyed students, 56,7% of them replied positively. The answers
to the question about the skills which would be useful for the attendants of Level V to
acquire, and which they themselves lack, are presented in the graph below.
Graph 5. What do you think, which improvement of knowledge and skills would be
good in the program?
35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
1

n/a

Source: Authors calculation

Most of the surveyed believe that it is necessary to acquire skills in maneuvering
modern machines and equipment (circa 33%), and skills in managing and designing products.
Interestingly, no one mentioned entrepreneurship skills as important. The reasons can be
found in the fact that the students themselves do not know much about entrepreneurship.

Survey of Employers
In addition to students survey, the survey of employers was conducted, which is
combined with interviews with the same employers. The survey had used a shorter
questionnaire (Appendix 3) which includes only the questions that are closed and which can
be easily quantified, with the goal of shortening the time required for the interview. Other
information were gathered through interviews. For survey and interviewing employers the
stratified sample was used, where the strata are defined on the basis of the sector structure
established through the available statistical data.
Of the 19 companies surveyed, only one is the state and all other are privately owned.
The average number of employees in the company is 40.8 and varies from 4 to 260
employees. According to company size (defined by number of employees), micro and small
companies account for 90%, while medium and large account for around 5%, which is
consistent with the previously determined structure of the sector. By type of business, the
companies engaged in the manufacturing of furniture account for 58%, companies that
produce hardware account for 26%, while the remaining firms are those that deal with the
primary wood processing, production of parquet and similar products.
On average, 88.5% of employees in these firms have been those who are employed
directly in production, while employees with secondary education account for about 36% of
employees in these companies. Last year, these companies employed a total of 110 persons,
or 5.8 per individual firms. Of these, 56.3% of persons employed are with secondary
education. In the coming year it is planned to hire 38 new workers, or 2.11 per firm, of which
89.7% of workers will be with secondary education. This suggests that the labor market in
this sector is quite active and that the need for new workers, especially those with specific
skills, is significant. Also, from the current number of employees in this sector it is not
expected that any of them next year will retire, which indicates that the workforce in this
sector is relatively young.
The average value of the response to the question of how difficult it is to find the
appropriate personnel in the labor market, according to the Likert scale 1-5, is 3.21, which
indicates that employers, despite the extremely high unemployment rate, however, have
difficulties finding adequate personnel. The same is true for the retention of staff; the
question of how difficult it is to retain adequate staff in the labor market, respondents
answered an average of 3.05 on a scale from 1 to 5. This is particularly important in a

situation where, due to the failure of the education system, the company invested heavily in
the further education of its employees. By the departure of personnel the company is losing a
significant investment. This may also be the reason for the reduction of such investments in
non-formal education below the required level, the situation of inability to retain staff.
Answers to the question of how firms generally employ new staff indicate that these
are all companies recommendations, and in some cases public announcements for
competitions. Neither firm has responded that their staff is employed through contacts with
schools. On the question of the extent of applying skills learned in school in their companies,
employers have responded with a 3.8 on a scale from 1 to 5, which is quite satisfactory.
However, when talking about the skills that they feel graduates of these schools are usually
missing, employers usually specify whole list of specific skills. Those most frequently
mentioned are creativity, work discipline, self organization and knowledge of new
technologies. When it comes to skills newly employed workers, employers believe, generally
miss in their firms are self-initiative, creativity, organization, experience and leadership
skills.
Companies were also asked questions about the ways in which they conducted the
training and retraining of their employees. Of the total number of the companies surveyed,
around 37% hires and re-qualify workers who have other types of secondary qualifications
for jobs in manufacturing that requires secondary qualification in wood industry. They are
mainly mechanical and electrical direction. Approximately 68% of the companies organize
trainings for employees, and all trainings are organized within the company. Possible reasons
for this could be lack of such trainings on the market. It was necessary to check this in details
through interviews, along with some other information that is needed to collect to better
understand the responses from the survey.

Interviews with employers

Interviews with employers showed significant differences between the data held by
employers (eg the total number of companies, export, etc.) and those officially publish in the
reports of statistical institutions in BiH. This further confirms the importance of collecting
data through direct contacts with employers, and the importance of involving schools in the
process of creating curricula. Schools, through methodological access similar to one used in

this study can collect and deliver useful information that can be used to create better curricula
to the higher levels of decision making, and more precisely decide enrollment quotas.
Through interviews with 19 employers, after basic information through a survey were
collected, we obtained detailed information on their needs for specific skills, and discussed
ways in which this can be improved. Based on the information gathered, it was found that
companies that operate in the wood industry in the Zenica-Doboj and Tuzla Canton
specifically require two types of skilled labor:
1.

VKV (highly qualified artisan) skilled master carpenter with specialized

practical skills, which are in line with the trends of technological development, such as
management skills with modern machinery,
2.

Managers needed by small companies, which possess management skills with

a whole set of knowledge and skills, such as knowledge of technological issues, procurement
of raw materials, calculation, communication skills, and the like.
Interviews showed that the current situation with the workforce with formal education
for the timber industry is such that these employees generally have no or have insufficient
practical experience, and that their more general skills (communication, teamwork,
leadership) are also very limited and far below demands of the workplace for which they
should be trained. Of the skills that employers believe are especially needed for jobs in that
these should be employed, we can extract the following skills: maintaining continuity of
quality, the application of new technologies, knowledge of technological processes, skills of
more technological operations, communication skills, design and management and
organization of work tasks.
Employers are generally interested in retraining existing workers, given the gap
between their skills and the requirements of the job, and believe that the formal education
system (such as the 5th degree) could be more effective than formal education. The only
problem is that they highlight the problem of financing modes of fifth degree, because the
market price may be beyond the capability of employers (and especially beyond the
capability of unemployed workers), so here is expected support of the states with appropriate
subsidies for this type of education. Also, it would be useful to have this level of education
used in a variety of active employment measures as a means of upgrading and retraining of
the unemployed.

Data from schools

In addition to data from students and employers, data were also collected on the attitudes
of staff in secondary schools participating in the project on the potential of the sector and the
needs of level V in the wood-processing profession. Data from the schools show that in these
schools currently have no active programs of vocational guidance and assistance in finding
work for students who complete their education. However, the information which they
possess says that most students relatively quickly find their first job. For example, in the
period 2000-2008 in Zivinice, 30-40% of students found job within two months upon
graduation, and 80% within one year, which can be considered satisfactory if we take into
consideration the general high level of unemployment in Bosnia and very bad economic
situation in these cantons.

The statistics show that number of students in schools are decreasing, which is primarily due
to the negative natural growth, in addition to the current problems faced by leading
employers (Konjuh Zivinice, Stupanica Olovo). However, the increase in the number of
craft shops engaged in the processing of wood suggests that the demand for these skills have
an upward trend in the future. As such, it is important now to motivate students to enroll
programs related to wood processing, which are offered in these two schools. It is particularly
important to point out that neighboring municipalities do not have schools with woodprocessing programs, so the competition with these schools is significantly lower.

4. Conclusions
Based on the above presented results of the analysis of data collected through the first
phase of the project, ie analysis of the local labor market, here we summarize the main
conclusions that can serve as answers to questions defined in the methodology as the primary
objective of this research.
As for the target groups, the analysis presented above suggests that companies are
potentially the most significant users of formal education in secondary schools through the
level V qualification, as they need to further improve the skills of their employees. So, the
most important groups of participants level V should be current employees of the company,
who do not always have a formal four-year education in wood sector processing. This is

important to consider when creating plans and programs, as well as in determining the criteria
for admission of students in the level V.
However, one should not ignore the established interest for level V among graduates
and the unemployed, who may represent an interesting market for level V degree, especially
through various active labor market measures.
When it comes to programs for which there is a particular demand in local markets
analyzed, it was found that these are "skilled carpenter" and "foreman". However, in the
process of creation of the curriculum for these programs, it is necessary to continue
consulting the companies, so the final term direction could be different, all while meeting the
demands of the labor market.
Specific skills that employers are particularly interested in are the communication,
management and design. This must be taken into account when developing curriculum, and
in adequate way plan modules that will equip students with required arts. However, it is
important to understand that the goal of any formal program is not to train students in
accordance with the requirements of a single employer, but it is necessary to take into
account the degree of portability of skills, both within and between sectors.

5. References
Arandarenko, M. i W. Bartlett (2012) Labour Market and Skills in the Western Balkans,
FREN, Beograd
European Training Foundation (2006) Labour Market Review of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
ETF Report
Bartlett, W. et. al. (2012) Mapping of VET policies and practices for social inclusion and
social cohesion in the Western Balkans, Turkey and Israel, ETF Report

6. Appendix

1. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

This survey is part of project that our school carry out in cooperation with International
University of Sarajevo, and which is funded by the European Commission. The survey is
anonymous. Please answer all questions. Thank you in advance.

1) How old are you?

_______ [years old]

2) What is your gender?

[male / female]

3) For which occupation are you studying? (please write)_____________________________

4) Do you intend to look for paid work after school?

[Yes /No]

5) If you do not, do you intend to

a. go to a higher education?

[Yes /No]

b. go to university?

[Yes /No]

c. take care of family at home?

[Yes /No]

d. work in family business

[Yes /No]

e. work voluntarily

[Yes /No]

f.

[Yes /No]

move out

g. Other (pleae specify)

__________________________________

6) How likely is it that you find a job after graduation in this school
a. For one month

__

b. For six months

__

c. For one year

__

d. For a longer period of time

7) Which

company

you

would

like

__

to

work

in,

and

what

type

of

work:

___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________

8) Are you satisfied with the number of practical training hours during your education:
a) in the school:

[Yes /No]

b) in the company:

[Yes /No]

9) How likely is it that you will use the skills gained in this school on your first job after
graduation (1=none, 2=little, 3=slightly, 4=a lot, 5=very much)
[1_2_3_4_5]

10) If you had the opportunity to enroll the 5th grade of school, where you would gain the
specific skills, which would help you to improve the chances of finding a job, would you be
interested in such a program?

[Yes/No]

11) What do you think that, in such a program, would be necessary to upgrade in knowledge and
skills you have gained during your previous education:
a. Management of a modern machinery and equipment
b Product Design
c. Entrepreneurship
d skills to lead the team / management
e sales and marketing skills
f. Other (please specify)
__________________________________

2. QUESTINNAIRE FOR COMPANIES

This survey is part of project that our school carry out in cooperation with International
University of Sarajevo, and which is funded by the European Commission. The survey is
anonymous. Please answer all questions. Thank you in advance.

1. Sub-sector (eg. Furniture, wondows, ...) ________________________________________

2. Ownership status:
a) In majority state ownership

b) In majority private ownership

3. Number of employees: ____. From that high-school-education in wood department: ____ Number
of emplyees in manufactoring: ____
4. Number of employees last year: _____. From that high-school-education in wood department:
_____
5. Plan of employment for following year: _____. From that high-school-education in wood
department: _____
6. How many of your employees with high-school-education in wood department will be retired in the
following 5 years? _____
7. How difficult is to find the appropriate personnel in the labor market: (1= none, 2= little, 3=sightly,
4=a lot, 5=very much)

[1_2_3_4_5]

8. How difficult is to keep the appropriate personnel in the labor market: (1= none, 2= little,
3=sightly, 4=a lot, 5=very much)

[1_2_3_4_5]

9. Mainly in which way you employ new staff:

a) Vacancies
b) Contacts with local schools
c) Recommendations
d) Other (please specify): __________________________
10. To what degree are skills gained at school applicable to your company (1= none, 2= little,
3=sightly, 4=a lot, 5=very much)

[1_2_3_4_5]

11. What skills you believe are the most frequently missing among school graduates?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
______________

12. What skills you believe are a general lack of newly hired workers in your company? ____
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
13. Does your company employ and re-class workers who have other types of high-shool-education
for manufacturing jobs that require high-school-education in wood department?
[Yes /No]
14. If YES, which the most common? _________________________________________________
15. Does your company organize training for emplyees?

[Yes /No]

If YES, are those trainings organized:

a) within the company

b) outside of company

3. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW WITH CEO OF

COMPANY

1. What is your opinion about the skills gained in the framework of formal education?
2. Would you be interested in a program of retraining and additional training that would be
organized by the school within the 5th grade?
3. In your opinion, what additional skills would be the most useful to your employees?
4. In your opinion, how will needs for skills in your sector change, and what is already
needed to be involved in curriculum by education insitutions?