Workforce skills development is one of the key factors that has led to the recovery of the labour market and the reduction of high unemployment rates in the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde in the past ten years.

Thanks to the support of the European Union, which has supported the project "Provision and improvement of the quality of adult education in the context of lifelong learning", an institutional partnership between employers, public sector, schools, employment services and civic sector of Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde has been developed.

The Goražde model, which is recognizable by the high level of involvement of companies in vocational training of unemployed people, enables vocational training opportunities for students in the workplace and cooperation between companies and schools in the process of planning and creation of secondary education curricula and programs. This type of cooperation has significantly reduced the imbalance between supply and demand in the labour market, in this way making the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde the region with the lowest unemployment rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Thanks to the support of the European Union, theGoražde model, once again, raised the standard in the field of workforce’s skills development. This model provides companies with the opportunity to engage their employees in vocational education program and skills development with aim to increase their performance at the workplace.

The first group of 20 employees from the company "Emka Bosnia" ltd Goražde has recently started the vocational training, which is being implemented by the Secondary Vocational School "Džemal Bijedić" Goražde. Through this training, the trainees will be certified for the vocational occupations on which they are currently employed.

Company "Emka Bosnia" ltd is a subsidiary of EMKA GROUP, a world leader in locking systems, hinges and gaskets, used in cabinets and control cabinets for electronics and electrical engineering. This kind of training represents the third cycle of joint action of skills development for the unemployed and employed persons, required by the labour market.

Besides the Ministry of Education of BPK Goražde and the Secondary Vocational School "Džemal Bijedić" Goražde, the company representatives were directly involved in the complete process of development of training programs.  Therefore, the developed programs are tailored to the needs of the economy and companies operating in these areas.

Training of employed persons and acquirement of new skills are vital in order to keep pace with technological development and the industry that is already introducing innovative training methods. According to Husein Bezdrob, the representative of the company "Emka Bosnia" ltd Goražde: "Investing in the education of workers is no longer a matter of good will, image or prestige, but inevitability, and at same time it represents a very good investment for the company. Through training, upgrade of existing knowledge and acquirement of new skills, workers become more committed to the company, they feel their role in company development and they start perceiving the vision of the company as their own."

The project “Provision and improvement of the quality of adult education in the context of lifelong learning” is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Association ALDI in a partnership with the Secondary Vocational School "Džemal Bijedić" Goražde. The main objective of the project is to develop program and institutional capacities, and to improve the availability of adult education in the context of lifelong learning.