The DualEdu project Final conference was successfully held at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Belgrade at July 8th, where all activities carried out during the project realisation were presented, as well as its most important results. The conference was held in hybrid form (online + onsite), following the COVID19 pandemic recommendations and it was attended by more than 60 participants (in total).
The DualEdu Erasmus+ project started on October 15, 2017th and was supposed to be completed in October last year. However, due to the COVID19 pandemic, the European Commission extended the deadline until August 14th this year. The DualEdu project involved participation of Serbian public (state owned) universities, such as the University of Belgrade, the University of Novi Sad, the University of Kragujevac, the State University of Novi Pazar, as well as the private Metropolitan University (Belgrade). Beside higher educational institutions, the cluster of companies dealing with the advanced technologies NI-CAT from Niš (Serbia) and the company PowMio from Karlsruhe (Germany) were also involved – beside the large number of projects’ associate members from sector of commerce. The project partners were also the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the National Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Serbia, as well as foreign partners from higher education institutions from France, Spain, Austria and Poland.
Dual education is a type of learning which combines traditional methods of teaching in the classroom with the practical education obtained in companies. According to the conference participants, dual education is a direct response to the needs of domestic and foreign companies operating in Serbia for adequate, highly educated staff with practical and applicable knowledge. Developed study models are flexible in a way which allows higher education institutions to define and realize new study programmes through communication with interested companies, as study programmes must meet appropriate academic standards as well as company’s needs.
"The DualEdu project is one of the most successful projects in the field of dual higher education in Serbia. Its results are very important for overall education system. First of all, the Law on Dual Studies was adopted, then, standards for accreditation were defined and adopted, and finally, piloting of potential dual study programs was performed, and now the process of accreditation of dual studies is starting" stated prof.dr-ing. Nenad Zrnić, full professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Belgrade and project coordinator of the DualEdu Project.
There were many challenges in the DualEdu project realisation and one of them was defining the legal framework for the introduction of dual education at universities in Serbia. The law on dual studies could not be passed without the support of the state. The Government of the Republic of Serbia has recognized the importance of the dual education system for the further overall economic development of the country. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development was really dedicated to creating dual study programs, especially taking into account that lot of foreign investors in Serbia comes from EU countries, where the dual education system is accepted and implemented a long time ago. This was the main reason why Serbian academic community applied for funding and started the DualEdu project – supported by the European Commission, as well as the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
"Dual students will have the opportunity to acquire numerous practical skills by learning through work, to get to know the system of the company from inside, including the rights and obligations of employees. This way, students will be fully prepared for work – without the usual time for adaptation, which ranges between 1 and 1.5 years. This is the main reason why companies are increasingly interested in this type of learning" – was also stated by the project coordinator at the Final conference.
It should be noted that dual studies are not intended for high number of students and that developed study programs will not be adapted to only one employer, but must contain general elements that are acceptable to a larger number of employers – according to their particular needs. For example, in Germany, only five percent of academics study by the dual model of studies. That is roughly 100 thousand students. If that percentage is reached in Serbia in next 10 years, the vision of the DualEdu project will be fully achieved.
The full Report on DualEdu Final conference is available here
