The Second Decade of a Child’s Life

UNICEF in Kosovo ensures that all adolescents and youth, particularly the most marginalized, are resilient and equipped with skills for life and work and have access to high-quality education in inclusive and equitable environments.

Challenges

Adolescence is a time of significant change, when brain development accelerates and young people are eager to be heard, challenging those around them and engaging with opportunities that prepare them for a bright and prosperous future. For many adolescents and youth in Kosovo, the second decade of life is fraught with structural and social factors limiting their future options. Unfortunately, three fundamental barriers—low quality of education, limited opportunities to access digital learning, use technology or develop 21^st-century skills, and limited opportunities for new entries into the labour market—are factors that even adolescents and youth themselves cannot control.

As adolescents and youth in Kosovo progress through their academic studies, the quality of education decreases significantly resulting in low academic performance—among the lowest in the region—and high dropout rates. Insufficient funding for schools, limited access to the internet and technology, inadequate preparation of teachers, and a lack of student-centered teaching all impact learning. Disparities become more pronounced in adolescence, especially for girls and young people from marginalized groups, partly due to lack of parental support for continued education and preference for girls to stay home and marry early. Additional social and structural barriers further limit their access to education, resulting in far worse social outcomes than their peers.

Schools in Kosovo struggle to equip students with crucial 21^st-century communication, teamwork, and collaborative problem-solving skills.

Vocational training opportunities are limited and not adapted to the needs of the labor market. Internships and other opportunities to gain exposure to the workplace are scarce, leading youth to enter the job market with irrelevant training or inadequate experience. As a result, 33 per cent of young people in Kosovo are not in school, work or training, and 21.4 per cent of 15 to 24-year-olds are unemployed. These rates are among the highest in the region and even higher for young women, youth from marginalized communities and youth with disabilities.

Solutions

UNICEF in Kosovo works to ensure that quality education is a top priority for children, adolescents, youth, parents, local communities, and institutions. We support the reform of Kosovo’s education system to promote high-quality, inclusive, and relevant education—consistent with the demands of the labor market—to better launch graduates into work and adulthood.

UNICEF in Kosovo supports the development of policies that promote inclusion of the most marginalized children and youth and advocates for increased resources and funding for quality education and effective skills training programmes to help facilitate students’ successful transition from school to employment. We broker partnerships between institutions, civil society, academia, and the private sector to leverage expertise, mobilize investment and scale-up innovative solutions for children, adolescents and young people.

UNICEF in Kosovo supports the digital transformation of the education sector through provision of technical assistance and increased access to the internet, computers and other required equipment at the school level. We work to ensure there is adequate training for teachers and students so they can effectively teach and learn in the digital ecosystem. Learning Passport, UNICEF’s global solution to provide digital access to education during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been rolled out as Shkollat.org in Kosovo. This platform facilitates distance education for all students. It includes a digital library, video lessons for all subjects in Grades 1–9 and 21^st-century skills-based programmes to meet the needs of adolescents and youth in Grades 10–12. LearnIn, a complimentary programme, provides personalized and culturally relevant digital learning opportunities, including teacher training and capacity-building materials.

UNICEF in Kosovo works to help children, adolescents and youth develop 21^st-century skills in both school and community settings.

We provide opportunities for them to gain exposure to the world of work, become social innovators in their communities and establish youth-led solutions to community problems. This includes flagship youth skills-building programmes such as UPSHIFT and Ponder—two programmes that began as non-formal learning opportunities and are graudally being integrated within Kosovo’s formal education system.

Kosovo’s social entrepreneurship programme (UPSHIFT) engages young people using a human-centered design approach and fosters social innovation and social entrepreneurship. UPSHIFT works to build platforms and empower adolescents and young people with skills and resources to identify problems in their communities and design solutions in services or products. Initially developed in Kosovo, UPSHIFT has been replicated in 47 countries.

Kosovo’s programme on critical media literacy (Ponder) promotes skills for young people who are constantly bombarded by media and live in an “infodemic” world. This programme empowers adolescents and youth to identify and examine bias in media and judge the authenticity and authority of the information they encounter. Media-related internships provide a place for participants to apply and practice these skills.  

UNICEF in Kosovo also supports Techstitution, an exciting technology-based programme that equips young people aged 14–24 to become part of the greater local tech community. Here, young people learn practical software engineering and coding skills and utilize digital technology to co-create innovative solutions and products to strengthen and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Kosovo’s local and central institutions.  

An additional initiative is also #Youth4CleanAir, through which UNICEF ensures that children and youth are equipped and supported so they can become active agents of change, motivating leaders to improve air quality and address the impacts of climate change, while at the same time ensuring safeguarding and protection of the children and youth involved. 

UNICEF works to bridge the gap between education, training, and employment through Generation Unlimited (GenU). GenU in Kosovo (K-GenU) is a partnership platform bringing together private and public sectors which focuses on supporting the school-to-work transition for young people ages 16 to 24. K-GenU aims to successfully launch adolescents and youth into the workplace by increasing their knowledge and skills and preparing them for the job market through internships. K-GenU also fosters multi-sectoral linkages and partnerships with the private sector and other institutions that provide support to host, train, and mentor these young people.