Higher education institutions in Albania and Kosovo face significant challenges in preparing graduates for today’s labour market. Limited cooperation with industry, outdated curricula, and insufficient opportunities for practical training contribute to skills mismatches, high youth unemployment, and brain drain.
DUALKO addresses these challenges by developing and implementing flexible Dual Higher Education (DHE) models that integrate academic education with structured work-based learning. Drawing on best practices from Austria, Poland and Cyprus, the project will adapt proven dual education approaches to the specific educational, institutional and legislative contexts of Albania and Kosovo.
The project will establish strong partnerships between universities and businesses, develop modern ICT-related curricula, train academic staff and company mentors, and create a digital CMS/eLearning platform to support collaboration among students, higher education institutions and industry partners. Pilot DHE programmes will be implemented and evaluated, providing evidence-based recommendations for the long-term integration of dual education into national higher education systems.
Through these activities, DUALKO contributes to higher education reform, strengthens university-business cooperation, enhances graduate employability, and supports sustainable economic development across the region.
Objectives:
The DUALKO project aims to:
- Develop and implement a flexible Dual Higher Education (DHE) model tailored to the needs of Albania and Kosovo.
- Strengthen cooperation between higher education institutions and the private sector.
- Modernise ICT curricula through the integration of work-based learning.
- Improve graduate employability by aligning academic programmes with labour market needs.
- Reduce student dropout rates by providing meaningful practical learning opportunities.
- Build the capacities of academic staff and industry supervisors through specialised training.
- Establish a digital CMS/eLearning platform to support collaboration and knowledge exchange.
- Develop policy recommendations that support the sustainable implementation of Dual Higher Education at national level.
- Foster innovation, economic growth and regional development through stronger university-industry partnerships.
Consortium:
- University “Aleksander Xhuvani” Elbasan (Albania)
- FH JOANNEUM – University of Applied Sciences (Austria)
- Akademia WSB (Poland)
- Neapolis University Pafos (Cyprus)
- European University of Tirana (Albania)
- Universum College (Kosovo)
- Public University “Kadri Zeka” (Kosovo)
- STIKK – Kosovo ICT Association (Kosovo)
- A&I Services and Consulting (Albania)
- Quality Assurance Agency in Higher Education (Albania)
