Youth Council of the U.S. Embassy in North Macedonia The Youth Council empowers young people in Macedonia by providing a platform for ideas, projects and more. It also has an advisory role to the US Embassy.
The American Chamber of Commerce Macedonia, with Embassy support, hosted a conference to explore opportunities to advance business-university cooperation. Speakers included President Ivanov, Ambassador Wohlers, AmCham Board Chair Popovska, and US keynote speaker Dr. Fairchild of the Darden School of Business.
The conference explored introducing business-relevant practica in to the education system so that students would be more job-ready upon graduation, which is a win win situation for both sides. We were happy that this initiation may bring something bigger that will benefit the youth of Macedonia.
Our members of the Youth Council, Emilija Dzurovska and Elena Zafirovska were present at the conference as direct participants and have taken the following notes:
President Ivanov pointed out that we have inherited quite conservative education system, where students memorize and professors postulate. He also shared his motto – BUILD A FUTURE FOR THE YOUTH BUT ALSO YOUTH FOR THE FUTURE
Ambassador Wohlers shared his wishes for universities and businesses to recognize the intelligent youth of Macedonia, and the essential collaboration between the business sector and the universities, finding the right employees for the 21st century jobs.
And finally Mr. Fairchild, in his 2 hour lecture talked about many ways that universities can provide services to the business sector by including the students in the work, giving them practical training and knowledge for the business environment. He also talked about his personal experience as an intern, professor, businessman, how incentives drive the behavior, and many more examples.
