Youth aspirtion survey in Republic of Macedonia CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions: ? Young people in the Republic of Macedonia perceive Macedonia's educational system to be relatively good. ? The perceived quality of education decreases with each successive level of education. ? Young people in the Republic of Macedonia are not satisfied with the practical skills offered by the educational system. In addition, they are sceptical about finding a job that parallels their education level achieved. ? Young people do not believe that getting additional education in the Macedonian system would enable them to get better positions in the labour market. ? There is a desire among young people in the Republic of Macedonia to seek education abroad. ? Young people in Macedonia agree that there is a need for fundamental reform of the educational system. ? There are split opinions among the young population about the preferred model of education. Although private universities in the Republic of Macedonia have a higher status, there is a great dose of scepticism for the quality of the same. Recommendations: ? Establish a quality assessment system for the education in the Republic of Macedonia compared to that in the European Union member-countries. ? Focus more on offering practical skills during the educational process in Macedonia. ? Establish connections between the institutions for higher education and the labour market(employers). ? Analyse reasons for the youth of Macedonia's scepticism towards the educational system. ? Make an analysis for an educational reform – especially in the higher education levels – and continue the current reforms in accordance with the Bologna process. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung 38