Junior Achievement program kicks-off in Five Municipalities across South West Serbia

Thursday, 29 January 2009 14:00

On Thursday, 29 January, 2009, USAID’s Economic Security program and Junior Achievement in Serbia (JAS) will sign an agreement with mayors of five cities and municipalities in South West Serbia formalizing their commitment and support to the start of the Junior Achievement program in selected schools.

 

The program will be implemented in 14 high schools across the following municipalities: Novi Pazar, Nova Varoš, Prijepolje, Raška and Sjenica.  Twenty-eight teachers and around 400 students will be involved in this USAID-supported program in these municipalities during the current school year. The agreements will be signed between Mr. Michael Pillsbury, USAID’s Economic Security program director, Mr. Tigrin Kačar, JAS Board member and the Mayors of the five aforementioned cities and municipalities.  

The purpose of the program is to promote entrepreneurial and business skills, and understanding of the market economy and business operations, among young people in Serbia. The signing of the MoU between local governments and JAS is meant to formalize the commitment of local stakeholders to support the program. Through the JA program, students will gain practical knowledge on how to start and run student businesses and how to launch and promote products and services, by establishing and running at least one student company per school.

Many students in Serbia lack access to practical educational opportunities, which USAID’s Economic Security program seeks to address by equipping Serbia’s youth with specialized skill-sets required by the Serbian labor market, through support to JA and other entrepreneurship training programs for youth in order to raise their potential for employment and self-employment. USAID has supported the JAS program since 2003 and has provided approximately $350,000 for its activities to date.

Junior Achievement in Serbia (JAS) is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, an organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. JAS has been active since 2002 in Serbia. During this period, the program has been implemented in 200 schools in 43 municipalities throughout Serbia and 16 schools in the City of Belgrade.