Belgrade Open School (BOS) organized the sixth Fair of school teams for career guidance and counseling, on Thursday, October 29, 2020, this time in online format via ZOOM platform. At this year's Fair, 16 high school teams for career guidance and counseling were presented, which introduced to the other participants activities in their schools in order to improve the employability skills of their students. In addition, the Fair was attended by over 100 virtual visitors from schools, government institutions, the business sector, civil society organizations and other interested individuals. This year's exhibitors presented themselves from schools in Sečanj, Belgrade, Šabac, Kraljevo, Požarevac, Bor, Inđija, Bač, Velika Plana, Stara Pazova, Zaječar, and Ruski Krstur.
The first place and a cash prize of 40,000 dinars went to the Agricultural School from Bac, which realized various activities in which it included a large number of students with the entire program of career guidance and counseling. This school successfully overcame all the challenges caused by the pandemic, transferred its work to the online space, and maintained the great interest of students in getting involved in various activities. Also, the Agricultural School from Bac actively works with students from vulnerable groups of students. Those activities contribute to reducing dropouts, and has importance not only for the school but also for the local community, said the project manager in the field of Improving employability Ivan Topalović.
The second place won by high school "Branko Radičević" from Stara Pazova, and the third-place shared by the School of Economics and Trade from Požarevac and the School of Economics and Hospitality "Vuk Karadžić" from Velika Plana. In the previous period, these schools have created very innovative methods of working with students, ensured the quality of work, realized very significant cooperation with important actors, and thus achieved excellent success in the field of career guidance.
Marina Lukić, the project coordinator in BOS, highlighted that during 18 years of career guidance and counseling, through training and mentoring of high school teachers, BOS provides professional support and encourages continuous and effective cooperation of partners in the field of education, economy, and youth policy. So far, Belgrade open school implemented a large number of accredited, but also other training for teachers and associates from high schools, numerous professional conferences on career guidance and counseling, and in other ways supported all stakeholders in the field of education.
BOS, through its program area Improving of the Employability since 2002, has been working on the establishment and development of career guidance and counseling services in Serbia. In the last five years, a Fair of school teams for career guidance and counseling has been organized, where over 80 school teams have presented their activities as examples of good practices. The fair has so far been visited by over 550 representatives of schools, public and civil sector. The VI Fair of School Teams for Career Guidance and Counseling was supported by Solidar Suisse / Swiss Labor Assistance SLA - Office in Serbia.
