The conference was opened by Vesna Đukić, General Director of the Belgrade Open School, and introductory statements were also given by:  Snežana Klašnja, Assistant Minister of Youth, Ministry of Youth and Sport, Gabrijela Grujić, Dual Education Advisor to the Minister in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Mirjana Kovačević, Director at Education Division at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Milica Samardžić, Regulatory Affairs and Education Manager, American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia, and Ivana Mihajlović HR Manager at the Direct Media company.

Vesna Đukić emphasized that the PRAKSAM Project had great results this year as well, and the trainees pointed out that they’d learned a lot during the course of the traineeship programmes, and a considerable number of them were hired after completing their traineeships. Cooperation with the Belgrade Open School has been graded with an average 4.89 by companies. Gabrijela Grujić emphasized that cooperation between the economy and education is a priority, because it is important that young people be prepared for the labour market. Mirjana Kovačević, before the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, emphasized the importance that projects such as PRAKSAM have, especially for small and medium enterprises which often, due to the lack of human resource sectors, receive valuable support in choosing and introducing young colleagues to the world of work.

After the introductory statements, certificates were awarded to trainees and companies who had successfully participated in the PRAKSAM project. In the second part of the conference, participants had the opportunity to attend parallel work sessions. During the Quality traineeships in the dual education system, talks were organized with the representatives of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia about the planned activities regarding the implementation of dual education, the chances that this model provides for decreasing youth unemployment, as well as the challenges regarding supporting young people during their period of learning while working in companies.

During the Importance of Selection session and the ‘’onboarding’’ program for successful traineeships, talks were organized with the company representatives and trainees about traineeships as a source of employee recruitment, the kinds of traineeships that are advertised,the challenges of harmonizing the young people’s expectations and that of the employers, as well as about the competencies and knowledge that are expected of trainees in the selection process. During the conference, participants had the opportunity to see the premier of the Praksam Film, which the trainees of this year’s project were involved in creating.

The  ‘’PRAKSAM – Quality Traineeship Program’’ conference was realized within the project: ‘’PRAKSAM – Introducing youth to the world of work through internship placements’’, which was financially supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sport, and realized by the Belgrade Open School in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, and the American Chamber of Commerce.