Model for finalizing primary education of adults from marginalized groups | Prepared for UNDP North Macedonia, 2024
More than 85,000 adults in North Macedonia have never completed primary school. For most of them, that missing certificate is not just a gap on paper. It blocks the driving test, closes the door to vocational training and puts the state’s active employment measures out of reach. In autumn 2024, UNDP asked Brulz to look closely at a pilot that tried to change this, and to answer a bigger question: could the same model work for other marginalized groups across the country?
A problem with no fast answer
Until recently, an adult who wanted to finish primary education had exactly one legal option: the “A. S. Makarenko” school for adults in Skopje, where even the fastest route takes four and a half years. For someone supporting a family, often on guaranteed minimum assistance, that is not a realistic path. The consequences show up clearly in the labour market: 61% of job seekers registered with the Employment Service Agency have, at most, primary education.
What the pilot did differently
Under a regional project, UNDP piloted a new model in three municipalities: Shuto Orizari, Prilep and Shtip. It was designed for returnees from the Roma community, but its logic is universal.
The model starts with an individual assessment of what each person already knows, and then builds a tailored program to fill the gaps.
Instead of years, completion takes between two and twelve months; in practice, each pilot cycle ran four to six months..
The process moves through four phases:
1. Mobilization and motivation led by local NGOs;
2. Completion of primary education in the municipal primary school;
3. Vocational qualification with an accredited training provider; and
4. Activation on the labour market, which can mean a job, a driving licence, a small business or further training.
What struck us during the interviews was how consistently every stakeholder pointed to the same success factor: the local NGO. Without a trusted organisation on the ground to find people, accompany them to school, keep them motivated and mediate with institutions, partners told us it would be “almost impossible” to assemble a committed group of adult learners.
The results of the pilot: Across two cycles, 200 people registered and 98 completed primary education. Twenty of them moved directly into vocational training, and demand for qualification places exceeded what the project could fund. Satisfaction was high: 85% of participants in Shtip and Prilep and 100% in Shuto Orizari rated the process positively.
Does this model pay off?
Brulz built a forecast and a financial model around a single municipal school enrolling 60 adults a year. The cost is roughly €2,300 per person who completes.
The more telling number is the ROI. An employed graduate contributes an estimated €6,038 back to the national budget within four years, through social contributions, personal income tax and the guaranteed minimum assistance that no longer has to be paid.
At national scale, the three scenarios we modelled range from 5,100 to 9,000 participants over three years, with budgets between €9.1 million and €16.4 million.
The Recommendations
Our conclusion is that the model is effective, efficient and replicable with minimal adjustment. It can serve marginalized communities with low educational attainment, returnees in other municipalities, survivors of domestic violence, persons with disabilities, long-staying migrants and people serving prison sentences.
Three things need to happen for it to scale.
First, the new Law on Adult Education has to be adopted so that graduates receive official diplomas rather than certificates; the uncertainty visibly dampened interest in the first cycle.
Second, coordination should stay with an experienced organisation such as UNDP for the first two to three years before municipalities take over.
Third, the curriculum should become more flexible, with more hours for basic literacy where a group needs it.
The need is not abstract. Kumanovo, Strumica, Prilep, Bitola and Radovish alone are home to more than 20,000 adults without primary education. We now know that a model exists that can reach them in months rather than years.
The “Report on the analysis of the model for linking adult educations and qualification building for provision of other marginalized groups: has been conducted withing the regional project of UNDP “Strengthening National and Local Capacities for Supporting the Effective Socio-Economic Reintegration of Returnees in the Western Balkans”. The analysis was conducted by BRULZ, in autumn 2024.
The full analysis was prepared by Brulz for UNDP North Macedonia in 2024. If you work on inclusion, education or labour market policy and want to explore how this approach could apply in your context, get in touch with us.