Flexibility, Academia and Human Capital Formation: What Is the Role for Higher Education in Kosovo’s Transition towards a Knowledge-Based Economy?

Abstract

This paper places Kosovo in the context of education reform and the requirements of a knowledge-based economy. As a newly independent country and a post-conflict society, Kosovo is faced with a number of critical tests on its path towards effective consolidation and sustainable development. Hindered by structural unemployment and institutional parallelism in the education sector, the development of an efficient association between higher education institutions and the labor market is perceived as a vital challenge. Thus, the paper first attempts to deconstruct the low level of adaptability and professionalization of the country’s labor force through the imbalance between the education system, market demands and the level of academic innovation. By critically reflecting on the Kosovar higher education market, the paper suggests the pursuit of certain state-centric measures in the neo-liberal administration model.Finally, the paper argues that the modernization of the higher education sector in Kosovo is critically dependent on two interdependent intra-university factors: curriculum flexibility and continuous upgrading of academic human resources.