The legal framework for primary and secondary education, university ranking, beginning with doctoral studies in accordance with the Bologna process and strategies for introducing entrepreneurial education and the education of talented students, are among the areas in the Macedonian education in which the European Commission concluded progress in the report released last week.

As informed by MES, inter alia, a progress in accomplishing the conditions in the suspension of the "Lifelong Learning" and "Youth in Action" set by the EU has been noted, and the system of secondary controls on the operation and management of the National Agency has also been strengthened. The European Commission welcomes the adoption of the Strategy for Integrated Education

It is indicated that pre-school education is below the EU average and that higher education does not reflect the needs of the labor market.

- In this regard, the Republic of Macedonia will boost the higher education institutions to intensify their efforts to open up to the wider social environment and to adapt the curriculum according the needs of the labor market, something which the Ministry of Education and Science is paying and will pay a great attention in the forthcoming period, informs MES.

In the area of science and research, the European Commission stresses the importance of investing in innovation and research. EC positively evaluates the continuous progress of the country in terms of participation in the Framework Programmes (Seventh Framework Programme - FP7). The procurement of equipment for scientific laboratories for public universities and research institutes has also been accentuated, announced MES.