Police education, as in every developed country, is also in the Republic of Macedonia aimed at preparing future police officers for competent execution of tasks in their field. Specifically, dedicating special attention to the entirety of the security system practically creates that circle of basic education or training, which then through everyday police work becomes intertwined with the goal of a continuous system of upgrading and specialization at all levels. The goal is to be prepared to respond to all security challenges faced by the state, and especially to be one step ahead in preventing all possible forms of social deviations in order to successfully deal with them. In that sense, historically speaking, and here we would focus on European countries, there are different systems of police education. Some sharply exclude, on one hand, basic, and on the other hand, higher police education as separate entities, while in some systems they are intertwined into a whole. The Republic of Macedonia, through different time periods depending on the needs and aspirations of the state for better establishment of the security system, has built its police educational system and through practice evaluated the results to reach today's status.
For a start, a few historical data: during the period of World War II, in 1944/45, in a private house in the Čair neighborhood, Skopje, the first courses for literacy of some partisans were organized, who after the war ended were assigned from the army to the then militia, so this is the first "police school" with which the germ of education of security personnel begins, and then with their help courses and seminars were organized for personnel who were to lead departments, militia stations, and certain sectors in the security service. This lasted through the following decades, during which the foundations of police education were laid.
To ensure a quality system of education for security personnel, in 1971 for the first time regular schooling of police officers started within the then general education system of directed education, so the Secondary School for Internal Affairs was opened in Idrizovo, as the first step towards further higher education in the field of security, with a four-year curriculum and full boarding and schooling of students, who after finishing became basic level police officers, but with certificates valid only within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so if someone left the sector, their diploma was not recognized as others, which among other things is one of the bigger weaknesses of that closed self-sufficient system. Hence, in June 1977 the Law on the Establishment of the Center for Education of Personnel for Security and Social Self-Protection was adopted, allowing for educational forms of all levels to be organized, and for studies and acquisition of higher scientific titles. Alongside the existing Secondary Police School, which was integrated into this law, the Faculty of Security was opened for the educational needs of the entire security system of the then SFRY. However, for multilayered reasons which will not be elaborated here due to space, and especially with the dissolution of the former state – SFR Yugoslavia, and primarily with the declaration of the Republic of Macedonia as an independent state, the question of the future of the institution was posed. Therefore, the Faculty of Security was abolished by the Law on the Establishment of the Center for Education of Personnel in the Field of Security in May 1995, which organized secondary vocational education for personnel needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including police personnel, firefighters, and personnel for institutions for executing criminal sanctions, lasting four years with schooling and boarding, and professional training and upgrading of existing Ministry employees were also carried out. The vacuum of the absence of education for police personnel at the managerial level, but above all the fact that in the Republic of Macedonia and neighboring countries a transition process was ongoing due to the collapse of a social system, massive criminalization which endangered the security of the state and citizens' property, their physical and moral integrity, the 2001 war, led to the establishment of the Police Academy with the Law on the Police Academy adopted in June 2003. This institution was established for education of personnel for the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other state organs, providing higher education and continuous education within which were basic police training, special training, and management training. From this moment, basic police training lasts 12 months including three months of practical field training, instead of the previous four years filled mostly with theoretical knowledge and little practical contact.
Many shortcomings in the Law on the Police Academy, where higher education—the umbrella—was given legal precedence over basic training—the foundation, as well as problems with its practical implementation favoring higher education at the expense of basic police training, led to seeking the best solution. For these reasons, it could not meet the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, especially the main priority—basic police training. The transformation of the Police Academy into two independent institutions, the Training Center as part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia, and the Faculty of Security as a separate higher education institution, was legally set in the Law on Amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs, so the Center officially started work on 01.08.2008. The Training Center was placed in the organizational structure of the Ministry. There, basic police training, special training, and security management training are carried out according to curricula whose content and implementation method is determined by the Minister of Internal Affairs. The new Law on Internal Affairs from 2009 made a qualitative leap forward in implementing reforms of the Police and the Ministry as a whole, in line with new trends. Namely, besides regulating internal affairs, it created a legal basis for establishing a system for promotion and evaluation of authorized officials in the Ministry, so-called career system, taking into account professional qualities and qualifications, working abilities, completed training during employment, and job performance regardless of gender, race, skin color, political and religious beliefs. In that sense, every Ministry employee has the right and duty to train according to Ministry needs, and the Training Center has legal authority for conducting MIA trainings. The Training Center conducts trainings to qualify for independent work when employment contracts are concluded with seven or more persons newly hired (intern training); then basic police training; then training for qualification for independent work in certain jobs; and finally continuous training. Efforts are made daily for the Training Center to be synonymous with "center of quality" in this part of the world and to belong to the best Training Centers in Europe. Police education is based on programs recognized nationally and internationally, meaning national and international quality standards are met.
In 2007, the Training Center implemented a new police educational model oriented toward substantive activities and competency-based. The Training Center supports appropriate learning and training environments for police officers so they train continuously and return to training whenever needed. This precisely means continuous training of Ministry employees—to perform tasks more successfully at their assigned workplace, ensuring efficient functioning of the Ministry. Competencies gained by trainees are tested through competency measurement tests, where trainees demonstrate competencies practically in real or simulated situations.
The Training Center is continuously developing and cooperating with more and more international partners, and in the near future more programs and projects will emerge aimed at exchange of trainers and trainees in educational training seminars across various fields of police training.