Education and Labour Deputy Ministers from Central Asia gathered for two-day meeting (23-24 Nov 2023) in Torino, Italy, for a high-level meeting of DARYA (Dialogue and Action for Resourceful Youth in Central Asia), the first European Union’s regional project supporting education, youth employment and inclusive skills development in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
DARYA (Dialogue and Action for Resourceful Youth in Central Asia) is the first EU-funded regional project focusing entirely on measures that support inclusive and labour market relevant skills development opportunities for young people in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The five-year project (2022 – 2027) with a budget of €10 million is implemented by the European Training Foundation (ETF), a specialised agency of the European Union, based in Italy.
The European Training Foundation (ETF) is the European Union agency that supports neighbouring countries in reforming their education, training, and labour market systems. It currently collaborates with 28 partner countries, mainly in the context of EU enlargement and neighbourhood policies. It is headquartered in Turin at Villa Gualino.
The participants of the meeting:
- Kyrgyzstan, Rasul Abazbek uulu, Deputy Minister of Education and Science
- Tajikistan, Lutfiya Abdulkholiqzoda, Deputy Minister of Education and Science
- Tajikistan, Qiyomiddin Davlatzoda, Deputy Minister of Labour, Migration, and Employment of the Population
- Turkmenistan, Halbibi Tachjanova, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection
- Turkmenistan, Azat Atayev, Deputy Minister of Education
- Uzbekistan, Rano Turdiboeva, Deputy Minister of Employment and Poverty Reduction
- European External Action Service, Tatevika Paronjana, Political Adviser to the EU Special Representative for Central Asia
- Asian Development Bank, Sofia Shakil, Director of Human and Social Development
- Asian Development Bank, Michiko Suga, Representative of the European Office
- European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Biljana Radonjic Ker-Lindsay, Associate Director for Economic and Gender Inclusion
Day 1 – DARYA forges new needs for cooperation to address complex policy issues
The European Union’s first regional project on developing youth skills in Central Asia will need to navigate “complex policy issues” through broad cooperation among all stakeholders, Pilvi Torsti, the director of the European Training Foundation, said during his remarks on the first of the meeting.
Dr. Torsti said the complexities of a project designed to foster inclusive opportunities for young people across an economically and socially diverse region, required participants to overcome long-standing divisions between education and the labour market.
“Policy complexity does not necessarily need to be seen as an obstacle, but that we bring results that reflect the complexity of what we need to do,” Dr. Torsti told a meeting.
“There really are no silos between education and the labour market, nor in policies – the labour market should be a driver for policies in education and vice versa”, she noted.
The deputy ministers of labour from three of the five Central Asian countries told delegates how important the DARYA project – which is being implemented by the ETF – was to their region.
Delegates from regional meetings on the project return keen “to strengthen capacity building” within the country and region, said Qiyomiddin Davlatzoda, Tajikistan’s deputy minister for Labour, Migration and Employment.
Halbibi Tachjanova, deputy minister of Labour and Social Protection, Turkmenistan, said: “For Turkmenistan, the chance to create opportunities for young people is really important, and also meets the needs of employers. DARYA takes in account the demographic growth of our country.”
Uzbekistan’s deputy minister of Employment and Poverty Reduction, Rano Turdiboeva, noted that “DARYA is in line with our strategic programme [where] we would like to underline inclusivity and dialogue on skills at a regional and national level.”
Representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Asian Development Bank (ABD) – both of which have agreements with the ETF in supporting the delivery of DARYA – talked of the importance in economic stability of supporting the transition of young people from education and training to the workplace.
Sofia Shakil, Director of Human and Social Development, ABD, said that to improve the employability of young people, “you need a very strong foundation that incorporates more ICT skills and the ability to develop lifelong, cognitive and time management skills.”
Involving industry in the design and development of education and training curricula was also essential.
Biljana Radonjic Ker-Lindsay, Associate Director, Head, Access to Skills Employment, Gender and Economic Inclusion, EBRD, said that “the constant feedback we get from the private sector is that it is not able to secure young people with the right skills. At the same time, we have youth unemployment in many countries.”
The Turin Polytechnical University in Tashkent was showcased as an example of European intervention to improve the availability of technical skills in Central Asia.
During a presentation at the university’s historic Valentino Castle headquarters, university rector Professor Guido Saracco emphasized the need to acknowledge the growing complexity of the modern world, which demands that technological and engineering solutions consider a broader context than in the past.
“It is clear that new products have been born in the past couple of years – in banks, cultural enterprises, film and automotive industries thanks to Artificial Intelligence. The world is changing,” Saracco stated.
However, he also stressed that today’s engineers require a stronger foundation in the “human and social sciences.”
Since its inception in 2009, the university’s Tashkent branch, which offers bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and automotive engineering, ICT, and Civil Engineering taught in English, has produced over 1,000 graduates.
Day 2 – DARYA: Central Asian delegates bring a touch of magic to EU project for greater regional cooperation on youth opportunities
The second day of the “High-Level Group Meeting” convened at Turin’s Collegio degli Artigianelli, a renowned vocational education and training center specializing in crafts. The event delved into critical issues such as enhancing regional data collection, establishing common standards for regionally recognized qualifications, and strengthening teacher training.
As the meeting commenced, delegates were treated to a captivating display of magic, a beloved art form that enthralls audiences of all ages. The mesmerizing card, rope, and cup tricks performed by Marco Aimone provided a brief respite before the group immersed themselves in more serious discussions.
Participants were invited to reflect on the value of their close regional collaboration since the inception of the DARYA project. The project has witnessed significant progress in its first year, with senior officials and stakeholders across the region joining forces to create a level playing field for qualifications and educational standards that align with the evolving demands of the labor market.
Rasul Abazbek uulu, Vice Minister of Education, Kyrgyzstan, said that progress was being made on bringing greater flexibility to professional education, which is why the country needed new skills, “including soft and digital, qualification systems and professional standards.”
Tajikistan’s Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Lutfiya Abdulkholiqzoda, said that working with colleagues across the region had been inspiring. The aims of DARYA – which include an emphasis on green and digital skills – coincide closely with established national policies, including a new law on the Concept of Digital Development of Education.
In Turkmenistan work is underway on new standards in more than 200 professional training programmes to ensure that education meets labour market needs, Azat Atayev, Deputy Minister for Higher and Secondary Vocational Education, said.
Kalamkas Algazinova, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Professional Education, said that all countries of the Central Asian region were “united by working toward the goal of having highly qualified specialists; the goal is one, but we have many objectives.”
In Uzbekistan, Aziz Melioboev, Head of the Department of Professional Education Integration at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovations, said that a platform that had been launched to track the careers of professional education graduates was helping to better understand how well training met labour market skills demands.
Presentations demonstrated the potential of a new AI-powered tool that analyzes online job vacancies in real-time, providing Central Asian countries with valuable insights into labor market needs. Additionally, the concept of “smart specialization” approaches to enhance skills training for specific economic sectors was explored.
Samuel Cavanagh, the ETF’s DARYA project manager, summarized what delegates could expect to be working on in the coming year. These will include:
- Evidence for Skills, a regional study on new forms of work, with a focus on platform work. The study was being finalised, he said, and its findings would soon be shared.
- Support for the development and piloting of graduate tracking and employee surveys.
- A feasibility study on regional cooperation on the development of new qualifications.
- A peer-learning visit to the EU on governance in training institutions and qualifications.
- Work to develop a pilot study for multi-country qualifications.
- Piloting of an innovative tool SCAFFOLD card deck supporting educators in the teaching of key competences.
///nCa, 25 November 2023 (based on ETF’s press releases, photo credit: ETF)
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