DARYA: Working together on qualifications in Central Asia – current results and upcoming pilot

Countries of Central Asia recognize that lifelong learning, participation of the world of work in skills development, continuous upskilling and reskilling of people are essential for the enterprises to get the right skills and for people to realise their potential.  All the countries of the region are implementing mechanisms to improve the interface between the society, the labour market, and the education and training systems, as well as wider systems of lifelong learning. These sets of mechanisms form the national qualifications systems. Representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan expressed their interest to learn from each other and intensify collaboration in the field of qualifications systems’ reforms. Understanding each other’s qualifications systems is fundamental for building trust. Since the beginning of 2023 DARYA project worked with partners from the countries of Central Asia on exchange of experiences and unpacking their systems. These activities have supported networking and establishing of a positive spirit of collaboration. To build on this, DARYA launched the process of establishing a working group of interested stakeholders in the framework of Module 2, in order to continue building their capacities.

The objective of the online session on 3 and 4 April is to wrap up on what we have learned so far, and advance on the next level of our joint work – piloting the development of multicountry qualifications. By developing jointly modern, robust, in demand qualifications that are relevant for a number of countries, they will exchange and practice new processes and skills in developing and implementing qualifications that can inform their own qualifications development, implementation and collaboration processes. At the current stage DARYA support the development of 5 multicountry qualifications in 2 sectors. Consultations with the countries have already led to the identification of priority sectors at regional level:  tourism, construction, transport and logistics, agrifood, housing/utilities management, textile, e-commerce. The final selection of sectors and occupations will be made by the interested partners in the countries, focusing on occupations in demand that lead to productive employment and incorporate skills for the changing world.