ETF experts took part in an international conference "Education in the Epoch of Great Revival" in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on 24-26 November 2011.

The conference is organised each year by the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan under the patronage of the country’s presidency. It is an international event with participants coming from Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Its aim is to share experience in the development of education and to hear about innovations introduced in different countries.

‘There is a widespread understating in Turkmenistan that vocational education and training is important for the promotion of social and economic development of the country,’ said Milena Corradini, an expert and country manager for Turkmenistan at the ETF, who took part in the visit.

Education and training is vital for diversification of the economy of Turkmenistan, which today largely relies on the gas and oil exports and cotton production.  

Ms Corradini met with the officials in the Ministry of Education and the recently established Ministry of Labour and Social Protection to discuss their priorities for 2012 and ETF support. The conference was also an opportunity to meet local EU experts and to agree on how to cooperate considering the new EU-funded projects in the field of general education and vocational education and training.

Recently Turkmenistan’s authorities took certain actions, also with the assistance of international donors, to improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency education. However, there is little reliable data for policymaking in education.

‘It would be important to collect, analyse and elaborate on systematic basis data related to enrolment, graduation, career path and employment to come up with a strategic overview,’ said Ms Corradini. Better information could allow authorities to take the right decisions and to monitor the progress.

Turkmenistan, as one of the ETF’s partner countries, is invited to take part in the next round of the Torino Process, a regular policy review in vocational education and training.


Photo: Ashgabad / Flickr Creative Commons / Simon Bradshaw