Azerbaijan

Prioritise the expansion of adult education opportunities, in a lifelong learning perspective, and the collection of evidence on participation in order to improve employability, close the mismatch gaps and ensure more equity. This improvement should cover the content and methods of training as well as their relevance to the labour market needs.

This could include reinforced involvement of public providers in adult education, and better coordination of the involvement of private providers. Developing interactive and participatory methods will be relevant in gaining the interest of young people in learning and development of skills.

Strengthen the quality and effectiveness of early career guidance and counselling services at general and VET institutions, including building career education into the curriculum, linking it to students' overall development and offering guidance in career planning throughout secondary schools. Employers and non-governmental organisations (in addition to the State Agency for Vocational Education and the Labour Market Observatory) should be involved with the development of trades and the promotion of VET and career guidance.

Enhance coherence and adjust the youth employment policies so that they include services and training offers that are more user-friendly and appealing for young people, thus making the focus on youth an integral part of the country's mainstream labour market policy.

In particular, improve youth support measures by tailoring them to the specific needs of different groups, in particular disadvantaged young people. Furthermore, invest in the professional development of staff from the state employment service, to prepare them for the complex task of target group outreach and diverse needs and expectations.

Make regular use of analytical tools such as tracer studies with graduates and employer surveys that would provide data for more robust planning and show if the training is relevant to the labour market.

The shift to more targeted policy-making will require capacity building with regards to data collection and analysis.