Azerbaijan 2023
Key takeaways
VET in Azerbaijan is accessible and learners are encouraged to participation, although there are notable differences in that respect across different age groups. Azerbaijan excels in providing access to initial vocational education and training for youth but faces challenges with adult participation in continuing vocational education. However, the country is successful in offering other lifelong learning opportunities, particularly through active labour market policy programmes. VET learners can easily advance or switch between study areas, regardless of background, age, or gender. While course completion rates in VET are satisfactory, they fall slightly below the international average. This suggests that there is room for improvement.
VET in Azerbaijan is recognised for delivering foundational skills and competences to both youth and adults, aiming to align with current economic trends and labour market needs. Official sources suggest that the system effectively teaches key competences to young learners and provides skill development for adults, reflecting a focus on lifelong learning and upskilling. The VET programmes place a strong emphasis on the digital transition and maintain robust connections to the labour market. Official reports describe high employability among VET graduates and a career guidance system that is both adaptable and closely aligned with the needs of learners and employers.
Stakeholders are actively involved in the steering and management of VET, but challenges persist due to a lack of reliable and relevant data. Improvements are also needed in quality assurance to maintain trust and ensure the application of uniform standards across the VET system. While VET leaders demonstrate strong professional capacity, further efforts are required to internationalise the system. Human resources in VET are adequate and well-managed, though funding levels may need attention. Despite broader financial challenges, targeted investments in infrastructure have been made, with the material base for teaching and learning reported to be of high quality.
Access to learning
Monitoring in the area of access to and participation to learning helps countries assess the extent to which initial VET, continuing VET and other learning opportunities are accessible and attractive to all learners, regardless of their individual backgrounds or reasons for participating. The data also reflects how well learners can expect to progress through and graduate from these learning opportunities.
The Torino Process monitoring results for Azerbaijan reveal significant disparities in access and participation, potentially disadvantaging some learners based on their age. Access to initial VET is relatively favourable, but it is at risk as IVET providers struggle to accommodate all applicants. Only a portion of those who apply gain admission, a situation the State Agency for VET is working to improve through scholarships and enhanced admission processes.
In Azerbaijan, VET learners may progress with relative ease to higher levels of education. They can also switch between VET and general education tracks with little difficulty. However, while transitioning within the system is smooth, the rates of course completion and graduation are only average, suggesting that the VET system could do more to help learners successfully finish their education.
The Torino Process is a regular review of national systems of vocational education and training as well as adult education. It is designed to analyse the ways in which national VET systems (including adult education) address the challenges of human capital development in a lifelong learning perspective. It was established by the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 2010 and has been carried out in partner countries in Southeastern Europe, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean ever since.
Monitoring in the context of the Torino Process describes the extent to which countries deliver on their commitments to learners in support of their learning through life (lifelong learning - LLL) in three major areas of policy and system performance: access to learning, quality of learning, and system organisation.
Quality of learning
Quality and relevance of learning is the area of monitoring that identifies how successfully the VET system provides basic skills and key competences to both young and adult learners. It highlights the relevance of VET programmes to the world of work and how effectively VET graduates transition into the labour market. Additionally, it monitors efforts to promote excellence across key domains, including pedagogy, professional development, programme content, governance, and social inclusion, as well as the openness of the VET system to innovation in response to the evolving needs of learners and labour markets.
The Torino Process monitoring framework also looks at how well learning content considers topics of relevance for the future, particularly in areas like digital and green transitions. At the time of monitoring, VET programmes in Azerbaijan were already embracing these forward-looking themes, with a strong focus on digital skills and somewhat less attention to green initiatives.
To reinforce performance in an already strong area, the country is shifting towards competence-based training in IVET and CVET to better align with labour market needs. Authorities are also focusing on labour market analysis to identify key professions so that VET stays relevant to the economy. Career guidance plays a crucial role in helping students navigate their options within that context, supported by initiatives like career centres and virtual platforms that all aim at keeping the VET system adaptive and responsive to both industry demands and learner needs.
VET in Azerbaijan does well with the delivery of foundational skills to both youth and adults, but adult proficiency in important skills like ICT and problem-solving varies considerably due to uneven quality of provision. VET graduates are highly sought after due to the relevance of their training to labour market needs, though challenges remain in expanding these programs and improving industry-college cooperation. The shift towards competence-based training and ongoing labour market analysis aims to keep VET relevant and responsive, just like the high priority attached to measures promoting excellence and innovation.
System organisation
System organisation is the area of monitoring that captures performance across various domains of management and administration. It examines whether practitioners and leaders have access to data and evidence to support informed decision-making, the level of stakeholder involvement in VET governance, the quality and capacity of staff in leadership positions, and the degree of internationalisation. Additionally, monitoring the allocation of human and financial resources to the VET system helps assess whether these resources effectively support teaching, training, and learning.
The VET system is in the process of piloting modern, state-of-the art quality assurance arrangements, such as accreditation of VET providers and internal quality assurance, but there are difficulties in attracting the highly qualified school leaders needed for these efforts to be successful and sustainable. Staff policies in support of teachers and trainers on the other hand, are an area of stronger system performance.
In terms of financial resources, the monitoring data suggest the presence of shortages. Yet, despite broader financial challenges, targeted investments in infrastructure have been made and the material base for teaching and learning is of reported to be of high quality. This suggests that focused financial solutions can and do lead to improvements.
VET in Azerbaijan is notably well-performing in some areas of monitoring while facing significant challenges in others. There are difficulties in gathering and using data to assess policy effectiveness and there is also the challenging task of transitioning to a more effective quality assurance framework. At the same time, although financial resources are rather limited, they are being used effectively to establish modern VET centres and improve the material base for teaching and learning. In addition, VET is highly participatory and there seems to be a broad consensus between decision-makers and stakeholders on what policies are needed to address the shortcomings and ensure progress.
Promoting access and participation in opportunities for lifelong learning
Supporting quality and relevance of lifelong learning
Index of system performance
International comparability of performance results
In addition to messages about system performance, the Torino Process monitoring delivers information about the international comparability of results of each country, the extent to which these results may be susceptible to bias, and how self-critical a country is when it reports about its policy and system performance for external monitoring purposes. This is possible because the monitoring methodology foresees keeping accurate records about the availability, origin and type of evidence used to calculate the monitoring results for each country, including Azerbaijan.
The monitoring results of Azerbaijan are somewhat less comparable internationally than the results of other countries in the Torino Process sample, on average. This finding reflects the extent to which the monitoring results of the country are based on internationally comparable evidence. The results are also the most susceptible to bias of all countries in the sample. In other words, the majority of monitoring results for Azerbaijan are based on self-assessment responses. Azerbaijan also tends to self-appraise the performance of its VET system rather positively - the score of Azerbaijan on this metric is well above the average mark that signifies neutral self-assessment.