Delegates from Central Asian Education Ministries and Institutions discussed together with EU education experts good practices for improving quality in Vocational Education & Training and Higher Education

Bad Homburg, 13 December 2014

Seventy-six delegates from Central Asia and the EU attended the Central Asian Education Platform’s (CAEP) Third Regional Workshop on “Labour Market Needs and Best Practices in Central Asia for Quality Assurance in Vocational Education & Training (VET) and Higher Education (HE)” in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 11-12 December 2014. The workshop participants included: senior representatives from the Ministries of Labour, Migration and Youth, and the Ministries of Education and Science in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; as well as national experts, officials in higher and vocational education and training, and representatives of the employers’ associations.

The CAEP project organised this workshop in cooperation with the European Training Foundation (ETF), contributing to the discussion on current developments of the Torino Process in Central Asia. Experts discussed challenges and good practices for implementing quality-assurance measures to meet labour market needs, as well as prospects for future intensified cooperation in education between Central Asia and the EU

During the presentations, and particularly as a result of the workshops conducted on the second day, the participants identified a number of themes which were proposed for peer learning in the region, with relevant EU institutions. These included:

• developing awareness and competences for internal Quality Assurance among the staff of education and training institutions;
• developing and/or updating National Qualification Frameworks (or State Standards) in collaboration with employers, and with the broader involvement of stakeholders;
• long-term engagement of the business/economy sector in all relevant educational domains: qualifications, work-based learning, use of modern equipment, innovation projects, etc.;
• standards for data collection and its use, including the use of available statistics, for the purpose of quality development;
• transparency and independence of External Quality Assurance;
• framework design for cooperation between VET and the industry for internships and in-service teacher training;
• design of a Central Asia Accreditation System for VET teacher training providers;
• international mobility for both students and teaching staff of the VET and HE sector.

The participants highly acknowledged the intense discussions and the opportunity to share their experience during the workshop. Furthermore, they expressed their interest in a continued exchange and collaboration on specific topics in dialogue forums dealing with HE and VET. This would, in turn, contribute to the development of a more structured and institutionalised knowledge-sharing forum between the Central Asian countries, and with the EU.

The results of this workshop will be used to assist in drafting an agenda for the Central Asian Education Ministers’ Conference planned to take place under the auspices of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in June 2015.

For more information, please, visit: http://bishkek2014.caep-project.org/