Project Summary

Currently, the vocational education and training (VET) system of Azerbaijan faces many challenges in terms of management, financial support, staff, content of education, material and technical base and infrastructure. In the last decade, the Government of Azerbaijan has implemented a wide range of activities, state programs, strategies and concepts to address these issues. In addition, a Vocational Education Agency under the Ministry of Education was established in 2016 to increase the efficiency and relevance of vocational education and training system in Azerbaijan and to produce qualified workforce for the labour market. Nevertheless, certain problems remain. The infrastructures of the majority of VET centres have not been modernised for decades while educational resources, educational programs, teaching and learning materials used by VET centres are out of date or do not respond to the requirements of a modern VET system. Financial support from the state budget is not at the required level and VET centres are not currently able to generate income due to the challenges they face. Social partnership is also very weak. The rate of involvement of professional, administrative and management staff of VET centres in training courses on capacity building are low and quality of training courses are not satisfactory and legal and regulatory framework on VET need to be updated and adjusted accordingly. Moreover, these challenges and problems promote a negative perceprtion of VET centres among the prospective students. Statistical data shows that annually less than 11% of graduates are enrolled in VET institutions in Azerbaijan, while it is 40-60% in developed countries. Estimations show that each year approximately 50-60% of general education graduates enter the labour market without any qualification. This is one of the main reasons for the higher unemployment rate and low productivity among you

The Government of Azerbaijan has recognised the importance of developing the VET system in a number of policy documents, and emphasised the importance of reforming the VET system in Azerbaijan in achieving high results through an improvement in the infrastructures, the content of education, the professional capacity, the establishment of recognition of prior leaning, internal quality assurance and social partnership. The project will address the governance issues in all envisaged activities and use collected findings as evidences for model replication in other regions as well as use the results for improving policy framework in the area of VET.

Proposed Vocational Education programme will be implemented in two regions of the country, namely Ganja and Jalilabad. Both of the regions are top priority for The Ministry of Education and were selected due to many factors, such as labor market relevance, priority sectors for country development, private sector interest and required infrastructure in place. The project will be implemented according to CPD national priority to strengthen institutional capacities and effective public and social services, and UNAPF outcome 2 to enhance institutional capacities for transparent, evidence-based and gender-sensitive policy formulation and implementation. To this end, UNDP will employ a mix of strategies combining capacity-building measures in VET institutions in Ganja and Jalilabad with sector-specific interventions. The focus will be put on developing human capital as a necessary prerequisite for a diversified, competitive and knowledge-based economy. It will ensure that the most vulnerable sections of the workforce, including young people, women and persons with disabilities, have access to skills and resources that match labour market demand. UNDP will also provide support for national institutions in designing and rolling out new vocational education programmes in the non-oil sectors.

The project will act in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 4 to "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" and will primarily focus on the Target 4.4, "By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship".

Project Objectives

Expected Results

Project Accomplishments