EU and UNDP  support vocational education centers in Azerbaijan to prepare strategic development plans

The European Union (EU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the State Agency on Vocational Education (SAVE) came together to discuss strategic development approaches for selected vocational education centres of Azerbaijan.

As part of the EU-funded “VET for the Future” project, the 3 -days event in Sheki involved the management teams of the SAVE and the directors of 10 vocational education and training (VET) centres from Baku, Ganja, Sheki, Jalilabad, Barda, Mingachevir and Gabala districts of the country.

At the event, the participants discussed the integration ways of current trends into vocational education and the importance of having a strategic vision in development plans. The VET Centers practiced exercises to draft action plans, to write sustainable implementation mechanisms and reporting methods according to each strategic plan, and formulated proposals to increase effectiveness by applying new digital resources in their work strategy.

At the working group levels, the participants also had discussions about monitoring and evaluation, and internal quality assurance. The programme finalised with the participants’ visit to the Sheki State VET Centre.

With the project’s support, 6 different development plans are being drafted which will help various vocational education centres to pursue a continuing development vision, and to prepare human resources meeting the demands of the labour market.

Such events organised by the project are expected to promote sharing best practices with the VET Centres and help develop networking and improve capacities of these centres in Azerbaijan.

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The event is organised as part of the “VET for the Future: Development of VET Providers’ Excellence in Azerbaijan” project, funded by the EU and implemented by UNDP in partnership with SAVE. The project aims to support the modernisation of VET institutions in Azerbaijan to deliver competency-based training in order to increase the attractiveness and labour market relevance of VET.