UNDP “Youth Employment” Project organized an introductory training course on the “Labour Market Information and Analysis” for 86 Career Guidance specialists representing all VETIs in Armenia in December 2024, in Aghveran. The course aimed to provide skills and knowledge to perform a labor market analysis by career guidance specialists to determine the actual needs of the local labor markets to contribute to a market-driven strategic development of VETI for the better employability of VET graduates. 

The two-day training familiarized participants with the use of labor market information, including among others the data source of the Labor Force Survey performed by the ARMSTAT. Karine Simonyan, UNDP “Youth Employment” Project Manager in her welcoming remarks mentioned the importance of the labor market information analysis for evidence-based decision-making in the identification of the principal development directions of any vocational education and training institution. 

The training program providing insights on the labor market statistics and analyses encouraged the sharing of ideas, practices, experience, and partnerships between career guidance centers of TVETIs at a local level. “We provided the participants with an opportunity to discuss with their peers the ways to enhance and develop career development support systems in the context of employment services, education, and training institutions”,- concluded Karine Simonyan.  

The participants were highly content with the overall knowledge and skills they received as an aftermath of the training. “Despite our limited financial resources and opportunities, we passionately work to guide our students through their career pathways. We are glad to participate in this valuable training to gain essential information on statistical data gathering, editing, and analysis. We will use this knowledge back in our colleges,” assured Tamara Khoyetsyan from Ashtarak State College. “It was a very informative course, - asserted Narine Hambardzumyan from Kapan Medical College, - we’ll soon employ the mentioned tools in our work. It was useful to learn about open and closed data and special tools to analyze workforce situation.” 

The training course was conducted in close cooperation with the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and CRRC Armenia. Thanks to this endeavor the career guidance specialists of the VET institutions strengthened their capacities for improved career guidance services and better employability of the VET graduates. 

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The "Unleashing Employment and Income Generating Opportunities for Youth in the Regions of Armenia" project is implemented by UNDP in Armenia. The project aims at supporting the fulfillment of the youth’s potential and well-being in the regions of Armenia through improved education opportunities, facilitated labor market transition, and entrepreneurship.