Baku, 14 July 2021 – The European Union (EU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the State Agency on Vocational Education (SAVE) kicked off a series of roundtables with the private sector in vocational education centres in Gabala, Guba, Saatli, Baku, Ganja, and Sheki regions of Azerbaijan.

The aim of these roundtables is to strengthen the relations with private sector companies and closely involve them to vocational education processes in the country.

The first ones in the series of roundtables were organised in partnership with the Gabala State Vocational Centre and Guba Vocational Lyceum, and brought together VET experts,
the research group, and the representatives of 35 companies specialised in agriculture, hotel management and hospitality, food production and watering systems in the regions.

The participants had an opportunity to learn more about the ongoing modernisation of the VET system and discussed collaboration opportunities including but not limited to work based learning and internship programmes for graduates, establishment of career centres, and other partnership perspectives with VET Centers.

As part of the event, a focus group was organised with the private sector representatives. They shared current market signals, raised their demands and expectations to play an active role in formulation of VET sector.

A survey was also shared during the event to learn more about the private sector attitude towards VET and the findings of this survey will be used to plan future project activities to increase the involvement of private sector companies into area of vocational education.

The series of roundtables is organised as part of the “VET for the Future: Development of VET Providers’ Excellence in Azerbaijan” project which is funded by the EU and implemented by UNDP in partnership with the State Agency on Vocational Education. The project aims to support the modernisation of VET institutions in Azerbaijan to deliver competence-based training in order to increase the attractiveness and labour market relevance of VET.

The series will continue during this month. 

Media contact:

For media inquiries, please contact Leyla Gurbanova, UNDP in Azerbaijan at leyla.gurbanova@undp.org.

Gulnara Bayramova, Press and Information Officer at the Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan at gulnara.bayramova@eeas.europa.eu.

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