The present-day industry in Uzbekistan sets high demands for the workforce and on training, retraining and advanced-training of specialised workforce Due to  scientific and technical progress, requirements are  increasing for various professions (e.g. complexity of work processes), and new professions emerge. The training, retraining and advanced training system needs to be updated and coordinated according to specific market demands. Until now Ministries and Agencies responsible for the upgrading of staff competences organized it by their “own” procedure with little consideration to the situation of the market and little coordination with other possible stakeholders.

The project contributes to the reform of the vocational educational sector in Uzbekistan through the development of synergies between educational process and labor market demands, by

• Improved cooperation of key Ministries and Agencies in the cycle “Demand-Training-Job Placement” for water-sector professions is in place
• The training framework for two professions of the water supply sector is adopted and required specialists are trained both in the secondary specialized education system and the adult further education system

The geographical focus of this phase will be Syrdarya and Samarkand regions, where four colleges will be selected as pilot for the application of the new curricula.

The key target group comprises management and administrative staff of the Centre for SSVE of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialised Education, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, the Uzbek Agency Uzkommunkhizmat and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This also includes teachers and management of the selected colleges.

As end beneficiaries, both students and water supply specialists are going to acquire knowledge and skills, which meet the current demands of the labour market. Unemployed workers will also be retrained in accordance with the revised training programs and thus will improve their chances for a new job. The project strives to increase the number of girls and women in these professions and improve in general their access to training.

• A cooperation model for the coordination of expertise of the key Ministries and Agencies within the cycle “Demand-Training-Job Placement” activities is elaborated and tested for the water sector. It will include a unified information system for key Ministries and Agencies and a jointly developed model for labour-market needs analysis. The model should be replicable in other sectors of the Uzbek economy and to this purpose a manual will be produced  

• New standards and curricula and new/revised further training programs for professions of water supply sector will be approved by respective Ministries/Agencies and piloted in four colleges in Samarkand and Syrdarya regions. Regional Competence Centres will be created in the four colleges

Results from previous phases:  

The previous phases of the Skills Development Project (2004-2015) were acting at college level, focusing on the development of the cooperation models between colleges and enterprises and building up the capacities of colleges’ management and teachers/masters for occupations in automation technology and in the water management sector. A very close collaboration was built up with the Centre for Secondary Specialised Vocational Education (CSSVE).

• Centre for Secondary Specialised Vocational Education of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education (CSSVE)

• Ministry of Labour and Social Protection

• Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources

• “Uzkommunkhizmat” (Communal Service) Agency

• Chamber of Commerce and Industry

• Vocational Colleges and their Regional Competence Centres

• Ministries’ affiliated institutions and training centres

• Water sector institutions and companies

• GOPA (Germany) – implementer

Phase 4 01.03.2015 - 29.02.2020   (Completed)