NATIONAL QUALIFICATION S FRAMEWORKS (NQF) IN … · context of the present debate on Qualification...

September 2016

European Union Programme for Central Asia

Central Asia Education Platform Phase II (CAEP 2)

EuropeAid 2014/354952

This project is funded

by the European Commission

Claudio Dondi, Senior STE, on behalf of the EC and GOPA

NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKS

(NQF) IN CENTRAL ASIA

Stock-taking Report

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 4

PART 1 – GENERAL REPORT .......................................................................................... 7

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 8

THE GLOBAL PICTURE: NQF AS PIVOTAL ELEMENTS OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MODERNISATION ................................................................................................ 12

The policy rationale for NQF as a global “policy phenomenon” .................... 12

The observable impact of National Qualifications Frameworks ..................... 13

THE EMERGENCE OF REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKS ............................................................................................................................ 14

THE ORGANISATION OF NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS SYSTEMS IN CENTRAL ASIA: POLICY FOCUS, CHALLENGES AND ACHIEVEMENTS ......................................................... 15

The Present Systems of Qualifications in the Frame of Modernisation Policy16

Involved Institutions and Stakeholders’ Roles ................................................ 17

Evolution of Qualification Systems .................................................................. 18

The use of qualification systems: success factors and challenges ............... 18

The influence of International Developments .................................................. 19

MAIN CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE COLLABORATION ..... 19

Recommendations for Future Action ............................................................... 20

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 22

PART 2 – COUNTRY REPORTS ..................................................................................... 23

NATIONAL REPORT KAZAKHSTAN ................................................................... 24

Executive Summary ........................................................................................... 26

Part I. Present Situation ..................................................................................... 27

Part II. Institutions and Stakeholders ............................................................... 30

Part V. The Internationalisation Option ............................................................ 36

Concluding remarks .......................................................................................... 37

References ......................................................................................................... 39

Annex 1 ............................................................................................................... 40

NATIONAL REPORT KYRGYZ REPUBLIC......................................................... 41

Executive summary ........................................................................................... 43

CAEP 2: Stock-taking report on National Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia 3

Part I. The Present System ................................................................................ 44

Part II. Involved authorities and stakeholders ................................................. 48

Part III. Evolution of the NQF, QFs or related systems .................................... 49

Part IV. Using Qualifications ............................................................................. 52

Part V. Getting International .............................................................................. 53

Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 54

Annex 1 ............................................................................................................... 56

Annex 2 ............................................................................................................... 57

NATIONAL REPORT TAJIKISTAN ....................................................................... 61


The Present System of Qualification ................................................................ 64

Involved authorities and stakeholders ............................................................. 68

Evolution of NQF / QF or related systems ........................................................ 70

Using qualifications ........................................................................................... 73

Going international ............................................................................................ 75

Concluding remarks .......................................................................................... 76

ANNEX ................................................................................................................ 79

NATIONAL REPORT UZBEKISTAN .................................................................... 83


Glossary of Terms.............................................................................................. 85

The existing organization of Qualifications in Uzbekistan .............................. 87

Institutions and Stakeholders’ Roles in Setting and Maintaining Qualifications ...................................................................................................................... 92

Evolution of Qualifications Systems ................................................................ 93

How Qualifications Systems Are Used ............................................................. 96

The Internationalisation Option ........................................................................ 97

Conclusive remarks ........................................................................................... 99

References ....................................................................................................... 100


Executive summary

Context and articulation of the report

This stock-taking activity was proposed in the context of the Central Asia Education Platform –Phase 2 (CAEP2), as a result of priority indications emerged from the previous phase of work – in particular the Study on Quality Assurance and the regional workshops held in Istanbul (March 2014), Bishkek (December 2014) and Istanbul (March 2015), confirmed and validated during the Riga Ministerial Conference of June 2015 and by the related Declaration and Roadmap. The close link between the existence of a modern and coherent system of qualifications and the overall quality of education and training provision was clearly emerging from the study and the following debates.

This report contains the main results of the stock-taking activity and is articulated in a general report (Part 1) which summarises the approach and the main findings in the four countries in the context of the present debate on Qualification frameworks; and a collection of the detailed four Country Reports (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan ,Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) in Part 2.

Main results

In all four countries the renewal of qualifications - according to the Learning Outcomes approach and in cooperation with employers’ representatives is recognised to be a key element, with growing importance, in the national strategy to modernise education and to assure the quality of education provision, but the formal and substantial implementation paths are still in their early phases. Kazakhstan might be considered the most advanced Country of the Region from this perspective, already participating in the Bologna Process and in a phase of reviewing and completing its NQF, Kyrgyzstan has just approved (March 2016, when this report was in its review phase) its new NQF, but from a technical perspective also the other countries have accumulated a number of significant experiences and elements of a technical infrastructure that might bring to a quick development in the immediate future.

There is no doubt, in the policy makers and stakeholders consulted in the four Countries, that renewing Qualifications highly contributes to the quality of education and training supply, to employability of learners in the Country and abroad (that especially for Tajikistan is an important factor) and to the level of internationalization of the systems. The paths undertaken to come to a substantial renewal of Qualifications and their frameworks differ among the four Countries, but several similar steps have been made and others are presently undertaken. Interesting developments are to be mentioned (e.g. the National Testing Centre in TJ, the National Centre for the Development of Professional Skills in Kazakhstan, the Qualification Development Centre at the Kyrgyz State Technical University, the new State Educational Standards for language teaching and the joint (Ministry of Higher and Specialized Education with the Centre of Secondary Specialized Professional Education) monitoring activity on sector skills needs in Uzbekistan, the massive TuCAHEA TEMPUS Project (Towards a Central Asian Higher Education Area) work on HE curricula and qualifications in several academic disciplines, the ETF (European Training Foundation) activity related to the Torino Process, a part of which was specifically related to the development of NQFs, the QUADRIGA TEMPUS Project (Qualification frameworks in Central Asia: Bologna-based principles and regional coordination), which drafted structures for NQFs in the region and several other projects supported by international donors) and may constitute precious good practices for a regional collaboration agenda.


It cannot be said that the use of NQFs or their quasi-equivalent systems is unproblematic several challenges are reported, even in the most advanced Countries. Among these the following deserve to be mentioned, since they occur in more than one Country:

The moderate and often only superficial involvement of enterprises; The difficulty to change the tradition of “classifying” qualifications on the basis of the duration

of study programmes rather than on the Learning Outcomes achieved; The difficulty to integrate the different subsystems of education (and notably HE and VET)

under a common qualifications framework and coherent quality assurance systems, and to guarantee transition of learners and recognition of credits among these systems;

The lack of disseminated and consolidated expertise in defining and applying the Learning Outcomes approach;

The lack of a clear normative/technical reference allowing to link individual qualifications to an overarching National Qualification Framework, with agreed criteria and standards to describe qualifications, levels and corresponding categories of learning outcomes;

The difficulty to include and recognise learning outcomes achieved through informal and non-formal learning (e.g. at the workplace).

The influence of international developments

It is obvious from the Country Reports that:

EU Programmes, Agencies and initiatives (ETF, TEMPUS), bilateral cooperation (Germany, South Korea among others), other international organisations such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank played an important, if not fundamental, role in each of the four Countries to create pilot initiatives and policy attention on the issue of NQFs as a catalysts for modernisation of Education and Training Systems. The role of ETF work on NQFs and TEMPUS Projects such as TuCAHEA and QUADRIGA cannot be underestimated in creating interest, awareness and local capacity to contribute to NQFs, however the challenge to integrate past projects results with present policy developments by national Governments is still open;;

The common tradition of the previous (pre-independence) system is still present, but also the original State Educational Standards, that are an expression of this, have undertaken a process of transformation that bring them closer to modern qualifications based on learning outcomes; this evolution is particularly evident in Uzbekistan;

The interest for international recognition of qualifications and credits transfer is high in all countries, especially in Higher Education, and the rationale for regional cooperation is clearly perceived, even more clearly in those countries that are clear “exporters” of human resources, especially Tajikistan.

EQF is recognized as a relevant reference to build and consolidate NQFs in the Region, but not all stakeholders express a clear interest in establishing a common Central Asia QF following the same approach used in Europe.

Suggestions for future collaboration

The following themes, emerging from the stock-taking activity, are suggested for consideration in view of the Riga Conference scheduled in April 2016:

1. The functional articulation among new/developing NQFs and existing State Educational Standards, Occupational Standards

2. The definition of institutional roles and arrangements, in particular allocation of responsibility of NQF to one institution


3. The integration of qualifications developed by the different educational sectors into a single National Framework allowing permeability -among the sectors- for individual learning paths;

4. The recognition of learning outcomes generated through informal learning, especially work-based;

5. The integration of outputs of international donor initiatives into coherent national development programmes; e.g. authorization of occupational standards into national system to be basis for national qualifications

6. The development of local expertise –at all levels- to fully develop, implement and maintain a NQF based on learning outcomes and to refer it to the relevant international QFs;

7. The balance between standardisation of learning outcomes and learning paths specificities required by local contexts and individual diversity, in view of authentic education quality;

8. The effective and continuous involvement of stakeholders – particularly employers - in the process of designing and reviewing qualifications;

9. Possible approaches for recognition of qualifications and credits across borders (within CA and internationally);

10. The development of International/Regional Sectoral Qualifications (through the involvement of stakeholders from the labour market) and their connection to National Qualification Frameworks;

11. The interest and feasibility of a Regional Qualification Framework for Central Asia; and compatibility of qualifications and systems and frameworks among the countries but also with key neighbours plus the EU.

Beyond the necessary political mandate to develop collaboration, an operational cooperation framework is necessary, ideally among national technical bodies (Qualification Agencies, Methodological Centres, Quality Assurance Agencies) in charge of developing/maintaining the National Qualifications Frameworks. The horizon of collaboration and funding should go beyond the duration of a typical EU project: the existence of this collaboration framework would progressively support the establishment of a Regional Community of Practice on Qualifications and the convergence of international donors’ projects on a permanent technical collaboration infrastructure. It is expected that such convergence would maximise the impact of national and international structural projects aiming at major contributions to education reform, but at the same time would not discourage the initiative of bottom up pilot projects; on the contrary, these would have a natural interlocutor for dissemination and mainstreaming of their results.


Part 1 – General Report


INTRODUCTION

This stock-taking activity is proposed in the context of the Central Asia Education Platform –Phase 2 (CAEP2), as a result of priority indications emerged from the previous phase of work – in particular the Study on Quality Assurance and the regional workshops held in Istanbul (March 2014), Bishkek (December 2014) and Istanbul (March 2015), confirmed and validated during the Riga Ministerial Conference of June 2015 and by the related Declaration and Roadmap.

Qualification Frameworks are identified as critical instruments in view of different purposes:

To increase the quality of education and training provision by making direct reference to transparent learning outcomes;

To provide a ground for increasing collaboration among educational sectors, and between those and the world of work;

Through renewed and quality-assured qualifications, to increase the employability of students and trainees at the end of their education cycles;

To increase permeability of learning paths, particularly between Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher Education (HE);

To support trans-national mobility of students and trainees through recognition of qualifications and credit transfer.

The study and the validation activities conducted between the last quarter of 2015 and the first half of 2016 have allowed us to observe that very significant developments are taking place in CA Countries (e.g. the adoption of a NQF in the Kyrgyz Republic in March 2016), but also that several implementation challenges (see Section 4.4 of this document) are to be faced, some of which common among the Countries of the Region, and some well-known also in the EU and other regions of the world.

The report – that is conceived for people professionally involved in education and training policy, practice or research, including, of course, employers who take part in sectoral and general qualifications development work - is articulated in a General Part (PART 1), presenting a synthesis of the main results of the stock-taking activity in the four Countries in the context of the present international debate on Qualifications Frameworks, and also containing some conclusions and recommendations for future collaboration; and a collection (PART 2) of the four Country Reports of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan.

The activity coordinator expresses his gratitude to the four National Experts who wrote the Country Reports (Kazakhstan – Yelena Zigangirova; Kyrgyzstan –Onolkan Umankulova; Tajikistan – Subhon Ashurov; Uzbekistan – Aleksey Semyonov and Abbas Khodjaev) , to the stakeholders that accepted to collaborate to the activity by replying to our questions, to the Members of the CAEP Steering Committee who oriented our work and to the colleagues of the GOPA-CAEP Team – first of all the Team Leader Christian Wagner- who guaranteed feed-back and continuing support. A particular acknowledgement is addressed to Baiba Ramina of the Latvian Academic Information Centre, and to Sintija Smite of the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science, who gave a substantial contribution to improve – in precision and clarity - the previous versions of this report.

A special credit, finally, has to be recognised to Anne Katherine Isaacs (University of Pisa, TuCAHEA Project Coordinator), Jens Bjornavold (CEDEFOP) Michael Graham and Arjen Vos (European Training Foundation), who contributed with their time and experience to the reflection contained in this report.


Aim of the stock-taking activity and expected results

The activity aimed at contributing, with a high level of detail on some critical implementation issues, to the available knowledge on the evolution of Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia, in the frame of the existing Qualification Systems.

In view of guaranteeing the maximum of clarity in the use of the specific terminology, by National Qualifications Systems (NQS) we mean all aspects of a State’s activity related to the recognition of learning outcomes and other mechanisms that link education and training to the labour market and civil society; this includes the development and implementation of institutional arrangements and processes relating to quality assurance, assessment and the award of qualifications. A NQS may be composed of several subsystems (for Higher Education, General Education, Vocational Education and Training, etc.) and may include –or not- a National Qualifications Framework that gives overall coherence and comparability among qualifications of the different subsystems, and provides standards to classify qualification levels. In this report we will focus on NQFs development in four Countries of Central Asia, making reference to the existing/evolving organisation of qualifications

The expected results of the stock-taking activity were:

An updated picture of existing Qualifications Systems and National Qualifications Frameworks developments in Central Asia, with a focus on “new generation” Qualifications, based on a clear and transparent learning outcomes approach and on an open dialogue between education and the world of work;

The identification of best practices and possible grounds for Regional Central Asia collaboration;

Creating the conditions for a Peer Learning exercise at Regional and Bi-Regional (Central Asia – European Union) level on the subject of NQFs design and implementation, thus establishing the basis for sustainable cooperation.

The core research questions

Given the limited time span foreseen for the activity, and its meaning within the CAEP2 context, the number and complexity of the research questions addressed had also to be limited. Nevertheless, the choice was critical to guarantee the quality of the activities, particularly the Peer Learning cycles, that might follow this one, and the focus had to be closely related to the policy priorities contained in the Riga Declaration and the associated Roadmap. The following questions and sub-questions were proposed accordingly:

1. THE PRESENT SYSTEM. How are Qualifications organized in the (Central Asia) Country? Is there a single Framework covering all educational sectors? And all economy/professional sectors? How many levels are used? Which categories of learning outcomes?

2. THE INVOLVED AUTHORITIES AND STAKEHOLDERS. Who is responsible for developing and maintaining Qualifications updated? Is there one dedicated Qualification Authority or more? Who is involved? How are representatives of the world of work involved? How are learners representatives involved?

3. THE EVOLUTION. What have been recent changes? How often is the system reviewed? On the basis of what information ( e.g. employment outcomes, responsiveness to industry requirement, learners demand for a qualification, etc.)? What are the reference models and


the current orientations? Are there different/controversial views – in the political and academic context - on how Qualifications should be organized?

4. USING QUALIFICATIONS. How well are Qualifications known and used in the Country? Are Study Programmes expressed in terms of Learning Outcomes corresponding to the Qualifications in the National Framework/System? Are these learning outcomes the basis for educational design, assessment and certification? Are teachers well informed and trained on Qualifications and their contents/organization? Is the Qualification Framework used to support mobility between VET and HE and to recognize the results of informal learning?

5. THE INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE. How important is the international dimension in the Qualifications debate? Are benefits perceived of a transparent Qualification Framework in view of students and workers mobility? Is there a recognized interest in having a Qualification Framework at CA Regional level in the Country? Is there a recognized interest in having Qualifications expressed according to international references (e.g. the European Qualification Framework)?


Methodological aproach

Considering the limited resources available, and the possibility to rely on the collaboration of the European Training Foundation in the VET field, this activity was developed in a time-efficient way and consisted of:

a. A review of existing published and grey literature on Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia, conducted by the international expert coordinating the activity;

b. The formulation of a Country Report Format (specifying the related issues to be addressed and providing guidelines for data capturing and validation ) to be used by the local experts; this was also proposed by the coordinator, discussed and agreed by the whole research team after checking the feasibility and the comprehensiveness of the proposed approach;

c. The implementation of desk and field activities in local language (literature review, analysis of existing and prospective legislation/regulations/practices at national level, review of best practice, interviews with local key stakeholders, focus groups) in each country by the identified local experts, and the preparation of Draft Country Reports in English;

d. The analysis and comparison of the Country reports done by the coordinator in collaboration with the local experts.

e. The finalization of Country Reports in English and Russian and the preparation of this draft Final Stock-Taking Report;

f. The validation and updating of the Report after the Regional Conference held in Riga in April 2016.

Country experts had a key role in updating and completing the information already available, and collecting a few additional views in their Country, that allowed to validate the first picture provided by the Country Reports.

The stock-taking activity had the ambition to constitute the basis for policy dialogue and further work, most probably in terms of Peer Learning; it was therefore important that Country Reports were not only produced in the same format, but that their contents were compared to identify commonalities and differences, that might stimulate motivation to learn more and work together. A key effort was made by the coordinator and the research team to elaborate a substantial comparative analysis of the reports coming from the five Countries and to relate them with similar developments in the EU and, when relevant, elsewhere. This analysis constitutes the First Part of the Final Report.

The detailed Country Reports are contained in the Second Part of this report.


THE GLOBAL PICTURE: NQF AS PIVOTAL ELEMENTS OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MODERNISATION

The policy rationale for NQF as a global “policy phenomenon”

Many Countries worldwide have introduced National Qualification Frameworks (NQFs) in the last three decades, with a strong acceleration after the year 2005. The global inventory of NQFs, published jointly by Cedefop, ETF and UNESCO in 2014/15, covers more than 150 Frameworks. NQFs seem to concentrate high expectations of policy makers as potential instruments to successfully address many challenges of education, training and access to labour market.

NQF not only act as classification tools for qualifications: they aim to bring coherence and clarity to several qualification systems that may co-exist in one Country, typically linking different sub-systems (General and Vocational Education, Continuing Training, Adult and Work-based Learning, Higher Education) and/or to different sectors/segments of the labour market.

In particular, when looking at the global picture, the following aims may be associated to the decision to develop and implement a NQF:

1. To make qualifications transparent and comparable, through common descriptors in a shared framework and basing qualifications themselves on comparable learning outcomes.

2. Provide a platform for dialogue for stakeholders involved in the provision of education and training, and the main actors in the labour market; to , further, engage stakeholders in design and development and assessment and wider implementation of qualifications

3. To improve the quality and relevance of existing qualifications, by linking them to labour market needs, via learning outcomes and engaging social partners in governance arrangements of the QF

4. To help learners to move between learning sub-systems and have the respective learning outcomes recognised by building pathways; in particular via linking sub-frameworks or including all types of qualification from all sectors in one LLL QF;

5. To contribute to learners’ mobility, credit transfer and recognition of qualifications across borders;

6. To redefine qualifications, by basing them on learning outcomes rather than duration of study programmes (this is a fundamental development in the modernisation agenda of education and training worldwide, intended to allow flexibility in the choice of education/training provision and permeability among different formal, non-formal and informal learning paths by recognising the respective learning outcomes in a perspective of lifelong learning);

7. To support the development of learning programmes fully coherent with expected learning outcomes as expressed in the description of the qualification to be achieved;

8. To offer a reference instrument for learning assessment and certification of learning outcomes, including those achieved through informal and work-based learning; and so to provide a framework for VNFIL

9. To offer a reference instrument to define insertion levels and remunerations in the labour market (although educational and occupational standards are normally separated in


most countries of the world, qualifications are frequently used as a key indicator to establish insertion and remuneration levels)

The list is not exhaustive, and some of these aims are strongly related to others; not all of them can be found in every policy document explaining the intention to build a NQF. Nevertheless, it is evident that NQFs have come to represent a very broad range of expectations, the achievement of which may not depend only on the establishment of NQFs.

The explanation is that NQFs are a “hub” of several innovation and Quality Assurance processes that depend on many other conditions, but “meet” around the renewal of qualifications and their systematisation.

Several studies show how NQFs have sometimes followed and sometimes led education and training reform, but it is extremely difficult to find a national modernization agenda in the field that does not include the establishment or the reform of a NQF.

The observable impact of National Qualif ications Frameworks

The spread of NQFs development is not only based on the analysis of their proven impact, but also on the “policy borrowing” process that has become a macroscopic phenomenon in the last twenty years in the world of education, with a strong influence of International Organisations and Donors.

The systemic comparative analysis conducted hitherto by International Organisations such as UNESCO, ILO, Cedefop and ETF show that NQFs have had mostly a positive impact (although not extended to all the areas mentioned above), but their success depends, to a very large extent, on the coherence, continuity and integration of the surrounding policies and on the institutional capacity to implement the generalized use of the QF.

All studies recognize that implementing a NQF in all its multiple aspects is a complex process and requires a long time: many NQFs have been introduced too recently to have developed their full potential, which requires the implementation of all procedures and criteria, depending on the active participation of all relevant stakeholders, from employers to teachers, from learners to institutional leaders.

The older NQFs have certainly produced an observable impact, but some discontinuity element in education and training policy and some negative or inertial attitudes by some categories of stakeholders may have reduced the expected positive effects. Having a strategic “communication device” such as a NQF helps, but does not automatically produce a culture of collaboration between the “word vision” of education and that of industry, for example.

Four “fitness conditions” are identified by an ETF study for NQFs:

1. All relevant stakeholders are involved on a permanent basis

2. The stakeholders are willing and capable to contribute

3. The Framework links with existing institutions

4. The Framework leads to a more dynamic qualifications development

Concrete impact of NQFs can be observed on increased social dialogue on relevance of qualifications, on recognition of informal learning, on reformulation of study programmes and certification procedures, on transparency of qualifications and their international comparability.


However, the overall impact of NQFs is still far from the most ambitious expectations, because their actual implementation is closely linked to the institutional capacity to lead an innovation process and on the perseverance in supporting a coherent modernization approach.

If the NQFs impact is not yet the one expected, their centrality is broadly recognized. In a synthesis, it can be said that NQFs are mostly recognized as a necessary but not sufficient condition to achieve satisfactory results in a modernization and quality development agenda.

The emergence of regional and international Qualifications Frameworks

One area in which NQFs have undoubtedly produced a visible impact is the internationalization of education systems (particularly Higher Education), and especially recognition of qualifications and learners mobility. This partially explains the growing interest in establishing Regional or International links, “translators” of Qualification Frameworks, that allow immediate comparisons and referencing across NQFs of different Countries. This development is often associated to a political aim of Regional collaboration that includes but transcends the fields of education and the labour market.

The best known example of a Regional QF is the European Qualification Framework (EQF –https///ec.europa.eu;). It involves 39 Countries (of which 35 have adopted an eight-level framework), but other examples can be found in South East Asia (10 Countries), in the South African Development Community (15 Countries), in the Caribbean Region (15 Countries) and new developments are expected in other world Regions (the Gulf QF, the Pacific QF, etc.)

Regional QFs imply the willingness of moving from bi-lateral to multi-lateral recognition of qualifications and, to a certain extent, build on the existence of NQFs in the participating Countries.

However, as the case of EQF clearly shows, it is not indispensable that every participating country has a fully developed NQF in order to participate in the building of a Regional QF: the Regional Framework, being a reference instrument, has a “lighter” nature than a National Framework, may limit itself to establishing reference principles, descriptors and levels that allow comparisons among existing qualifications originated by the participating countries, without a strict obligation for them to have a single NQF, to have the same hierarchy of levels nor exactly the same indicators.

A Regional Framework has an overarching value and allows each country to reference its own existing qualifications towards it, in view of transparency and recognition on the basis of a “broad equivalence” assessment. The number of qualification levels, for example, differs among and even within EQF participating Countries (e.g. the UK), but this does not impede the immediate comparison because each national qualification has, at least in principle, an associated EQF level.

The latest Briefing Note of CEDEFOP, while reporting increasing signs of maturity in NQFs implementation in Europe, also points out five challenges they will still have to face:

i. NQFs need to better integrate arrangements for the validation of non-formal and informal learning. This is critical for the frameworks to make a difference to lifelong learning and to add value to career progression.

ii. NQFs need to further promote the use of learning outcomes for the development and review of qualifications standards, curricula and assessment.

iii. Countries need to make their NQFs more visible for the general public and broaden stakeholder involvement, both from education/training and the labour market.


iv. Countries need to better integrate their NQFs into mainstream education, training and employment policies to fully benefit from their potential.

v. NQFs need to be closely interlinked with quality assurance policies and practices”

The process of development of a Regional framework may stimulate the evolution of existing -possibly fragmented- Qualification systems of the participating countries towards modern, multi-stakeholder, learning-outcomes-based NQFs, and this is, to a large extent, the experience of several European Countries. On the other hand, the existence of consolidated NQFs in one or more participating countries may help, but also complicate the establishment of a regional Framework if the existing NQFs are not easy to be matched with the newer design principles of the Regional Framework.

An ETF Study conducted in 2011 on Transnational Qualification Frameworks concludes that “NQF development and the transnational Qualifications Framework development should preferably happen simultaneously as the interplay between the processes is valuable in both directions”.

THE ORGANISATION OF NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS SYSTEMS IN CENTRAL ASIA: POLICY FOCUS, CHALLENGES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

This Section summarises the content of the four Country Reports (that can be found in PART 2 of this Report) according to the research questions presented in Section 3. Reference to individual Countries is made when differences are particularly remarkable; for a “vertical” reading on each country it is advised to go to PART 2 of this report. Central Asia is a region with very young population, in which education is central in the priorities of the governments. The four Countries studied have a short history as independent States, they share a common recent past and Russian as a Regional communication language; they have substantial differences in the level of urbanization, economic development and income pro-capita. A strong migration flow exists from Tajikistan and, to a lesser extent, from Kyrgyzstan towards Kazakhstan, Russia and the rest of the world.


The Present Systems of Qualif ications in the Frame of Modernisation Policy

Although the perspective of creating National Qualifications Systems has been debated in all Countries for several years and much progress has been made towards a Learning Outcomes approach in the existing State Educational Standards, and towards a closer cooperation with employers in re-defining/updating qualifications, only Kazakhstan has a NQF in place (since 2012), intended to be compatible with the EQF, and Kyrgyzstan has just established one (in March 2016). The other Countries have experienced several projects, some of which with a Regional perspective and international support, and have created favorable conditions for the setting up of a NQF, but have not completed the policy process for its establishment. State Educational Standards, Occupational Standards and new sectoral fragments of QF are coexisting and playing complementary roles, with a perceived positive tension towards integration.

The aims to which the debates on NQFs are normally related are, in order of declared importance:

1. The improvement of education quality through renewed and more relevant qualifications; this focus on quality is the characterizing element of the policy discourse on qualifications in general and NQFs in particular;

2. The international recognition of qualifications;

3. The re-organisation of existing qualifications coming from different education sectors and presenting some degree of incoherence/fragmentation;


4. The increased collaboration between education and employers to match the needs of the labour market.

As an additional aim, some reference is made, in the interviews conducted in KG and TJ, to the possibility of recognising the results of informal learning..

If we were to apply the ETF grid for the classification of policy stages in the implementation of NQFs (see Appendix 1), it would be easy to conclude that only Kazakhstan, and now Kyrgyzstan, due to the legal basis of their NQFs, may be considered in a stage beyond AD HOC; but the reality of all countries contains several “islands of early implementation”, mostly supported by international projects and/or conducted at sectoral level in advance of general policy decisions. In these “islands” some technical characteristics of the STRUCTURED and DEFINED stages can be found.

In practical terms all countries have progressed towards the idea of having a modern QF: Uzbekistan has substantially updated its State Educational Standards and has promoted an extended dialogue on qualifications renewal with employers’ representatives at sectoral level, and is piloting the learning outcomes approach in the language teaching area; in Tajikistan no political decision has been made to establish a NQF, but substantial piloting experiences have taken place at sectoral level, some of which have been conducted with a clear reference to the EQF and/or to the objective of establishing a Regional framework for recognition of qualifications. In Kazakhstan the implementation of the NQF is not completed and some gaps (in sectors and qualification levels) or points of relative incoherence are being addressed by new initiatives. In Kyrgyzstan the NQF has recently been approved and the involvement of stakeholders has been constantly increasing with respect to the preliminary phases of development, dating back from 2006.

Although in most of the countries VET has evolved more substantially than Higher Education, the interest of stakeholders for the renewal of qualifications was stronger in Higher Education, a sector for which the reference to the Bologna Process and, in general, to internationalisation has the maximum importance.

In all countries, the renewal of qualifications according to the learning outcomes approach and in cooperation with employers’ representatives is recognised to be a key element, with growing importance, in the national strategy to modernise education and to guarantee recognisable quality standards, but the formal and substantial implementation paths are still in their early phases. Kazakhstan might be considered the most advanced Country of the Region from this perspective, already participating in the Bologna Process and in a phase of reviewing and completing its NQF, but from a technical perspective also the other countries have accumulated a number of preliminary experiences and element of a technical infrastructure that might bring to a quick development in the immediate future.

Involved Institutions and Stakeholders’ Roles

All the Countries share a rather centralized approach to the definition of Qualifications, with one or two Ministries in the key role, supported by technical Qualifications/Testing Agencies/Methodological Centres with a role to define the details of qualifications, exams and certification processes, but it must be recognized that progress is being made towards a stronger involvement of stakeholders, particularly employers representatives, in the process. This is particularly developed at the sectoral level.


The results of this involvement are more evident and positive in KZ and UZ (where representatives of industry are frequently active in the sectoral qualifications boards or technical groups), although we should take into account the enormous weight of public industry; in general terms, VET has a more consolidated link to enterprises, but some HEIs have been very successful in involving employers in updating existing qualifications.

In general terms HEIs have a stronger voice than VET providers in proposing new qualifications and contributing to their maintenance. It must therefore be recognised that, in spite of a centralised (state-led) approach in the definition of qualifications, bottom up processes to update qualifications or define new ones (led by HEIs or networks of employers and education providers) are taking place both at sectoral and institutional level. In all countries some sectoral bodies (see Country Reports in Part 2 for details) have been established to define/review qualifications and in KZ a National Committee for the development of Professional Skills was created in 2012, the same year of NQF establishment; a similar step has been undertaken for the newly established Kyrgyz NQF; in Uzbekistan theCentre of Secondary and Specialized Professional Education monitors the emerging skills needs in cooperation with employers representatives of the different industries.

Evolution of Qualif ication Systems

There is no doubt, in the policy makers and stakeholders consulted in the four Countries, that renewing Qualifications highly contributes to the quality of education and training supply, to employability of learners in the Country and abroad (especially in Tajikistan it is an important factor) and to the level of internationalization of the systems. The paths undertaken to come to a substantial renewal of Qualifications and their frameworks differ among the four Countries, but several similar steps have been made and others are presently undertaken. Interesting developments are to be mentioned:National Testing Centre in TJ, the National Centre for the Development of Professional Skills in Kazakhstan, the Qualification Development Centre at the Kyrgyz State Technical University, the new State Educational Standards for language teaching in Uzbekistan, the massive TuCAHEA (a TEMPUS Project named “Towards a Central Asian Higher Education Area: Tuning Structures and Building Quality Culture) work on HE curricula and qualifications in eight Subject Area Groups, the ETF activity related to the Torino Process, a part of which was related to the development of NQFs, the QUADRIGA Tempus project (Qualification frameworks in Central Asia: Bologna-based principles and regional coordination), which drafted structures for NQFs in the Region and several other projects supported by bi-lateral cooperation and international donors. They may constitute precious examples of good practice for a regional collaboration agenda.

It must be recognised that some of the developments observed in the region correspond to similar developments that recently took place or are still taking place in EU Member States in their process of establishing or renewing their National Qualifications in relation to the implementation calendar of the EQF.

The use of qualif ication systems: success factors and challenges

It cannot be said that the full development and use of NQFs or their quasi-equivalent systems is unproblematic: several challenges are reported, even in the most advanced Countries. Among these, the following deserve to be mentioned, since they occur in more than one Country:


The moderate and often only theoretical (i.e. on paper, but not in practice) involvement of enterprises;

The difficulty in moving from the tradition of “measuring” the level of qualifications on the basis of the duration of study programmes, rather than on the Learning Outcomes achieved;

The difficulty in integrating the different subsystems of education (and notably HE and VET) under a common qualifications framework, and to guarantee transition of learners and recognition of credits among these;

The lack of diffused and consolidated expertise in defining and applying the Learning Outcomes approach;

In the majority of Countries, the lack of a clear normative reference to an overarching National Qualification Framework;

The difficulty to include and recognise Learning Outcomes achieved through informal and non-formal learning (e.g. on the workplace).

All these problems are not new for EU Countries, most of them are still open challenges, although significant progresses have been made and good practices are available; the issue of institutional capacity to change and the related needs for expertise in the relevant staff –practically all teaching, guidance and management profiles in education and training systems- cannot be said to be completely solved in any Country.

The influence of International Developments

It is obvious from the Country Reports that:

EU Programmes, Agencies and initiatives (e.g. TEMPUS, ETF), bi-lateral cooperation (Germany, South Korea, etc.) and other International players (e.g. World Bank and Asian development Bank) played an important, if not fundamental, role in each of the four Countries to create pilot initiatives and policy attention on the issue of NQFs as catalysts for modernisation of Education and Training Systems. The role of ETF work on NQFs and TEMPUS Projects such as TuCAHEA and QUADRIGA cannot be underestimated in creating interest, awareness and local capacity to contribute to NQFs, however the challenge of integration of past projects results and policy coordination by national Governments is still open in some of the Countries; in particular, it is important that new EU and internationally funded projects in this area are put in the conditions to build on the results of previous projects and to contribute to national policy developments.

The common tradition of the previous pre-independence system is still present, but also the original State Educational Standards, that are an expression of this, have undertaken a process of transformation that bring them closer to modern qualifications based on learning outcomes; the case of Uzbzkistan is quite illustrative of this development.

The interest for international recognition of qualifications and credit transfer is high in all countries, especially in the field of Higher Education, and the rationale for regional cooperation is clearly perceived, even more clearly in those countries that are net “exporters” of human resources, especially Tajikistan.

EQF is recognized as a relevant reference to build and consolidate NQFs in the Region, but not all stakeholders express a clear interest in establishing a common Central Asia QF following the same approach used in Europe.

MAIN CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE COLLABORATION


As preliminary conclusions, it can be said that the four Countries are mature to start a new collaboration phase, in which learning from each other and from EU Countries may quickly bring to a new speed in the systemic renewal of existing qualifications and to the parallel consolidation of National Qualification Frameworks, dedicated technical structures and stakeholders consultation mechanisms. Elements of these are already in place and started to work in one or more of the Countries (with different balances between top-down and bottom-up initiatives), and some significant experiences and qualified experts are available in all four. The extent to which such increased collaboration will be driving to the conclusion that a regional framework is necessary is not predictable at the moment, and will probably depend on both technical and political factors that go much beyond the ambition of this stock-taking exercise.

Recommendations for Future Action

Integration and systematization need political impulse In order to build on the momentum generated by the Riga Ministerial Conference of June 2015 and the current stock-taking activity (including the Regional Conference held in Riga in April 2016) some concrete collaboration processes should be started in the short term. Fragmentation and discontinuity, already experienced in the past, are the main threats to the achievement of significant impact of the many efforts towards the modernisation of education. It is recommended that clear policy decisions – respectively, and according to the present state of development, they may consist in the formal establishment of a NQF or some substantial investment in implementing the existing one - be taken concerning the determination to progress in the direction of NQF implementation in the frame of the established international collaboration.

Policy dialogue supported by technical collaboration The present stage of development observed in the Region suggests the need to feed the policy dialogue with a sound and continuing technical level of cooperation among the countries of the Region: although the main visible challenge is one of integration and systematisation of the many initiatives in place –that can only be possible through a strong political input and convergence of aims- the integration of the different elements is not obvious and also requires substantial technical and methodological know-how to produce a coherent and sustainable synthesis. For example, in EU Countries a small technical secretariat, composed of two to four full time experts, exists to coordinate the complex implementation process that involves the relevant stakeholders at the general and sectoral levels.

Open issues to be addressed together NQFs are seen more and more as central elements in the modernisation and internationalisation of education supply, a large part of the needed legislation and regulation is already in place, but several open issues deserve consideration and may benefit from regional and international exchange and collaborative development processes. The following themes, emerging from the stock-taking activity, are suggested for consideration in view of the Riga Conference scheduled in April 2016:


1. The functional articulation among new/developing NQFs and existing State Educational Standards, Occupational Standards and the establishment/role of National Qualification Agencies;

2. The integration of Qualifications originated by the different educational sectors into a single National Framework allowing permeability -among the sectors- for individual learning paths;

3. The recognition of learning outcomes generated through informal learning, especially work-based;

4. The convergence of present and future international donors initiatives (and the results of the past ones) towards coherent national development programmes in each Country;

5. The development of local expertise –at all levels- to fully develop, implement and maintain a NQF based on learning outcomes and to refer it to the relevant international QFs;

6. The balance between standardisation of learning outcomes and learning paths specificities required by local contexts and individual diversity, in view of authentic education quality;

7. The effective and continuous involvement of stakeholders in the process of designing and reviewing qualifications;

8. Possible approaches for recognition of qualifications and credit transfer across borders (within CA and internationally);

9. The creation of Regional/International Sectoral Qualifications by labour market stakeholders and their link to NQFs;

10. The interest and feasibility of a Regional Qualification Framework for Central Asia.

Practically almost all of these issues have already been considered –not necessarily solved- in the European Union and would justify Regional collaboration for Central Asia Countries with the participation of EU partners; in principle they could all be part of a peer learning exercise based on the relevant good practices and open challenges.

A permanent technical collaboration infrastructure As mentioned above, beyond the necessary political mandate to develop collaboration, a practical approach is needed to organise permanent cooperation at the technical/methodological level , ideally among national bodies (Qualification Agencies if and where they exist, Methodological Centres, Quality Assurance Agencies) in charge of developing/maintaining the National Qualifications Systems. The horizon of collaboration and funding should go beyond the duration of a typical EU project, and the existence of this collaboration framework would progressively support the establishment of a Regional Community of Practice on Qualifications and the convergence of international donors’ projects on a permanent collaboration infrastructure. It is expected that such convergence would maximise the impact of structural projects aiming at major contributions to education reform, but would not discourage the initiative of bottom up pilot projects; on the contrary, these would have a natural interlocutor for dissemination and mainstreaming of their results.

Obviously such partnership among National technical agencies might progressively become the core local organisational support for Peer Learning activities involving both the policy making level and the technical level that the CAEP Project is expected to facilitate.


Bibliography Allais, S. (2010), The Implementation and Impact of National Qualifications Frameworks: Report of a study in 16 countries, ILO. CEDEFOP (2009), Criteria and procedures for referencing national qualifications levels to the EQF. CEDEFOP (2014), Qualifications frameworks: expanding influence, persisting obstacles, Briefing Note, November 2014, No1. CEDEFOP (2015), European Guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning, Luxembourg; Publication Office, CEDEFOP reference series; No 104 CEDEFOP (2016), Qualifications frameworks in Europe – coming of age, Briefing Note February 2016 Coles, M. et al. (2014), “Flying blind: Policy rationales for national qualifications frameworks and how they tend to evolve” in International Journal of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, Volume 7, Issue 1 Dondi, C. (2014), Quality of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher Education (HE) in Central Asia, GOPA – CAEP EuropeAid/131004/C/SER/RSCR ETF (2011), Transnational Qualifications Frameworks. ETF (2012), Qualifications Frameworks from Concepts to Implementation. ETF (2014), Torino Process - Kazakhstan. ETF, CEDEFOP, UNESCO (2013), Global National Qualifications Framework Inventory. European Commission (2013), Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – Evaluation of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Isaacs, A.K. (2014), Building a Higher Education Area in Central Asia: challenges and prospects, in Tuning Journal for Higher Education, Volume 2, Issue No.1 Ramina, B. , (2012) Referencing the Latvian Education System to the EQF for Lifelong Learning and the Qualification Framework of the European Higher education Area – Self-Assessment Report, Academic Information Centre Slawinsky, S. et al. (2013), Referencing Report –Referencing the Polish Qualifications Framework to the EQF, Instytut Badan Educacyjnych.


Part 2 – Country Reports


NATIONAL REPORT KAZAKHSTAN

Stock-taking Report

on

National Qualifications Framework in Kazakhstan

Central Asia Education Platform 2

Yelena Zigangirova

Astana 2016


ABBREVIATIONS

CTE Complex Testing of Entrants ETF European Training Foundation GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH HEI Higher Educational Institution ICC Independent Certification Centre ISCED International Standard Classification for Education MES Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan MHSD Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development of the Republic of

Kazakhstan NQF National Qualifications Framework NQS National Qualifications System OS Occupational Standards RK Republic of Kazakhstan RSMC Republican Scientific Methodological Center for Technical and Vocational

Development and Training Development and Qualifications Assignment SCES State Compulsory Educational Standards SPDE State Programme for Development of Education of the Republic of

Kazakhstan for 2011-2020 SQF Sectoral Qualifications Framework TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training TVEM project Technical and Vocational Education Modernisation Project UNT Unified National Test VET Vocational Education and Training


Executive Summary

This report aims to analyse the current state in relation to the development of the National Qualifications System (NQF) in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK). The NQF was developed and legally established in 2012 as a part of the National Qualifications System (NQS).

Fig. 1 - National Qualifications System in Kazakhstan

The developed NQS is structured and controlled by the relevant ministries, the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) and the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development (MHSD) of the Republic of Kazakhstan. All elements of the NQS (which incorporates NQF at national and sectoral level, occupational standards and the evaluation and confirmation of professional skills and qualifications) are developed and implemented in the existing structure of qualifications. The NQS was designed to bring together all qualifications issued by different organisations on the learning outcomes basis. The participation of stakeholders in development of the NQS is acknowledged and partly institutionalised. The NQF was designed with the intention to be compatible with the European Qualifications Framework as a tool for labour market relevance and educational quality.

The National Law on Qualifications Draft was developed by the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MHSD). It is available on the ministry’s website for comments and suggestions. Many official regulations on NQF have been issued but they mainly determine the stages and steps for the development of NQF and occupational standards (OS).

After the legislation on NQS was adopted, some industry and business associations started to develop occupational standards. The MHSD had developed and approved the common methodology for OS development. Since 2013, the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs ‘Atameken’ (NCE Atameken) started to participate in TVET modernisation. According to the Labour code of RK, employers/business associations are responsible for the development and revision of OS; however, the NCE Atameken is responsible for the approval of OS. Therefore, businesses obtain the right to design and approve OS and actively collaborate with vocational colleges.

Evaluation of professional skills and confirmation of qualifications are carried out by the Republican Scientific Methodological Center for Technical and Vocational Development and Training Development and Qualifications Assignment (RSMC). The RSMC organises the evaluation and certification of graduates on an annual basis. A mechanism to certify workers and graduates independently is still to be developed and implemented

Despite the efforts of the government to implement the NQS, some improvements are needed. For example, the NQF should be revised with regard to learning outcomes, and informal

National Qualifications

Framework

Sectoral Qualifications

Framework

Occupational Standards

Evaluation of professional

skills and confirmation of

qualification


education should be included as well. Also, some inconsistencies between the level of education, the NQF level and requirements of job functions need to be removed. Moreover, it is necessary to unite the various decrees and orders of the NQF in a national set of regulations. The analysis of the current systems shows that next steps of improvement could include the evolution of qualifications framework across sectors and levels, as well as the development of OS.

Part I. Present Situation

Education

Kazakhstan became an independent state in December 1991. Since then the educational system of Kazakhstan has been fully transformed, taking into consideration the needs of Kazakhstan in the economic, social and political areas.

The Ministry of Education and Science supervises all levels of education, science, children protection rights and youth policy. The education system is based on the principles of continuity and succession. There are seven levels of education in Kazakhstan (Annex 1):

Pre-Primary Primary Lower Secondary Upper Secondary (including general secondary education and TVET) Post–secondary Higher Education (Bachelor) Higher Education Graduate (Master and PhD)

The education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan is undergoing a phase of deep conversion processes. The basis of the state educational policy is the State Programme for Development of Education (SPDE) of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020, which defines Kazakhstan as an educated country with a modern economy and a highly skilled workforce. Schooling is mandatory in the country and the national literacy rate is over 99%.

Source: UNESCO, 2014

Fig.2 - School age population by education level in Kazakhstan

The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MES) develops the curriculum - which is applied to public and private schools - except for Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, Nazarbayev University and foreign educational institutions - these are autonomous education organisations by law.

After primary education (grades 1-4), students continue their study in lower secondary education (grade 5-9). After completion of the 9th grade, students have two options for the continuation of their education. The first is to complete general secondary education in schools

Education Level Number of population Pre-primary 1,333,936 Primary 1,007,898 Secondary 1,575,221 Tertiary 1,500,559


or gymnasiums. The second is to complete general secondary education and obtain a qualification in a vocational college. General secondary education is compulsory in Kazakhstan by the Constitution.

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is governed by the Law “On Education” (2015), under the responsibility of the MES. There are 820 vocational colleges in Kazakhstan, including 467 public colleges and 353 private colleges [1]. There are two types of training programs in vocational colleges:

a. 2 years and 10 months of vocational training after compulsory general education (11 th grade)

b. 3 years and 6 months of an integrated programme of general secondary education after basic secondary education (9th grade) and vocational education.

In order to continue their education in higher education institutions (HEI), students have to pass a Unified National Test (UNT). According to the results of the UNT, students can apply for educational grants. If students decide to continue their education in HEI after vocational college, they have to pass the Complex Testing of Entrants (CTE), which was introduced in 2012.

The higher education system is also governed by the Law “On Education”. In 2010, Kazakhstan was the 47th country to sign the Bologna Declaration. The goal of Kazakhstan`s participation in the Bologna process is

to improve the access to European education to further enhance the quality of educational programmes and curricula to increase the mobility of students and staff through the adoption of a system of

comparable levels of higher education to introduce the use of loans and the issuance of European Diploma Supplements for Kazakh universities.

Vocational colleges are mostly state-funded, while vocational and tertiary education is offered by both public and private educational institutions.

A variety of tertiary institutions respond to Kazakhstan’s higher education needs, including universities, academies, institutes and conservatories. The nation’s three top universities are Nazarbayev University, Eurasian National University in Astana, and Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty. There are 126 HEI in RK, including 56 (44%) private HEI [1].

Vocational Training plays a major role in the implementation of the National Industrial and Innovative Development Programme of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2015-2019.

National Qualifications Framework (NQF)

The National Qualifications System (NQS) in Kazakhstan was implemented in 2012. The NQF was firstly declared in the Chapter 10-1 of the Labour Code, dated 15 May 2007. The NQF was developed in accordance with the European Qualifications Framework.

Prerequisites for the NQS development:

The following factors define the background and challenges to be addressed when introducing a highly competitive NQS in Kazakhstan:


Discrepancy between available and needed qualifications due to changing situation on the labour market.

Strengthening the requirements for the competence of experts and specialists in connection with the development of new production technologies;

Requirements for a lifelong learning strategy in education.

The NQS aims to bring coherence and clarity to the existing qualifications systems. Also, NQF are designed to bring together all qualifications issued by different organisations on a learning outcomes basis. If qualifications are classified in a common system they can easily be compared by employers, individuals and educational institutions. Kazakhstan is using the learning outcomes-based approach to define the NQF level descriptors.

According to the Amendments of Joint Order of MES and MHSD (# 8022 on 19 October 2012), the NQS consists of several elements:

1. National Qualifications Framework (NQF): qualifications level description of the general characteristics of a professional activity.

The NQF has been developed by the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MHSD), together with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MES), government bodies, employers’ associations (registered Joint Order # 8022 on 19 October 2012).

2. Sectoral Qualifications Framework (SQF): developed by the Sectoral Council for a specific industry or professional activity field.

The SQF classifies the industry's requirements for each qualification depending on the complexity of the work and the skills used, playing an important role in certification of personnel. Furthermore, the SQF describes the possible qualifications in sectoral industry based on the NQF.

3. Occupational Standards (OS): a set of common requirements for the content of professional work to update the qualifications that meet the current needs of the labour market.

The development of occupational standards is carried out by the authorized state bodies of relevant fields of activity, together with the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan, employers’ associations and industry associations of employees. Educational institutions develop the Educational Programs (curriculum) on the OS basis.

4. Evaluation of professional skills and awarding of qualifications

The evaluation system of professional training and demonstration of compliance with professional development requires independent certification centres, organised by the trade associations of employers.

The NQF in Kazakhstan was developed as a tool for balance between the labour market and the education sector and to bring together several key concepts such as ‘Job Classification’, ‘Occupational Standards’, ‘TVET Qualifications Classification’, ‘HEI Specialty Classification’, ‘Educational Programs’, ‘Evaluation System for Qualification’ and ‘Forecasting System’.


According to the registered Joint Order # 8022 on 19 October 2012, the NQF consists of eight levels of qualification, it corresponds to the EQF and the education’s levels defined by the Republic of Kazakhstan’s Law ‘On Education’ (revised on 4 December 2015).

The levels in the NQF indicate complexity of different degrees of the learning outcomes. The lower levels (1-2-3) of the NQF define the lower secondary and upper secondary education or vocational skills for people who can work effectively under supervision; the central levels (4-5) typically define the expected requirements for professionals who can act independently, while the highest levels (6-7-8) define the capacity to analyse and innovate processes, create new knowledge and may include the ability to lead and manage people and processes. In the NQF, the highest levels (6-7-8) are reserved for holders of higher education degrees. Additionally, the NQF highlights and shows the connection between the level of qualification and obtained education level. Informal education is not considered in the NQF.

In general, the national qualifications system tackles the following problems:

To streamline and harmonise the existing qualifications, professions, positions into a single system and thus eliminating inconsistencies and duplication;

To bring qualifications in line with the requirements of job functions in the industry; To increase motivation to learn in the workplace and the construction of optimal

trajectories of training and career development of persons; To clarify the system of remuneration and incentives for career growth.

Part II. Institutions and Stakeholders

In Kazakhstan, the roles in developing and maintaining qualifications are clearly defined between educational organisations, stakeholders, business associations and some public bodies.

The MES is a main authority for TVET and higher education. MES’ main objectives are to form a unified state educational policy and to create the necessary conditions for quality education. The MES develops State Compulsory Educational Standards for qualifications and professions (TVET) and for specialty (HE). The MES ensures that training of specialists meets the requirements of the labour market, expanding academic and managerial autonomy of universities and development and improvement of teacher training and other aspects. It is important to follow the global trends, mainly the convergence of the education system to the needs of the labour market.

The TVET system plays an educational and social role for youth as well. TVET gives practical skills to the youth according to the requirements of the labour market. In order to provide practical skills, TVET has stronger links with industry, which provides internship and places for students’ professional practice.

In the past, very often employers stressed their concerns about graduates’ skills and the quality of education provided; on the other hand they seemed to be not so much interested in participating in study processes or curriculum development. Now the situation is slowly changing and some business associations have become more interested in e.g. vocational education. A good example of such collaboration (VET college – business association) started with the Kazakhstan Tourism Association. Other business associations and industries have also started to participate actively in curriculum development or by providing internship places, respectively various forms of work-based learning for students at TVET and HE level.


The National Chamber of Entrepreneurs ‘Atameken’ (NCE Atameken) is very active in TVET modernisation. Some amendments in the Labour Code (2015) and the Law ‘On Education’ were made by NCE Atameken. According to the Labour Code, employers/business associations are responsible for the development and revision of the OS, and the NCE Atameken approves it. Under this document, businesses in Kazakhstan receive the right to develop and approve the OS and underline more active collaboration with vocational colleges. In the same Chapter, it is written that MHSD and MES are jointly responsible for the development and revision of the NQF. Some experts underline that two parts of NQF should be revised with regard to learning outcomes and the level of education addressed. The NQF does still not take into account informal education, and inconsistencies between level of education, NQF level and requirements to job functions do still exist.

In 2016-2020, in the framework of the World Bank ‘KZ Skills and Jobs’ project, it is planned to revise the NQF to remove inconsistencies, and to develop a full set of new sectoral qualifications and OSs.

The SQF started to develop after the NQS was created in 2012-2013. Authorised state bodies and employers' associations are responsible, under the Labour Code, for SQF development and revision. The MHSD monitors and executes the NQF.

After the NQS was created, some industry and business associations started to develop occupational standards. At that moment, all of them use different approaches and methodologies for OS development. For example, under a previous EU funded project on “Support to Technical Vocational Education and Training in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, the Kazakhstan Tourism Association developed occupational standards for tourism. However, at the same time, educational programmes were still developed based on the State Compulsory Educational Standards (SCES) for TVET and HE, which was revised and legislated in 2012.

In total 147 OS for 618 qualifications were developed in the framework of the World Bank TVEM Project from 2011 to 2015,. According to the State Programme for Accelerated Industrial-Innovative Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2014, the priority sectors for OS development were identified (oil and gas, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, processing of agricultural products, construction, communications and IT, geology, mining, power generation and transport). The list of priority sectors was agreed as well with the MHSD. Therefore, under the TVEM project, OS were developed in priority fields and on qualifications chosen from the Qualifications Classification. At that moment, there was no approved methodological approach to develop OS. The challenge is that OS were developed for level 2-4 of the NQF (TVET). Therefore, it did not cover all possible levels of NQF. As a result, the developed OS need to be revised and added the highest NRC levels, if applicable.

In the TVET system, the MES designs the typical curricula leading to each qualification on the basis of the State Compulsory Educational Standards (SCES) and the Qualification Classification for TVET. Then, based on the typical curricula, each vocational educational organisation develops the working curricula and academic calendar. In the HE system, the MES develops SCES for each specialty. Each HE institution designs then curricula based on the SCES and the Specialty Classification for all levels (Undergraduate, Master courses and PhD). The Republican Scientific Methodological Center for Technical and Vocational Development and Training Development and Qualification Assignment (RSMC) is responsible for the coordination of the last element of the NQS – evaluation and certification. The RSMC annually organises the evaluation and certification of graduates. There is still no mechanism to certify workers independently.


In the framework of the NQF development in 2012, three Independent Certification Centers (ICC) were created with methodological support from Kasipkor Holding as a pilot. The first is at the Kazakhstan Tourism Association, the second is the Kazakhstan Association «KAZENERGY» and the third is at the Republican Association of Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises.

The Kasipkor Holding was founded by the President of Republic of Kazakhstan Decree in 2011 to create and develop a network of world-class colleges. The Kasipkor’s mission is to prepare competitive and highly qualified professionals to meet the needs of the labour market and innovative development of the country. Kasipkor cooperates very closely with the industry, businesses and international experts.

Part III. Evolution of Qualifications Systems

In Kazakhstan, NQF have been introduced in educational institutions (especially TVET and HE), professional bodies, etc. Several steps have been taken in order to develop and implement the NQF at both HE and VET level.

Kazakhstan joined the European Higher Education Area (Bologna Process) in March 2011. To date, more than 60 universities in Kazakhstan have signed the Bologna Process. By signing this document, universities commit to develop democratic principles of management, academic freedom of students, university autonomy, etc. The State Programme for Education Development in the Republic of Kazakhstan (SPDE, 2011-2020) outlines the full implementation of compulsory and recommended parameters of the Bologna Process.

A three-level model of HE (‘Bachelor – Master – Postgraduate’) was created in 2007. Educational programs were developed based on the Dublin descriptors, expanded the rights of universities in determining the content of educational programs. For Bachelor programs, it was up to 55%; for Master programs, 70%; and doctoral programs was up to 90%. The MES developed and implemented an academic mobility programme for students and faculty from abroad.

In 2012, amendments to the “Law On Education” were adopted: Primary and Secondary Vocational Education became Secondary Vocational Education:

All professional lyceums became vocational colleges Pupils of professional lyceums became students Complex Testing of Entrants (CTE) was introduced

In 2008, a Specialty Classification for technical and vocational education was created. This document was developed on the basis of the International Standard Classification for Education (ISCED), Job Classification of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In the framework of the NQF, the MES prepares the Specialty Classification for TVET and HE. To prepare this document, the ISCED and the NQF are used. MES has done some research in comparing levels and educational programme types in Kazakhstan with ISCED 2011 and NQF. During this research, it became necessary to develop the new type of educational level ‘Applied Bachelor’ (level 5 NQF, ISCED 5). This definition was amended in the Law ‘On Education’ in 2015.

Also, in 2012, new State Compulsory Educational Standards (SCES) for postgraduate, higher education and TVET were created. The advantages for TVET were that SCES was designed as a framework where prerequisites for students, duration of study, and the content of compulsory part, maximum study hours per week, are given. Now educational institutions can develop the


curriculum based on the OS (competences, knowledge, skills) and SCES (duration of study, content of compulsory part, study hours per week).

In 2012, Kasipkor Holding developed educational programs leading to for oil and gas qualifications at NQF levels 2-4 jointly with international experts from the South Alberta Institute of Technology (Calgary, Canada), based on the needs of the oil and gas labour market. In 2013-2015, Kasipkor developed educational programs together with international experts from GIZ (Germany), TAFE (Australia), Pearson (United Kingdom), etc. It was a transition from a knowledge approach to a competence based approach for educational programme development. All international experts represented different educational systems and various approaches to educational programme development, which were and are being integrated into the ongoing VET reform process.

Also, with support of Kasipkor Holding, the methodology for establishing Independent Certification Centre (ICC) was developed. The idea of ICC creation is to transfer student evaluation and certification to business associations. Currently, RSMC is responsible for the evaluation of professional skills and confirmation of qualification for VET graduates. But some businesses and industry do not recognise the qualification certificate obtained from RSMC – consequently there are intense discussions going on how to tackle this issue to certify graduates of the VET system.

In 2013, MHSD developed and approved the OS development and implementation methodology and first occupational standards were developed for various professions. Business or employers’ association started to design OS for their economic sectors. However, in 2014, MHSD approved a new OS development methodology. As a consequence, the OS developed in 2013 were approved and legislated and needed to be revised in accordance with the new methodology. The procedure to adopt OS at legal level is a very time-consuming process. For example OS need to be agreed with many governmental organisations and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs ‘Atameken’.

In 2012, Kasipkor supported the Tourism Association, the KazEnergy Association and the Association of Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises, to establish certification centers (design methodology, certification testing system). These ICC are based on the Business Association and need to pass accreditation to certify graduates and workers. In 2014, this activity was continued for another three pilot certification centers on IT, construction and mechanical engineering sectors.

The NQF is used as basis to certify graduates’ award to ensure that their knowledge and skills meet the labour market needs. According to the "Rules for the level of professional readiness confirmation and assignment of qualification by technical and service professions (specialties)", all TVET graduates must be certified since 2012. In the Law “On Education” Article 28 it is written that Final Certification consists of two parts. They are State Exam and/or Diploma Thesis/Project and confirmation of qualification. The RSMC has assigned the qualification by the evaluation of professional skills and confirmation of qualification only for graduates. All qualifications are mentioned in the list of classification of professions and specialties of technical and vocational education. However, there is no mechanism to assign qualifications for informal learning and current workers. Very often business and industry associations do not take into account this qualification certificate in case of graduates’ employment. There are many discussions on how to change this situation. The main solution is to create and run independent certification centers. An additional point for discussion, for HE graduates, is that HE organisations have assigned only the academic degree for Bachelor specialty which do not


match existing and adopted qualifications. Sometimes this causes some difficulties for HE graduates in the employment process. Currently, some of the HE institutions include in the educational programme a module of professional practice with the possibility for students to obtain applied qualifications (usually level 2-3 NQF).

Kazakhstan was the first country in the Central Asian region that designed an overall NQS and the first post-Soviet country where NQFs were established. Developed in 2012 in Kazakhstan, the NQF was designed to be compatible with the EQF. Nowadays, on the basis of the NQS, more than 20 sectoral qualifications frameworks and 345 OS have been developed

However, some major elements still need to be improved, here to mention a few aspects:

Elements of the NQF are weakly interconnected. There are still no SQF or sectoral qualifications in several sectors. At the same time, OS were developed for positions in these professional sectors, so a coherent approach is still lacking. From a methodological point of view, the SQF should be developed first as a framework and then refer to the requirements of the OS.

Despite the efforts made by all stakeholders, there is yet no clarity with regard to learning outcomes for informal education. As a consequence, the NQF should be revised and start with a definition of learning outcomes at all levels, including informal learning.

Legislation in curriculum development for VET should be revised to better match with labour market needs and to streamline the overall process..

One of the new tools of Quality Assessment for TVET providers in Kazakhstan is accreditation. In 2014 only 9 (1.8%) vocational organisations passed the accreditation (at institutional level) and 66 (57%) HE institutions. 44 (38%) HE organizations passed the National Program Accreditation and 22 (19%) passed International Program Accreditation [1].

Nevertheless, Kazakhstan laid the basic conditions for the alignment of the Kazakh education system with the European system. The NQF self-certification in order to assure the compatibility with the QF for the European Higher Education Area (Bologna Process) is one of the mandatory 10 stages of the NQF development process.

Among the mandatory criteria for assessing compatibility, is a clear and evident connection between the qualifications in the national framework and the cycle qualification descriptors of the European framework. The qualifications are based on learning outcomes and should be linked to the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) or the national credit system, which is compatible with the ECTS. The MES Order #152 from 20 April 2011 laid the grounds for a compatible system between the Kazakhstan credit system and the ECTS.

The new World Bank Project ‘KZ Skills and Jobs‘ is planned to be launched in early 2016 by the MHSD. The project aims to revise and design a new NQF, SQF and develop OS (levels 2-8) .

Part IV. How Qualifications Are Used

The research shows that Kazakhstan has conducted many activities to develop and implement the NQF. The MHSD has developed a draft National Law on Qualifications. Many official regulations on NQF are issued, but they mainly determine the stages and efforts for NQF development and SQF. At this moment, it is necessary to unite the various decrees and orders of the NQF in a national set of regulations of the NQF.

The NQF has not led to a proper development of the NQS, it still need to improve some “types of national qualifications" and their technical specifications. The reason for this was the fact that


Kazakhstan decided to use the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) as a template for NQF development.

The government has defined some limitations in the development of the NQF. In the Action Plan of the MES for the implementation of the priority directions, a development activity on the NQF was again included. The steps proposed in the action plan regarding the development of the NQF included "drafting of the qualifications," the development of professional standards, creation of centres for the evaluation and certification in the industrial sectors (2014-2016), etc.

Based on the experience of developed countries, some changes could be proposed for NQF improvement in Kazakhstan:

In NQF, descriptors focused on managerial skills and in the requirements for competence, knowledge and skills. It is necessary to show in the NQF description the role of the complexity and specialisation of work tasks

Additionally, within the framework of the NQF, it is needed to develop national qualifications types and place them at the appropriate levels.

Moreover, the current NQF includes educational and training paths to achieve the qualification. In the planning of the World Bank project ‘KZ Skills and Jobs ‘(2016-2020) it is needed to analyse the current NQS and take into account all shortcomings to improve and establish the National Qualification System of Kazakhstan.

The OS development methodology proposes that the standard title should be based on the professional group name such as "Food Technology", while in other countries the OS name describes the result which must be demonstrated by a person at a particular workplace. Since sometimes ‘profession’ and ‘qualification’ have the same meaning, the OS development methodology needs to be improved and streamlined as well.

As a result of OS analysis developed in Kazakhstan and the comparison with OS in developed countries, the following comments could be made:

a) An occupational standard is based on 3-4 broad job functions and only summarises the basic requirements for knowledge and skills. There are no technical details or requirements for competent performance of work. OS descriptions should enable the distinction between competent and incompetent work with "performance criteria" or "criteria for competent performance" which is a fundamental requirement.

b) Occupational standards do not provide the type of specifications of materials and equipment, as well as the conditions under which knowledge and skills will be used. This makes the standards applicable to all technologies, materials and situations, which is not useful for production, as well as for the development of VET programs.

c) Occupational standards do not meet the general requirements for the types of classificatory used in other countries. For example, the OS in Kazakhstan may assume that "technology" may be at Level 4 and Level 5 NQF, which is incorrect, because the qualification "technician" should correspond to only one NQF level.

All these remarks could be considered during the World Bank Project implementation.


Part V. The Internationalisation Option

The internationalisation option is very important for education in Kazakhstan. In the framework of implementation of educational reforms, the international experience is studied with a great level of detail. Also, international experts are very often involved in the reform and modernisation process.

TEMPUS Programme started in Kazakhstan in 1995. The programme supported the modernisation of higher education through cooperation projects. Many Kazakhstan universities participated in this programme. Universities had the possibility to introduce different educational approaches, to develop and implement new educational programs, the ECTS, qualifications and management reforms.

Between 2008 and 2010, ETF prepared guidelines and organised several workshops that outlined the principles for the process, the methodology as well as the importance to link the standards both with the labour market requirements as well as with qualifications.

The main objectives of the workshops were to:

Present and discuss progress of work on Qualifications Frameworks in the tourism sector in the participating countries and recent policy developments.

Identify key issues for NQF policy papers and discuss ways to address them. Discuss NQF project activities per country/sub region for end of 2007 and objectives and

expected results for 2008.

At that point (2008), the Kazakhstan NQF consisted of the following:

Jobs Classification of the Republic Kazakhstan Unified wage-rate guide Specialty Classification for Primary and Secondary Vocational Education List of Specialties for Primary Vocational Education List of Specialties for Secondary Vocational Education Specialty Classification for Bachelor degree and Master degree

Since 2011, a mobility scheme for students and academic staff was implemented in Kazakhstan under the framework of the Erasmus Mundus programme. Also, the mechanism of internal mobility was developed. The mobility programme is an effective way to increase quality of teachers and managers. In 2014, 52 Kazakh HEI invited 1726 international academics in the Academic mobility framework, including 785 academics from Europe and 498 people from the Russian Federation. At the same time, 805 Kazakhstani students spent a minimum semester in foreign universities (Europe – 740 students, USA – 52 students, others – 13) [1].

The ‘Qualification Framework in Central Asia: Bologna based principles and regional coordination’ (2012-2014) (QUADRIGA) project was implemented in the context of the Bologna Process, creation of one European Qualifications Framework, and the subject area reference points developed by the Tuning project. Moreover, the project sought to create a European wide transparency with regard to higher education and training.

The main objective of the QUADRIGA project was to approach the Central Asia Countries’ higher education to the real needs of economic and social development of these countries. The most important were the following:

To analyse the situation in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries


To improve the national General Regulations concerning education standards in particular fields, on the basis of qualification framework ideas, Bologna principles and the EU universities’ experience; introduction of new national standards in the participating CA countries for information science; mapping of progression routes on the basis of standardized questionnaire;

To prepare the subject area and sectored level descriptors for the levels 6, 7 and 8 for informatics by the groups of professionals from National QF Committees.

As it was mentioned before, under the framework of the World Bank ‘TVEM project’, OS and a modular educational programme based on a competence approach were developed. The project results show that some additional improvement of the NQS could be made in the upcoming World Bank project ‘KZ Skills and Jobs‘(2016-2020). The Mazhylis (Lower House of Parliament of RK) and the Senate have approved the project. It will be operated by MHSD. The main objectives are to improve employment outcomes and skills of target beneficiaries and the relevance of technical and vocational education and training and higher education programs. The project consists of the following main components: building of a national qualifications system component by improving the relevance of TVET, HE and in-service training; enhancing skills for improved employment outcomes and productivity component by providing relevant workforce training to unemployed persons, unproductively self-employed persons.

International projects provide the Kazakhstan educational system a deeper understanding and experience about the connection between learning outcomes, educational programs, teaching instructors, NQF and labour market needs and requirements to graduates. However, it is advisable to link and coordinate the different projects to make best use of their individual potentials.

Concluding remarks

The analysis of the current situation of the NQS in Kazakhstan starts with the consideration that the NQS was legally established in the country in 2012.

Since 1995, Kazakhstan has been participating in the TEMPUS Programme to modernise higher education through cooperation projects. Between 2008 and 2010, ETF organised several seminars to outline principles and the methodology of the importance to develop standards, linking labour market requirements, qualifications and education. In March 2011, Kazakhstan joined the European Higher Education Area (Bologna Process), which marked anew step for further development of qualification and education.

Full implementation of all education indicators is outlined in the State Programme for Education Development in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020.

Roles in setting and maintaining qualifications are clearly defined between ministries and some categories of stakeholders. The NQF has been developed jointly by the MES and the MHSD to be compatible with the 8 levels of the European Qualifications Framework. MHSD plays both the monitoring and the executive role for the NQF. Based on the NQF, different Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks were designed for several economics fields.

The first Occupational Standards for ‘Tourism Manager’ were developed by the Tourism Association in the framework of a EU project in 2013. Since that time, around 348 OS on priority fields have been designed for qualifications chosen from the Qualification Classification for TVET and HE. The main challenge is that some OS were developed for level 2-4 of NQF (TVET) and some OS – for level 6-8 (HE).


With the legislation adopted in 2012-2015, strategic and methodological documents have laid the foundation of the NQS and allowed its further improvement. However, based on the experience of more advanced countries, some changes could be proposed for the NQF improvement in Kazakhstan, which may include that national qualifications should be developed and placed at appropriate NQF levels, while improving the links between them at the same time. Currently, major efforts are undertaken to re-align and update the NQF legislation process.


References

1. National Report on the status and development of education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan

(based on 2014), available http://www.edu.gov.kz/ru/analytics/nacionalnyy-doklad-o-sostoyanii-i-razvitii-sistemy-obrazovaniya-respubliki-kazahstan

2. ‘On Education’, Law Republic of Kazakhstan # 319-III 27.07.2007, available http://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=30118747

3. ‘On approval of the National Qualifications Framework’, Joint Order of the Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan from September 24, 2012 № 373-m-ө and Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan from September 28, 2012 № 444. Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan October 19, 2012 № 8022

4. ‘On Approval of the Plan for the Phased Development of a National Qualifications System’, Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 18, 2013 №616, available http://www.nomad.su/?a=3-201306270035

5. ‘On Approval of the National Qualifications Framework’, On Amending the Joint Order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 28 September 2012 number 444 and Acting Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan from September 24, 2012 № 373-th ө. Joint Order of the Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 18, 2013 № 665-ө th and Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated January 10, 2014 № 6. Registered at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated February 12, 2014 № 9141 available http://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/V1300009141#z3

6. Concept ‘Professional qualifications’, Draft Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan, available http://www.mzsr.gov.kz/node/310388

7. ‘On approval of the structure and rules development, review, testing and application of professional standards’, On Amendments to the Order of the Acting Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan from September 24, 2012 № 374-th Ө available http://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/V1400009581#z16

8. ‘The concept of the National Qualifications Framework’, developed in the framework of the World Bank ‘TVETM project’ , Contract #KZTVEM/CQS-02

9. Kazakhstan, World TVET Database, available http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/wtdb/worldtvetdatabase_kaz_en.pdf

10. ‘Development, implementation and application of professional standards in foreign countries and the Republic of Kazakhstan’, Review 2012, Contract #KZTVEM/CQS-02 available http://www.edu.gov.kz/ru/mtipo/analiticheskiy-obzor-praktiki-razrabotki-vnedreniya-i-primeneniya-professionalnyh-standartov-v

11. State Programme for Accelerated Industrial-Innovative Development of Kazakhstan for 2010 - 2014 years, approved Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan , March 19, 2010 №958 available http://www.baiterek.gov.kz/ru/programs/gpfiir-programme/

12. Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2016 , article 9, approved Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan , November 23, 2015 № 414-V, available http://www.mikosoft.kz/trudovoy-codex-2016.html#gl_9

13. Technical and Vocational Education Modernization (TVEM) Project, available http://www.worldbank.org/projects/search?lang=en&searchTerm=&countrycode_exact=KZ

14. Higher Education in Kazakhstan, http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/participating_countries/overview/Kazakhstan.pdf

15. ‘National Qualifications Framework: from architecture methodology to application practice’, seminar organised by the Ministry of Education and Science of the RK in collaboration with the National Office Erasmus+ programme, on June 8, 2015, available http://www.enu.kz/en/info/news/37107/

16. NQF National workshop in Kazakhstan, organised in Almaty (Kazakhstan), 21.04.2008, http://www.etf.europa.eu/web.nsf/pages/EV_2008_NQF_National_workshop_in_Kazakhstan

17. http://www.mzsr.gov.kz/node/314233


Annex 1

Notes: * Current transition to 12-year model ** The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan does not differentiate between primary and lower secondary education. There are only few “primary education only” schools which comprise grade 1 to 4. Primary education can start at the age of 6 or at the age of 7. ♣Specific entrance conditions. ◊Diagnostic test or entrance examination Source: OECD 2014


NATIONAL REPORT KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

Stock-taking Report

on

National Qualifications Frameworks in Kyrgyzstan


Onolkan Umankulova

Bishkek 2016


ABBREVATIONS

ADB Asian Development Bank AVET Agency for Vocational Education and Training GIZ Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit HE Higher Education HES Higher Education System KR Kyrgyz Republic MES KR Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic NQF National Qualifications Framework QUADRIGA Qualifications Frameworks in Central Asia: Bologna principles and regional

coordination QF Qualifications Frameworks SES State Educational Standards VET Vocational Education and Training


Executive summary

The perspectives of integration of the Kyrgyz educational system into the international educational area have driven the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic and educational organizations to adapt a variety of international practices. They can bring local education closer to the recognition of diplomas abroad, and also support better employability of graduates in the country and in the international labour market. In this regard, the principles and initiatives of the Bologna process that are being implemented in the European Higher Education Area are the main basis for understanding the tendency of reforms of the educational system (particularly in tertiary education) in the Kyrgyz Republic. National Qualifications Frameworks (NQF) are one of these initiatives that from recent times became a crucial subject for discussion in academic society and at the ministerial level, and could contribute to a more effective reform of the structure and content of Kyrgyz education.

This report provides an overall overview of the structure of educational system of Kyrgyzstan in order to understand how it can influence the future of the NQF in the country; the state of play of the NQF in Kyrgyzstan, its evolution since 2005. Until 2016, the development of the NQF sector has been under the initiative of a local NGOs and universities. From recent times the importance of the NQF has been recognized by the Ministry of Education and Science and some NQF specialists from the academic society have already been trained, and moreover NQF of Kyrgyzstan have already been approved – that is a significant step towards further deepening and development of National Qualification System of the country. Thus, Part I of the report provides a general understanding of the education system of Kyrgyzstan, and all the levels of education that are significant to know in order to build up a picture about National Qualification System in the country. Parts II and III of the report include information about the depth of involvement of stakeholders (government, industry representatives and academic society) on different stages of elaboration of a draft project for the NQF in KR; the role of external financial and technical support in the preparation of the grounds (specialist trainings, understanding of international practices in NQF, elaboration of the methodology for sector and national QF, escalation of the issue of NQF from separate specialist level up to ministerial level) for further development of the NQF. Part IV provides an understanding of expected outcomes, consequences and results of the future NQF for Kyrgyzstan on the level of the overall educational system and on a graduates’ level.


Part I. The Present System The educational system of the Kyrgyz Republic (KR) includes general (basic and further education) and vocational (basic and further education) educational programs.

Basic educational programs are aimed at the formation of a general culture and adaptation of a person to a life within the society, development of a base for consciousness choice and understanding of professional education programs. Basic educational programs in KR are:

Pre-school education; Primary general education (schools, lyceums and gymnasiums): 1-4 grades, the first

cycle of the basic education; Basic general education (schools, lyceums and gymnasiums): second cycle of the basic

secondary education that lasts 5 years in 5-9 grades in comprehensive schools; Secondary general education – the stage of completed secondary education that is the

last stage before tertiary education and that lasts for 2 years in comprehensive schools, specialized secondary schools, lyceums and gymnasiums. It normally includes 10-11

grades; Further education (organizations for additional education for children).

In general, to complete general secondary education takes in total 11 years.

Children of 6 and 7 years-old are allowed to go into primary school. A 9-years basic education is compulsory for all citizens according to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic. The final stage of completed secondary education can be achieved in both state and private secondary schools, gymnasiums and lyceums. This stage implies deeper study of different subjects in specialized schools. Upon successful completion of secondary general education, graduates are awarded a standardized state document that is called “Certificate about secondary education”.

The second cycle of secondary education also includes a 4-years study program in professional lyceums, technical secondary schools and colleges in case general secondary basic education has already been achieved by a learner. Graduates of such programs acquire both a specialty and a completed general secondary education.

A Certificate about secondary general education or similar document recognized by the government is a precondition for entering a university. Admission to all the programs in tertiary education is done according to the results of competitive entrance examinations. Since 2002, admission is allowed based on the results of the National Testing, and since recent times the National Testing is an obligatory condition for all types of university.

Vocational educational programs are aimed at consequent training of professional qualification level and preparation of specialists of a certain qualification.

Vocational educational programs are:

Primary vocational education (vocational lyceums, vocational colleges and others); Secondary vocational education (specialized schools, colleges, vocational training

schools and others); Tertiary education (institutes, academies, universities, conservatoires and others); Post-graduate vocational education; Further vocational education


At present, tertiary education of KR includes 2 systems of qualification. The first system implies continuous education during 5 years in many specialties (engineering, pedagogical and law programs) that awards a specialist diploma upon its completion. The second is a two-level system that includes a bachelor academic degree upon completion of 4 years of study and 1 or 2-years of study with awarding of a master academic degree. Study on medical programs lasts for 6 years with awarding of a specialist degree; study on dentistry and veterinary have a duration of 5 years.

Post-graduate educational programs include 2 and 3-years programs that lead to awarding of science and PhD degrees. The highest academic degree in KR is the doctor of science degree.

Non-university programs of tertiary education include 2 and 3-years study programs on technical, economic, pedagogical and medical specialties that are provided in technical secondary schools and colleges on the basis of completed general secondary education. The education system of KR by levels is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Education system of Kyrgyz Republic by levels

Since November 2015 all levels of professional education (primary, secondary and higher vocational education) are under the control of the MES, though before vocational primary education was accountable to the Ministry for Employment, Migration and Youth of KR via the Agency for Vocational and Training Education (AVET).

Currently National Qualification System in regard to NQF has just started its development. Thus, National Qualifications Frameworks in KR have been adopted only in March, 17, 2016 by the order # 308/1 of the MES KR and order #87 of the Ministry of labour and social development of KR and were developed within QUADRIGA (Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia: Bologna principles and regional coordination) project of Tempus program. According to this document National Qualification System of KR also includes:

Professional standards; Sector qualification frameworks; Certification system for acknowledgement of qualifications on the national and

international levels. It is fair to say that only professional standards are in place in the legislation of the educational system of KR, whereas sector qualification frameworks (in the majority areas) and certification system are still to be developed. More about approved NQF is discussed in Part III of this report - “Evolution of the NQF, QFs or related systems”.

Meanwhile apart from that there are also other documents that could be applied to the post-soviet National Qualification System (NQS), and that are currently important for building further NQS and understanding how all these documents should relate to each other in the context of approved NQFs. These documents include a compulsory minimum for the content and regulative periods for each level of general and vocational educational levels that are identified by corresponding State Educational Standards (SES), and an additional system of awarding of different certificates and diplomas that confirm completion of a certain level of education in KR. Professional standards are not yet developed for all levels of education and professional areas. Mainly a Unified rating and skills guide and a Unified skills guide for position of managers play a role for professional standards. These documents are the main with the aim to award different categories for employees, though categories do not provide a clear understanding of difference between a variety of qualification levels and skills of employees that have the same categories in different professional fields.

In order to identify clearer streamline of all specialties and its descriptions, a National Classification Guide for Lessons was developed. The Classification Guide consists of 10 consolidated groups that are divided into subgroups, component groups and basic groups, describing different positions from unqualified workers to top-managers. Description in the guide implies that a certain level of qualification may be achieved not only by gaining a certain educational degree, but also by existence of practical experience.

The National Classification Guide for lessons includes 4 levels: the first level corresponds to basic education; second level – vocational primary education; third level –secondary vocational education; and fourth level –higher education (though this approach does not differentiate between levels of qualification). HE and secondary vocational institutions prepare specialists according to the List of programs and specialties of higher professional education.

All these preconditions created grounds to develop a new clear picture for the qualification requirements system in terms of competences. Currently, KR considers an NQF system as one of the main points for the reform of the educational system with orientation to development of key professional and social competences, instead of mastering of knowledge and skills, and are included in the Strategy of education development till 2020.


Part I I. Involved authorit ies and stakeholders

In all the levels of education, the role and participation of different stakeholders varies. VET and tertiary education differ particularly in terms of the involvement of stakeholders (official authorities, employers and public society).

The VET system is accountable to the Agency for VET, which in turn is accountable to the MES since November 2015. Before it was under the Ministry for Employment, Migration and Youth, and thus played an important role in solving problems of employability and migration. VET plays not only an educational, but also a social role in the life of the youth, preparing specialists with skills for applied specialties according to the requirements of the labor market. In practice, the VET system has stronger ties with the labor market than the HE system, which is expressed in such collaborative approaches as description of occupational standards for specialties, participation in training of students, exchange of places for students’ practice. Seven additional sector committees were formed under AVET for creation of professional standards in 7 fields, where representatives of labor market are included. As stated by AVET, unfortunately employers perform passively in terms of comments and views about occupational standards for the VET sector though the interest on behalf of employees is quite high. Meantime their passive position can be partially explained by insufficient understanding of the meaning of occupational standards in terms of preparation of specialties and its usage for educational purposes and absence of financial support for their participation in discussion process.

The HES is fully accountable to the MES, the main authority the tertiary education cooperates with and relies on. In order to involve employers in the development of the HES, the MES formed study-methodological units with the participation of employers for the elaboration of the State Standards of a new generation with usage of competence-based approach.

The necessity to develop a NQF predetermined the problem of passive involvement of such stakeholders as other authorities that represent labor market and industry and employers, though academic society expressed quite a strong willingness and participation in this process. To resolve the challenge of low involvement of industry the MES is currently closely cooperating with the Ministry of labour and social development of KR. The joint work of both ministries is aimed to bring employers and academia together in order to build up an efficient NQS with regard to the requirements of both sides. As a proved of such cooperation the newly developed NQFs were approved by both ministries at once.

Nevertheless employers underline their interest as regard to the quality of the education and skills of graduates, and express their readiness to participate in the identification of qualification levels, but they are not interested to participate in this process only on a voluntary basis. Though all strategic documents for development of education and particularly the NQF underline more active collaboration with stakeholders, still financial sources are not foreseen for these purposes, including within the strategic development of education until 2020. As a result, the participation of the labor market in NQF development is mainly nominal, but not actual. But it is fair to say that they are included in all working groups and official committees about NQF.

With the goal to involve different coordinating structures and ensure legislation in terms of NQF, a National Committee for development of professional skills was created in 2012. Members of the Committee include ministers of all ministries of KR, chairmen of Chambers of Commerce, state agencies and organizations, directors of business associations and employers – in total 19 representatives of different authorities and employers. Thus, according to this decree and with the goal to implement the Program for Improvement of Investment, a National Committee for


development of professional skills should assist in the following: motivation and acknowledgment of different stakeholders and employers to participate in the development of vocational education and training; their participation in planning, implementation and monitoring of development vocational education and training. The Committee was established under the AVET.

Moreover, in 2013 the MES issued a decree to form coordination and working groups for better implementation of the QUADRIGA project1 and with the purpose to elaborate a legislative base for the NQF. The groups included members of the Parliament, rectors of 4 universities, heads of business associations, accreditation agency, AVET and 18 representatives of different universities. In both systems (VET and HE), the problem of motivation and stronger participation of the labor market is quite relevant and different approaches are used within initiatives of international projects and MES to resolve this issue. As a result a very small group of employers is.awared about NQF development process and its potential to build a bridge between them and education.

Nevertheless, the level of understanding between academia and employers is quite low especially in the HE sector, due to different approaches and understanding of the expected learning outcomes that are supposed to be delivered to learners. The MES actively collaborates with the Ministry of Economy in order to ensure involvement of official authorities in discussion of education qualification challenges and encourage partnerships with the industry through the Ministry of economy.

Part I II. Evolution of the NQF, QFs or related systems

Before 2016 in Kyrgyzstan, the creation of the NQF is being conducted by specialists only on institutional levels with a limited number of involved stakeholders (and employers particularly). The first steps of discussion of the NQF have been done in 2005 when the “National Structures of the Central Asia” project of the European Training foundation (ETF) was launched. The project was aimed at the development of the policy for raising awareness of information and understanding about NQFs and was ended in 2009. Within the project, Kyrgyzstan gained a good experience in NQF development in the field of tourism. As a result, the project brought the following experience:

Description of positions in the tourism sector, according to descriptors; Each position was described with qualification characteristics; The level of education needed to gain a certain qualification was identified; Occupational standards in the tourism sector were developed.

Though the results of the project were presented in Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic) and also on the National Forum dedicated to problems of vocational education, the importance of the project results has not yet been scaled up to the official ministerial level by that time. It is fair to say that this project represents a good example of how to involve employers and business representatives in QF development, since the project has been working with all tourism companies of KR, and could be considered as a successful approach in further developments of NQF.

Meanwhile, within the period of 2008-2012, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) “Vocational education and skills development” project, which supported reforms in professional primary

1 More information about QUADRIGA project is presented in Part III.


education, was implemented by the VET Agency. The project was aimed at the provision of support to educational institutions in 7 priority sectors: construction, mining, energy, textile industry, transport, agriculture and processing industry. Sector qualifications frameworks for vocational primary education were developed, including the first 4 levels (for the draft of the project see Annex 1). Though the project had a great importance for NQF development on the level of primary VET, it also did not reach scaling up to an official approval, and still is not applicable in the educational field – developed qualification frameworks did not find its usage in the VET system in practice.

Another project that supported NQF development was “Strengthening of the development of social partnership in vocational education and training in Kyrgyzstan”, financed by the European Union and implemented by the Institute named after Gustav-Stresemann – Bonn European Academy GSI (Germany), in partnership with the DVV International. The project was launched in December 2011 and was piloted in the tourism sector, with a special emphasis on ecotourism. According to the set goals and tasks, the Union of educational institutions developed occupational standards and a Sector Qualifications Framework for Tourism that includes 8 levels of qualification. The document identifies skills and competences of the specialist on a certain level.

The Soros Foundation in Kyrgyzstan supported another project: “Elaboration of the project on competence-based occupational standards and qualifications frameworks in the State geology system under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic”. The project was finished in 2014 and as a result, the project presented professional standards, qualification frameworks of the State Agency for geology and mineral sources under the Government of the KR. These documents reflect the level of qualifications of directors and other employees of the agency that provide objective assessments of the work conducted by each employee. Both occupational standards and qualification frameworks were developed with respect of such principles as objectivity, justice, transparency, accessibility, simplicity, measurement, easiness in terms of adding of amendments in educational standard. The results of the project are efficiently used by the State geology system and represent a good case of QF in a particular area for a particular organization.

Another project that is contributing to NQF development is the GIZ “VET and assistance to employment” program, which supports the elaboration and implementation of independent certification systems of professional competences in order to improve the quality of professional education in Kyrgyzstan. Within this program, in 2015 more than 100 certificates were awarded to the alumni of VET education, who participated in independent certification of professional competences. This project is important since certification is being considered, especially by VET system, as a final destination of NQF results – using certification system, acknowledgment of NQF by industry could be recognized.

In spite of the fact that a number of projects were implemented in KR until 2012, the issue of NQF development was not deeply discussed in the MES as the main policy making body in education field. The first steps towards this direction were taken in 2012, when a degree of the Government of the KR from March, 23, 2012 #193 on the National Committee for development of professional skills, which was discussed earlier in this report, was approved.

The Working groups that were formed by the order of MES to support the development of a regulative base for NQF mainly supported the implementation of a Tempus project on NQF – QUADRIGA and were supposed to assist in the development of legislation on NQF.

“Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia: Bologna principles and regional coordination” –the QUADRIGA project of Tempus program was a kick-off step for participation of the MES and the


Ministry of Economy and played a key role in the creation of National QFs and in general was an important step for more stable and systematic development of NQF. The project was important and successful in terms of escalation of the problem of NQF at the ministerial level, particularly the involvement of the officials in discussion, elaboration and promotion of the NQF project in the ministry, and final approval of the concept for Kyrgyz NQF by the MES KR and the Ministry of labor and social development of KR. As a result of the QUADRIGA project, a QF in information technologies and the project of NQF were developed, with discussion of the document in wider society. Moreover the project supported the edition of a variety of publications about current legislative base that can be used for development of NQF, understanding of NQF in international dimension, methodology for development of NQF KR, and the methodology for development of sector QF KR. These guidelines supported raising awareness of wider society and stakeholders about NQF and understanding its importance for local education system.

Besides in 2014, within QUADRIGA, the Republican Qualification Development Centre was established under the Kyrgyz State Technical University. The main mission of the Centre is assistance to development of human resources of KR based on the development of the National Qualification Framework and improvement of educational process.

The Concept of NQF within QUADRIGA has been developed based on the European Qualification Structure, European Qualification Frameworks and the International Standard Education Classification. Concept is a framework document that reflects a general vision of formation and development of a qualification system in the country and justification of the necessity of development and structure of NQF that consists out of 10 levels.

Developed and approved NQFs of KR are the basis for further development of sector qualification frameworks that will ensure inter-sectorial comparability of qualifications. Besides the NQF is designed in the way that peculiarities of different sector qualification requirements could be represented by introduction of additional sub-levels and learning outcomes.

The following table describes general comparability of NQF of KR with EQF and Qualification Frameworks of EHEA (European Higher Education Area):

NQF of KR EQF QF-EHEA

9 8 Third cycle 8 8 Third cycle

7б 7 Second cycle 7а 7 Second cycle 6 6 First cycle 5 5 Short cycle 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1

Approved methodology for development of NQF KR includes all the stages of developed NQFs, principles of qualification divisions and comparison with European Qualification Frameworks.

NQF of KR is aimed to solve the following tasks:

Transparency of qualifications for all stakeholders; Assistance to mobility between countries;


Assuring the life-long learning education.

NQFs of KR are based on the following principles:

Life-long learning education covering all qualifications starting from basic school education and up to university level;

Openness and flexibility of the qualification system in both formal education and vocational training;

Possibility to build individual educational trajectory with consideration of practical experience and training courses. An employee will be able to change his/her trajectory in both vertical and horizontal qualification levels.

NQFs of KR take into consideration the following framed classifications:

European Qualification Frameworks (EQF) for life-long learning education (lifelong learning - LLL);

Qualification frameworks of the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA); International Standardized Classification of Education approved by UNESCO in 2011.

The European Union plays a significant role in Kyrgyzstan for development of the NQF and education system in general. To support reforms in educational area that are identified in the Strategy of development of education till 2020, whereas NQF is one of the mainstreams, an EU project “Support of educational sector in KR” was implemented within the period 2013-2015. Though development of NQF was not identified as one of the tasks of the project, indirectly it could have an impact in future reforms, since support to reforming of state finances and budgeting allocated for educational sphere and capacity building of MES’s organizational structure was provided, - which are 2 factors that influence on efficient development of NQF.

Though several initiatives in NQFs have already been implemented by different international donors and institutions, the understanding of the content NQFs in regard to current educational structure in the country, its complex development and further impact on the reforms of education are still challenges. Its fragment discussion and separate elaboration of NQFs on different levels of the educational system, with different participants and stakeholders (including representatives of authorities and employers) is accompanied by a lack of permeability of knowledge, elaborated methodologies and understanding of NQFs in KR. Thus, every new project that is launched in the NQF area has to start discussions from the very beginning. This fact hinders NQF development in KR, though each project has accumulated good experience in different areas that could be successfully used in further discussions and developments of NQF. Such experience includes different approaches towards elaboration of sector QF, collaboration with industry, escalation of the NQF issue from institutional to a ministerial level, cooperation of all vocational levels in discussion of NQF that was done in QUADRIGA project for the first time. The past 3 years (2012-2015) were important for establishment of NQF discussions in the society that triggered more active involvement of MES in the process and inclusion of NQF in all strategic documents concerning reformation of education system of KR.

Part IV. Using Qualif ications The NQF in KR have just been adopted, thus still QFs are not used in any design or assessment of education or training study programs. Nevertheless, all of the stakeholders, including MES, AVET and HEIs consider NQFs as a basis for reform of the structure of the educational system of KR, reengineering of the content of education, and changes in assessment of learning outcomes.


In particular, the main change in the lime light of implementation of a NQF is seen in restructuring of all educational levels that currently exist in KR. Thus, all existing levels (primary and secondary VET, higher education) will have to be adjusted according to the number of levels identified in the NQF and its qualification descriptions. But there is still no general vision about these changes.

Another change will cover the content of the professional and state standards in VET and tertiary education. Currently, the new standards of the third generation were developed using a competence-based approach. The NQF will have an impact in terms of designing of the state standards with usage of learning outcomes. Besides, the NQF will be the main guiding document to elaborate professional standards in the VET sector. These documents will become the key documents for organization of educational processes in institutions, including assessment methodologies.

At the final stage, the NQF will have a great impact on the creation of a certification system with the participation of representatives of the labor market upon completion of any vocational level of education. Qualification frameworks will be used to address them to a certification system and awarding graduates that will guarantee acknowledgment of their intellectual skills by the labor market of KR.

NQFs are currently mentioned in all strategic documents of the MES as one of the main instruments to support the reform in the education sector, thus its proper and detailed design and development will play a crucial role in further improvement of the content of education. Nevertheless, all above-mentioned roles of NQFs are not yet approved since there is no regulatory base for NQFs.

Part V. Getting International

Since 2005, when the first steps towards discussion of the importance of a NQF started, European QFs were considered the main document to be adjusted for a future NQF for KR. The main reason behind this decision was the goal of the reforms of educational system of KR to be involved in the international educational area via the adoption of Bologna principles and adjusting the local system to the European Higher Education Area. KR aims at the development of export of education and increasing of number of students and academic mobility with other foreign educational institutions. Above all, the development and adoption of a NQF with the reference to the European QF will open new opportunities for employment in the country and beyond borders. It is considered that NQFs will level the gap between the labor market and education.

In general, all the initiatives in terms of QFs that have been raised in the past several years by international donors, particularly ADB, GIZ and European Union programs, not only increased awareness of the importance of NQFs for the educational field in the society, but also provided a general understanding of what NQFs are and why one should be developed in KR. Thus, today the main authorities in the educational area, such as MES, AVET, representatives of VET and tertiary education recognize the necessity to make educational reforms that are included in the Education Development Strategy 2020 according to the description of NQFs. They should be developed the sooner, the better. Currently, all strategic documents recognize the importance of NQFs.


Conclusions

The subject of NQF development became one of the most important issues in the light of reform of the educational system in KG in recent years. Implementation of a number of projects by international donors not only raised this issue among academic society and the ministry, but increased interest among the wider population as a ground for proper and complex reforms of the educational system. As a result of all the efforts taken by local and international partners the main concept of NQF was approved by the MES KR and the Ministry of labor and social development. Nevertheless it is important to mention several conditions that hindered the process of complex and proper development of the NQF, and still exist while NQS in general is still to be finalized and developed, including consideration such issues as application of approved NQF, development of sector QF and certification system:

Fragmented discussion and elaboration of the NQF on different levels of the educational system, with different participants and stakeholders, accompanied without further permeability of knowledge, elaborated methodologies and understanding of the NQF for KR. Such picture was observed throughout the years of development of NQF and still exists when considering further development of NQ system

Lack of financial support to advance the involvement of stakeholders in the process, particularly industry representatives. Generally speaking development and approval of NQF in March 2016 was possible only with the support of the international donors;

Weak linkage between different levels of education (primary VET, secondary VET and tertiary education) to elaborate a multi-level and complex NQF for KR. Though NQFs are approved, still the issue of its practical application on all educational levels of KR is not solved yet.

Since 2005, several important steps have been carried out, providing a good discussion platform to understand the structure of NQF in KR and what consequences should be as a result of implementation and usage of the NQF:

Coordination and Working groups were formed to support the development of a regulative base for the NQF to support one of the main projects in NQF – QUADRIGA;

In 2014, within QUADRIGA, the Republican Qualification Development Centre was established under the Kyrgyz State technical University. The main mission of the center is to assist in the development of human resources of KR based on the development of the National Qualification Framework and improvement of educational process;

With the goal to involve different coordinating structures and ensure legislation in terms of NQF, a National Committee for development of professional skills was formed in 2012;

Within different projects, a methodology for the development of a sector and a national QF of KR was developed.

A NQF project for KR was developed within the Tempus program, presented to the Ministry for consideration as a basic document for further development of an overall NQF in KR;

The importance of NQFs has already been recognized by the MES and a narrow academic society.

March, 2016 – approval of the NQFs developed within QUADRIGA project.


In spite of the different views on the concept of a NQF in KR and methodologies for NQF development, all stakeholders agreed upon the necessity and importance of NQFs, since it can be considered as the main subject for:

Restructuring all educational levels that currently exist in KR; Reengineering of the content of the professional and state standards in VET and tertiary

education; Creation of a certification system; Most importantly, an NQF will open doors for internationalization and integration of the

local educational system in the international area.

There are still many challenges to overcome in order for KR develop transparent and clear NQF for the educational system and integrate it in the current system. The role of the assistance of international donors is a crucial one, due to very limited expert and financial sources of the country that hinders independent development of an NQF.

Meanwhile the approval of NQF in 2016 put on a table additional questions and challenges to be overcome by local government. Particularly it concerns practical changes of education system in regard to approved NQF, solving the problem of permeability of education levels in regard to NQF, development of sector qualification frameworks, more active involvement of employers in the process, development of legislation for NQF (that is currently absent) and its linkage with other regulations which exist in Kyrgyz education system, and formation of certification system in the country at all program levels.

Annex 1

The Project of National Qualifications Frameworks for Vocational Primary Education developed within ADB project (levels 1-4)

Level Title of the level Pre-requisites Number of

credits Document about

education

1 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained during

informal education

Study on work places and/or

practical experience based on family traditions without requirements to

general education

Can not be defined

Does not lead to certification

2 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained during additional and

informal education

Short-term study without

requirements to general education

2 weeks up to 4 months

Non-state certificate (or

another document). Or

does not lead to certification

3 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills

gained during study at programs of

primary vocational education

Primary vocational education,

mandatory course for practical study

on the base of secondary general or basic general

education

1-3 years Diploma

4 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills

gained additionally to programs of

primary vocational education that support further

deeper study and development of

current vocational experience

Primary vocation education + further

professional education (retraining

on the base of primary vocational

education, professional skills

mastering courses), significant practical experience on the basis of existing

vocational education

State certificate (or another document)

and other additional

documents

Annex 2

NQF of KR developed within the QUADRIGA project of Tempus Program and approved by the MES KR on March, 17, 2016

# of the

level

Description of educational level and

qualification

Pre-requisites (requirements to educational

levels)

Labour coefficient

(Duration of study or credits

to gain a qualification)

Documents about

education

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

Abilities and skills Personal competences (independence, responsibility)

1 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained on short-term courses or during study on a work place (orientation trainings) and/or practical experience

Not less than primary general education

Courses up to 1 month

Certificate or another non-state document

Basic general knowledge and understanding of the work subject and working process

Basic abilities needed to perform simple tasks

Ability to work and/or study under the direct supervision in stable environment

2 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained during professional preparations on short-term courses and/or practical experience

Not less than basic general education

Courses up to 12 months

Certificate about basic general education, certificate

Basic general knowledge and understanding of the work subject, tools and methods to achieve results when solving simple typical tasks

Basic practical abilities and skills when performing practical homogeneous tasks using simple tools

Ability to work and/or study under the supervision with a certain level of autonomy

3 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained during professional preparations on short-term courses. Practical experience

Not less than secondary general education

Courses up to 12 months

Certificate about secondary general education, certificate

Basic knowledge and understanding of general concepts, principles and processes in the field of working area

Basic practical abilities and skills needed to perform and solve tasks by choosing and application of basic methods, tools, materials and information.

Ability to be responsible to perform tasks at work. When solving tasks ability to adjust behavior to existing circumstances

CENTRAL ASIAN EDUCATION PLATFORM - CAEP - EuropeAid/131004/C/SER/RSC

58

# of the

level


qualification


levels)

Labour coefficient



Documents about

education

Learning outcomes



4 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained at primary vocational education programs. Practical experience.

Not less than basic general or secondary general education

12-36 months Diploma about primary vocational education

Knowledge of the main concepts and technologies in the field of professional activity. General understanding about work planning and organization

General and special abilities and skills needed to perform standardize professional problems and understanding the bounds of these abilities.

Ability to take responsibility to perform professional tasks; adjust behavior to existing circumstances

5 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained at secondary vocational education programs. Practical experience.

Basic or general secondary education

Not less than 120 credits

Diploma about secondary vocational education

Possession of deep professional knowledge including understanding of borders of possible and further self-development approaches

Existence of analytical abilities and skills of a professional area, systematic approach, critical problem-solving of abstract tasks; sustainability of educational interests.

Independent professional activity that assumes setting goals and tasks of personal work. Management in unpredictable changing conditions, skills of situation and self-assessment

6 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained at tertiary education programs with awarding of bachelor academic degree. Practical experience.

General secondary or secondary vocational education

240 credits Diploma of bachelor degree

Knowledge and understanding of theoretical basics and fundamental principles in the field of professional area that are sufficient to complete working tasks and achieve further qualification level

Abilities and skills of innovation activity, solving of difficult tasks in uncertain conditions. Professional approach at work.

Ability to take responsibility to set goals and solve problems on department or organization level. Ability to self-development and training of employees


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# of the

level


qualification


levels)

Labour coefficient



Documents about

education

Learning outcomes



7а Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained at tertiary education programs with awarding of specialist degree. Practical experience.

General secondary or secondary vocational education

300 credits Specialist degree diploma

Deep knowledge in professional area, critical understanding of theories and principles

Abilities to apply theoretical knowledge in practice, inde-pendent analyses of tasks, choosing sol-ving methods, analy-ses of gained results

Ability to manage projects or difficult production processes. Responsibility to decision-making on department or organization level

7b Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained at tertiary education programs with awarding of master academic degree. Practical experience.

Tertiary education (bachelor degree), Tertiary education (specialist degree)

120 credits Master degree diploma

Knowledge and under-standing of theoretical basics, principles and methods to solve prac-tical and scientific tasks in the area of professional training. Ability to apply non-standard approach to solve difficult tasks and problems, generation of new ideas in practice or during researches

Abilities to solve difficult research and innovative tasks in a wide scaled disciplinary aspect, and also to generate new knowledge

Responsibility on department or organization level to define the general strategy, manage processes in uncertain conditions, rake responsibility for professional growth of the staff


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# of the

level


qualification


levels)

Labour coefficient



Documents about

education

Learning outcomes



8 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained at PhD programs or aspirantura. Practical experience.

Tertiary education (specialist degree) or Tertiary education (master degree)

180 credits

PhD diploma, Candidate of science diploma

The newest systematic knowledge in study/research area; understanding of fundamental principles and method of scientific and creative activity. Possession of inter-disciplinary approach.

Ability to assess problem relevancy, design and implement research plan according to approved academic criteria. Possession of the newest skills and technologies to critically solve important innovation and science problems. Ability to generate new and review existing knowledge.

Responsibility on the level of a company or a field. High level of autonomy, professional decency, high level of motivation to generate new ideas. Management of professional people and groups development

9 Existence of qualification, abilities, skills gained at doctorate programs. Practical experience and recognition in professional society in a concrete area on international level.

PhD or aspirantura

36 months

Doctor of science diploma

Inter-sector and inter-disciplinary systematic knowledge necessary to lead scientific and innovation activity, create and synthesize new fundamental knowledge.

Ability to solve methodological, project and research problems connected with improvement of efficiency of industrial or research pro-cesses. Skills of man-agement and training of scientific staffs.

Full autonomy in scientific activity. Ability of strategic leadership of big scientific or production staff. Responsibility for the results on the level of an enterprise or a field, or international level.


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NATIONAL REPORT TAJIKISTAN

Stock-taking Report

on

National Qualification Frameworks in Tajikistan


Subhon Ashurov

Dushanbe 2016


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ABBREVIATIONS ADB Asian Development Bank ATC Adult Training Center CIS Commonwealth of Independent States СоР Community of Practices EMC Educational-Methodical Center ETF European Training Foundation GBE General Basic Education GCTU General Confederation of Trade Unions GIZ Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH GSE General Secondary Education HE Higher Education HEI Higher Education’s Institution IPE Initial Professional Education ISCO International Standard Classification of Occupations PC Professional College PTL Professional Technical Lyceum SES State Educational Standard SPE Secondary Professional Education NCO National Classification of Occupation MES Ministry of Education and Science MLME Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment of Population


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Executive Summary

1. The legislation of Tajikistan seeks to provide the quality of professional education mainly through establishing the State Educational Standards (SES) for each specialty of every level of professional education and to enforce these standards by licensing, certification and state accreditation of educational institutions. Such mechanism of ensuring, monitoring and evaluation of the quality of vocational education leads to a slight improvement in education quality.

2. The current situation in the field of description, systematization and structuring of qualifications in the country does not meet the goals and objectives of the national strategic documents. It is characterized by the absence of statistics, structuring and systematization of the received qualifications. This situation is probably the result of a low level of awareness of responsible government agencies about the importance of NQFs, a lack of staff capacity, required for the development of professional standards at all levels of professional education, as well as the limited financial resources of the country for the implementation of appropriate measures to improve the situation.

3. With adoption in 2012, the National Education Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan until 2020, has begun the more significant progress in the political perception of the problem of the vocational education quality in the country. This strategic document assumes a transition to competency- based education, the modular organization of educational programs at all levels on the basis of the qualification requirements of the National Qualifications Framework.

4. Some positive changes in the involvement of stakeholders, especially employers, in the description and evaluation of the qualification, are observed. These changes occur as a result of the implementation of project initiatives of international organizations. Along with this, in 2012 the Law "On the training of specialists tailored to needs of the labor market" was adopted, which aims to define the legal, financial and organizational basis of partnership between state and private sectors in the process of training of specialists according to the needs of the labor market.

5. The recently adopted laws, strategic and methodological documents form the legal, political and methodological basis for joint activities of representatives of educational institutions and labor market to develop a new generation of qualification standards and to create the National Qualifications Framework. The draft of the NQF Concept is developed and the debate goes on the need to establish a mechanism and special institution for the horizontal and vertical structuring of qualifications in the country.

6. Using qualifications to improve the quality of education at schools of all levels of professional education is gradually extended. In this process, the HE system is more successful, probably associated with the Tajikistan's intention to entry into the space of the Bologna Process. The significant positive progress in this direction is also observed in the IPE system that is associated with the implementation of ETF and GIZ projects. The first best examples of the use of qualifications to improve the quality of education in the SPE system are only observed. Varying degrees of the successes in HE, IPE and SPE systems are a result of the different degrees of their involvement in the projects of international donor organizations.

7. In the current period of development of the vocational education system in Tajikistan, in the condition of the country's labor redundancy and the presence of a large volume of foreign labor migration, as a result of the initiation of international organizations’ projects and


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exploring best practices in the region, gradually strengthened the view and the position that the qualification framework is a central element of development of the process of entering the European space of vocational education and the important mechanism for achieving comparability and transparency of vocational education. This approach helps the educational institutions to develop modules and training programs that ensure the quality of vocational education and promotes the recognition of qualifications at the international level and mitigates the process of mobility of labor resources of the country in the regional labor market.

The Present System of Qualification

The Present System of Professional Education: general description

In accordance with the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan (RT) "On education" (Article 8), the general structure of the education system in Tajikistan looks like as it is given in Figure A1 in the Annex.

From this structure follows that the professional education system consists of 5 levels: Initial Vocational Education (IVE), Secondary Vocational Education (SVE), Higher Professional Education (HE) (consists of two levels: bachelor and master degrees) and Doctorate (PhD)2.

This report will focus on IVE, SVE and HE levels of professional education.

The IVE system is governed by the basic Law on Education [1] and the Law "On the initial professional education" (2003) [4]. The IVE system currently consists of 62 Professional Technical Lyceums (PTL) and 28 Adult Training Centers (ATC). In PTLs, three following types of training programs are basically implemented:

one-year program of vocational education after General Secondary Education (GSE - 11 grade);

2 or 3 - year integrated program of vocational and General Secondary Education after General Basic Education (GBE– 9grade)3;

2-year program of vocational education after General Basic Education (GBE– 9grade) without receiving the level of GSE.

The graduates of these training programs will obtain a diploma of primary professional education. As it can be seen in Fig.A2 in Annex, the number of students in Professional Technical Lyceums last year was about 20 000 people.

In the Adult Training Centers in the part of professional training (social training programs which do not have a professional nature are also implemented in these centers), short-time courses are offered in professional training, retraining and advanced training4. The graduates of these training programs will obtain a certificate of qualification level (category, class, etc.) of workers' professions. PTLs have also a right to implement such training curricula.

2 The transition to the two-level HE was implemented in 2014, and to the single-level science education (PhD) - in 2015.

Previous scientific part of the education was consisted of two levels - postgraduate and doctoral studies. 3 Until to 2015 the Law on IPE established a 3-year term for such programs, but in 2015 changes were made in the Law,

allowing to implement such a program in 2 year. 4 The results of these programs do not affect to the level of professional education


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The State executive body of the IVE system is the Ministry of labor, migration and employment of population.

The SVE system is governed by the basic Law on Education [1] and the Law "On the secondary professional education" (2015) [3]. The SVE system currently consists of 59 of Professional Colleges (PC). In PCs basically two types of training programs are implemented:

3 - year program of vocational education after General Secondary Education (GSE - 11 grade);

4 - year integrated program of vocational and General Secondary Education after General Basic Education (GBE– 9 grade).

The diplomas of secondary vocational education are given to the graduates of these training programs. As it can be seen in Fig. 2, the number of students in vocational colleges in recent years has a tendency to increase. During the 2009-2014 it increased by 1.5 times and reached 60 000 people, which is 3 times more than that of IPE in terms of vocational education programs5.

The State executive body of the SVE system is the Ministry of Education and Sciences.

The HE system is governed by the basic Law on Education [1] and the Law “On higher and postgraduate professional education" (2009) [2]. The HE system currently consists of 37 Universities and Professional Institutes. In HE institutions basically the three following types of training programs are implemented:

4 - year bachelor program after the GSE (11 grade); 2 - year magister program after the Baccalaureate; 3 - year PhD program after the Magistracy.

The diplomas of higher education, respectively bachelors and masters, are given to the graduates of the first two education programs and a scientific degree of PhD - to the graduates of the third program. As it can be seen in Fig. 2., the number of students of the first two programs of HE system in recent years is about 160 000 people, 8 and 2.7 times more than the corresponding figures of IPE and SPE systems.

The State executive body of the HE system is the Ministry of Education and Sciences.

The indicators of state funding of vocational education levels in the dimension of "per student" are shown in Fig. 3.

Qualifications: description, structuring and evaluation

It is known that the description of qualifications and its consistency to the needs of the labor market play a key role in ensuring the quality of vocational education.

The analysis shows that the adopted laws and regulations in the field of vocational education do not contain a clear definition of the quality concepts and quality assurance, nor potential quality assurance systems and tools to improve the quality of education. While regulations relating to quality assurance are scattered in various legal documents and contain numerous overlaps and

5 We remind that “IPE programs =PTLs programs+ ATCs programs”


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repetition of the procedures and criteria, none of them have clear definition of concepts such as quality assurance, quality improvement, quality control and education quality management. There is not only a clear definition of the purpose and role of the quality assurance in education system in these documents, but there are not also the definition of the functions that are assigned for the quality assurance system or authorities which are responsible for its implementation at the systemic, institutional and programmatic levels. Instead, the existing legal instruments are used as instruments of state control, but not as the tools to improve the education quality [6, p. 59].

However, it should be noted that Tajik legislation seeks to ensure the quality of vocational education mainly through the establishment of the state educational standards and enforcement of those standards by licensing, certification and state accreditation of educational institutions.

The Article 1 of the Law "On Education" established that:

the quality of education is a set of indicators of the state educational standards and state requirements;

the State educational standards are a set of standards that reflect the content of education, the value and timing of training, the volume of teaching load, the level of assimilation of knowledge by students and determine the basic requirements for the training process, the content of curricula and assessment of knowledge in educational institutions, taking into account national and universal achievements.

In the Article 8 of the Law "On Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education" the following objectives of the state educational standards are formulated: (i) ensuring the quality of education; (ii) ensure consistency at all levels; and (iii) the recognition of documents on higher and postgraduate professional education, issued by foreign governments.

The State educational standard of IPE6 establishes:

the key basic requirements to the IPE level of education of graduates; a list of professions and specialties of IPE; the procedure for amending the list of professions and specialties of IPE.

And has the following goals:

1. Improving the quality of training through regulation of requirements for learning outcomes and streamlining a control system of the efficiency of IPE schools (vocational - technical lyceums);

2. Ensuring an equivalence of IPE within the country and abroad for the unimpeded participation of the Republic of Tajikistan in the international labor market.

Regarding qualification standards it comes only in the Law "On secondary professional education", recently adopted in August 8, 2015. Article 6 of the Law provides that "the qualification standards of secondary vocational education:

requires the establishment of complex educational-methodical maintenance, plans and training programs, educational and methodical literature, the provisions for the control of secondary vocational education;

establishes uniform requirements for the specialties of secondary vocational education; are periodically updated taking into account the current requirements.

6 This document was adopted by the Decree of the Government of Tajikistan on November 4, 2002, № 419


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In the legislation and regulations relating to the IPE and HE systems a qualif ication standards is expressed in the form of "state minimum requirements for the content and level of training for concrete professions and specialties" of IPE and HE. At the same time, established that these "national minimum" are an integral part of the state educational standards, and so they are often called in the HE as State educational standards of concrete specialty (profession).

Therefore, SES of the concrete specialty contains a qualification standard (in the form of state minimum requirements for a level of training of graduates) of this specialty, as well as the duration and content of training programs (in the form of state minimum requirements for education content).

Thus, in accordance with accepted regulatory enactments:

(a) for each level of professional education (IPE, SPE and HE) the list of professions and specialties should be developed, which is approved by the Government;

(b) the main document describing the qualification standard of concrete specialty is the State Educational Standard (SES) of this specialty (profession), which is approved by the MES (for HE and SPE systems) or MLME (for IPE system);

(c) SES should be developed and approved for each specialty (profession) of each level of education

The study showed that,

the new version7 of the List of professions and specialties were developed and approved by the Government for the SPE and HE in 2007, and for the IPE - in 2013. These documents are based on the model document developed by the corresponding body of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS);

State educational standards of new generation (comprising qualification standards) on specialties are developed more actively in the field of HE and in the field of IPE and SPO are mainly used a qualification standards of the Soviet Union period;

there are no statistics of the approved SES of specialties in all levels of professional education, as well as the mechanisms and instruments of structuring and systematizing the educational standards in the context of economic sectors and qualification levels (levels of professional education).

The current quality assessment system, which is largely dependent on the licensing, certification and accreditation stipulates the compliance with the state minimum standards, overloads the system and leads to an insignificant improvement of the quality. The system of external quality assurance in Tajikistan currently consists of a chain of three successive steps - licensing, certification and accreditation. All links of this chain are based on the same standards and more or less includes the same procedures and performers, burdening education institutions and does not contributing to the improvement and modernization of the system (see the Table A1in Annex). These assessment tools do not give a value of functions such as quality improvement, professional certification of graduates and the provision of information needed for effective implementation and operation of a quality assurance system [6, p. 59].

It should also be noted that the National Classification of Occupations (NCO) was published in 20138, developed by the Research Institute of Labour and Social Protection of Population and

7The List of professions and specialties approved in the Soviet Union period has previously been used. 8This Classifier was issued after reworking of the part related to a social workers in the framework of the EU project

"Technical Assistance to Sector Policy Support Programme in the field of social protection"


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approved by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population. The systematization of types of work (occupation), adopted in this NCO, mainly corresponds to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) and has a hierarchical and four-level structure.

The four levels of qualification are allocated in the NCO. The first qualification level corresponds to basic and general secondary education, the second qualification level – to IPE, the third – to SPE, the fourth – to HE. In the classification of occupations are considered that a certain level of qualification can be achieved not only by vocational training or special preparation, but often enough it reaches through practical experience.

However, as the study showed, the NCO is not actually used in the process of development of qualification standards.

Thus,

the structure of the Tajik vocational education system is gradually moving closer to the structure of European education systems;

the quality of vocational education is mainly provided through the establishment of the state educational standards (SES) for each specialty of each level of professional education. In each subsystem of IPE, SPE and HE, qualification standards are developed separately, so that there is no strict relationship between the qualification standards at various levels of vocational education;

there is no mechanism for document structuring and systematizing these qualification standards in the context of economic sectors and qualification levels (levels of professional education);

monitoring and evaluation of the quality of education is mainly carried out through licensing, certification and state accreditation of educational institutions, which leads to an insignificant improvement of the quality, as evidenced by practice and a number of studies, including [6].

Involved authorities and stakeholders

As noted above, the description of qualifications specific fields is carried out within the specialty qualification standard expressed in the form of State minimum requirements for content and level of training of graduates of this specialty as an integral part of the SES.

According to country sectoral (education) legislation, the responsible body for the development, approval, monitoring, evaluation and updating of qualifications is the executive body of state management in the sphere of education. Consequently, the responsibility in that direction in the areas of SPE and HE is carried out by the MES and in the field of IPE - MLME.

As noted above, the development and updating of qualification standards are more prominently carried out in the field of HE. This process takes place according to the following chain:

i. A HE Institution (HEI) develops a draft of the SES of a concrete specialty, which contains a description of the qualification as a result of training (qualifying standard), the academic plan and the content of academic disciplines (working learning plan);

ii. The draft of SES after approval by the Academic Council of the HEI is submitted to the Educational - Methodical Center of MES for consideration;


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iii. The draft of SES after approval of the Educational - Methodical Center of MES is submitted to the Collegium (Board) of MES for consideration and future adoption;

iv. The Collegium of the MES on the basis of the appropriate conclusion of the Department of High and Postgraduate Professional Education of the Central Apparatus of the Ministry adopts the SES, which is the basis for its implementation.

Practice shows that this process mainly takes place formally. It is primarily certainly due to the fact that both the Educational - Methodical Center of the MES and the Central Apparatus of the MES, which will review the proposed by HEI, simultaneously do not have a priori the necessary number of specialists, i.e. professionals in all specialties of HE. The Educational - Methodical Center of the MES, which is responsible for the entire spectrum of the education system, starting from pre-school up to post-graduate education, has 32 employees, and in the Department of High and Postgraduate Professional Education of the Central Apparatus of the MES has 7 specialists.

There are no mechanisms or structured (department) systematizing of all approved SES. The establishment of mechanisms and structures for systematization and structuring of all approved SES are not provided in the existing regulations.

There are not even the simple statistics of the approved and state educational standards being currently implemented. Such a practice could cause the actual existence of different (on content) educational standards of one specialty that are being implementing in various universities.

The procedure for the adoption of the SES in the areas of IPE and SPE, as well as the situation with the registration (statistics) of the adopted standards are similar as in the field of HE. There are cases where the SES is being developed at the level of methodical centers of relevant ministries. However, the process of developing new SES in these sub-systems of vocational education goes relatively slowly. For example, in the field of IPE the first new generation SES for the 4 specialties of sewing profession was developed in 2015. The developing process of the SES for the 5 specialties of construction professions is at the final stage. The qualification standards of the Soviet period, possibly with some changes and additions, are basically used in the systems of IPE and SPE.

Thus, the education institutions have basically a key position in the development and updating of the SES. The relatively better situation in the field of HE compare with IPE and SPE certainly due to the fact that HEI focus more on potential staff and possibly also in connection with the accession of Tajikistan to the "Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region"9.

It should be noted that none of the tools of development, updating and assessment of qualifications imply a full involvement of major stakeholders - employers in these procedures. The study indicates that these assessment tools are not credible in the field of higher education and in society as a whole, since quality of provided services remains low, with little potential for improvement. With regard to the recognition, besides the recognition by the Government, professional recognition by employers is also missing. The latter do not have the information, and therefore cannot trust the existing quality assessment instruments because the qualifying performance of graduates did not meet the expected requirements [6, p. 61].

9This Convention was ratified by Parliament of the Republic of Tajikistan in January 2012.


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Accusations against employers often – that they do not show adequate interest in cooperation with educational institutions in the field of vocational education (specialist and works’ training) – often take place. However, the result of the World Bank study [7, p. 33] shows that 34.2% of surveyed employers said that their businesses suffer from a lack of qualified personnel. This is a fairly solid force for cooperation.

The State Quality Management Standards, adopted in 2013 according to the Government Resolution # 497 - inherently quantitative property and consequently focused only on control - are the main regulatory documents in the field of quality assurance, but they practically do not encourage professional educational schools to improve the results of its activities [6, p. 69].

However, there are some positive developments in this direction that occur as a result of the implementation of project initiatives of international organizations. Some professional educational schools of IPE, SPE and HE subsystems began developing the SES with representatives of employers.

In addition, a new procedure for entering high schools of the country through the entrance exams at the National Testing Center, which began in 2014, has created a real competition to attract students10. As a result, in order to increase the competitiveness for providing educational services, some high schools have begun to update the qualification standards of their specialties, taking into account the needs of branch employers. For example, by the decision of the Academic Council of the Technological University of Tajikistan from 12.26.2014, all university faculties were entrusted to develop new professional standards with the involvement of representatives of the leading enterprises of the corresponding economic branch. The Center of competitiveness of graduates in the labor market also operates in this university.

In general, the current situation in the area of descriptions (development and approval), systematization and structuring of qualifications in the country does not meet the goals and objectives of the national strategic documents. It certainly is the result of a low level of awareness of responsible government agencies about the importance of the NQF, lack of capacity for the development of professional standards at all levels of professional education, as well as limited financial resources of the country for the implementation of appropriate measures to improve the situation.

Evolution of NQF / QF or related systems

The evolution of the qualification system in Tajikistan is mainly at the stage of policy and methodology formulation.

The problem of improving the organization of educational services in accordance with the requirements of the labor market started to be mentioned only in 2007 in the strategic documents [8, p. 29]. In this regard, the adoption of comprehensive measures to optimize the content of curricula and programs was envisaged in the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan for the period up to 2015. At the same time, as part of this strategy, it was assumed that at all levels of education the optimized and improved state standards, curricula

10 As a result, some of the universities in the 2014-2015 academic year have failed to fulfill the established plans of

admission of students by 30-40%.


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and programs will be implemented. However, as stated above, the problem on the content has not been executed.

With the adoption of the National Education Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan until 2020-2012, a more substantial progress began in the political perception of the problem of the quality of vocational education in the country. In this sectoral strategic paper it is assumed that [9, p. 25]:

the content of vocational education will be reviewed in line with the current and future requirements of the economy, the demands of the labor market, society and families;

the state educational standards (SES) of new generation will be introduced in all levels of vocational education. Their development will be based on the professional standards, held with the direct participation of employers;

a new generation of SES concept includes the transition to competency results of education, the modular organization of educational programs at all levels on the basis of the qualification requirements of the National Qualifications Framework.

Along with this, the Law "On the training of specialists based on the needs of the labor market" [5] was adopted in 2012, designed to determine the legal, financial and organizational basis of partnership between the state and the private sector in the system of vocational education and to regulate relations in the process of interaction between the system of vocational education during the training of specialists tailored to the needs of the labor market.

The Article 6 of the law, in particular, established that "the partnership of the state and the private sector in the field of training, taking into account the needs of the labor market carried out in the following forms:

adoption of joint programs for concerted action to implement the agreements the parties to the training of specialists, taking into account the needs of the labor market;

joint participation in the development of state standards for vocational education, including the involvement of employers;

the establishment of the joint institutions”.

As it can be seen, the strategic and legal documents form a legal and political framework for joint activity of representatives of the vocational education, the labor market and the concerned parts of the society to develop a new generation of qualification standards of specialties of IPE, SPE and HE. It should be noted that, although in these documents the idea to create a national framework (systems) of qualifications is not transparent; however, there is a good ground for the activities in this area.

Moreover, among country universities managers began the debate on the structuring of qualifications of HE in order to systematize the qualifications on the levels of bachelor and master [11].

It should be noted that the GIZ11 project promoted the establishment of the VET Coordination Committee at the Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan, within the scope of the tasks of which it is supposed to enable the coordination process of systematization of the qualification standards of VET specialties.

11The GIZ project «Support for the VET reform in Tajikistan" has started in 2007 and will be completed in the first half of

2016


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A more significant role in the development of the policy in relation to the NQF has been played by the Tempus project "Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia: Bologna principles and regional coordination"12 in Tajikistan. It aimed at implementing the ideas of Qualifications Framework, with the use of European experience on national qualification frameworks, sectoral framework and the development of learning outcomes that will improve the educational system and modernizing the existing requirements to the educational standards.

As a result of this project, qualitative positive progress was achieved in the creation of the conceptual and methodological bases of the NQF and its practical implementation in the specialty of "Information and telecommunication technologies" at the master's level. Under this project, were designed, in particular:

Draft of Concept of National Qualifications Framework of the Republic of Tajikistan;

The Manual on the National Qualifications System of the Republic of Tajikistan;

The Collection of normative documents for the development of qualifications frameworks in the Republic of Tajikistan;

The Exemplary state educational standard of master's degree level in “Information and communication technologies” on the basis of the relevant European educational standards.

The Manual on the National Qualifications System of the Republic of Tajikistan, in particular, lists the following: the basic terms and concepts related to the NQF, the purpose and objectives of the NQF, the structure and the measures to create the NQF in Tajikistan, the technique and principles of the NQF designing and the structure of sectoral qualification framework, qualification levels and descriptors of the sectoral framework of the qualification. It is important to note that the development of this document was attended by leaders of the MES and several universities of the country [14].

On a practical level, in the framework of the ETF, GIZ, and Tempus projects, best practices have been shared for the development of the qualification standards in the different areas of the vocational education in Tajikistan.

For example, discussions on the NQF development and implementation started with the launching of an ETF project on an NQF in 2005. This project also contributed to raising awareness among the key ministries and sectoral stakeholders (tourism and hotel business) in Tajikistan. Based on a project supported by the ETF, some first steps were taken, such as the creation of several sector associations and of sector-related educational institutions. Tripartite sectoral agreements were signed. Also, several occupational standards and related training programmes were developed with the input from the sector associations in the hospitality sector.

Under the GIZ project, in particular, the personnel potential of the Centre for methodological support and monitoring the quality of VET of the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment was strengthened and a number of the pilot VET schools developed professional standards with the participation of representatives of employers. In the 2014-2015 period, the new generation of IPE SES was developed for four specialties in the textile / sewing industry and at present the

12 530183-TEMPUS-1-2012-DE-TEMPUS-SMHES: QUADRIGA: "Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia: Bologna

principles and regional coordination". Project implementation period 01.10.2012 - 10.14.2015


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new SES for 5 specialties in construction is in the process of development. Moreover, the ADB13 project envisages the development of new SES for 18 specialties of IPE.

As part of the afore-mentioned TEMPUS project, the SES of Master's degree on specialty of “Information and telecommunication technology” was developed and introduced in some universities.

Thus, the adopted legislative acts and state policy documents, as well as the developed conceptual and methodological materials and achieved practical skills can play a fundamental basis for the beginning of the process of the creation of the NQF in the country.

Using qualifications

It should be noted that during the Soviet era, almost all qualification standards developed in the "center" were sent for implementation in Tajikistan. Therefore, there was no experience in the country of developing qualification standards in the education system.

As already noted above, the process of developing and using new generation qualification standards, especially in the systems of IPE and SPE, started14 after the beginning of the implementation of international projects of such agencies as dvv International, ETF, DED, GIZ, TEMPUS, and others. At the same time, the cooperation with representatives of employers in process of development of professional standards has been identified as a major area of activity.

For example, according to experts of such German agencies as DED and dvv International, the group of specialists of the National Adult Training Center has been trained to use the DACUM method to develop qualification standards. As a result, the joint working group established within the framework of the ETF project on national qualifications frameworks from staff of the Centre and experts in tourism and hotel industry have developed 23 professional profiles in accordance with descriptors (8 - in the hotel business, 6 positions - in the tourism sector, 9 - in the restaurant business); qualifications of each position have been described; a level of education to obtain this qualification was defined. Further, in accordance with these qualification standards, professional training of unemployed youth in these specialties was organized.

As a result of the "Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia: Bologna principles and regional coordination" project, there are some positive steps in the use of qualification in the process of improving the quality of vocational education at the Tajik State Pedagogical University (named Aini, Khorog State University named M. Nazarshoev, Khujand State University named B. Gafurov). Thus, the project developed the SES for the master level of exemplary specialty "Information and communication technologies” and started its implementation in the pilot universities of the country. In developing this SES, the Sughd Oblast State Committee for Television and Radio was attracted as an employer.

Study shows that15 the management skills of VET schools management staff and exchange of best practices in this field plays a key role in the process of VET quality management. On this

13 Beginning of implementation of this project is provided in 2016. 14 The qualification standards adopted in the Soviet Union period have previously been used. 15 For example, Torino Process 2014, Tajikistan.


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basis, the ETF project on VET school development in Central Asia16 created 6 regional Community of Practices (CoP). One of the main objectives of these regional CoPs is, in particular, the exchange of best practices for the development of social partnerships with representatives of employers, developing a new generation of qualifications. Currently, the work of the CoP involved 32 VET schools, including the development of new generation qualifications standards with the involvement of employers.

The Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment of Population is developing adult learning and plans to establish a mechanism for qualification recognition (certification of qualification). This idea is rooted in the fact that many labor migrants have very different skills and qualifications in a diversity of fields, but these qualifications are not recognised officially and their value in different environments is not guaranteed. The ministry is now working on establishing a mechanism which supports the mobility of labor migrants, their income and standards. A framework for qualifications is one of the options [10].

The National Adult Training Center is currently involved in the issue of recognition of qualifications acquired through non-formal education, in particular, the qualifications of migrant workers, acquired during work. The development of qualification standards of this center uses, in particular, the DACUM method, involving employers from corresponding economic sectors. At present, 24 qualification standards for professions of the construction industry and other sectors of the economy were developed in collaboration with specialists and experts.

Nevertheless, the mechanism for the certification of qualifications acquired through non-formal learning is not yet developed and approved by the appropriate state agency.

As part of the GIZ «Support for the VET reform in Tajikistan" project, some progress was also made in strengthening the capacity of pilot VET schools, so as to develop qualification standards of specialties of IPE. As a result of this, the 8 VET schools have developed more than 10 qualification standards of the new generation.

Thus, the development of qualification standards, and on its basis the development of curricula of vocational education, are mainly started in the IPE and HE subsystems. This process in the HE subsystem has a relatively systemic nature in connection with the entry of the subsystem to the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region. However, the development process of qualification standards and appropriate training programs in the IPE subsystem is fragmented and carried out mainly in VET schools covered by international organizations projects.

It is known that the mobility between VET and HE can be achieved when the qualifications of different levels of education are systematized and consistent. With the absence of systematization and structuring of qualifications, which characterizes the current state of education in Tajikistan, the provision of mobility between different education levels (between VET and HE) is a challenge. Nevertheless, a first attempt has been made to link curricula between the levels of SPE and HE, particularly in the context of educational institutions of the SPE, which are included in the structure of the higher education institutions. However, this is done only at the level of training programs of the first year of study at the university, that is, there is no role of qualification in such kind of linking of curricula.

16 One of the ETF strategic objectives for 2014-17 is to modernise VET systems: ‘ in partner countries, to develop policies

to promote VET school development, professionalization of VET school directors, VET teachers and in-company trainers’ and to set up ’functioning networks/expert pools in selected partner countries’.


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The study showed that, at present, in the framework of projects of international organizations and in the activity framework of the heads of universities of the country, discussions on the need to establish mechanisms and special institutions for the structuring of qualifications both horizontally and vertically have been initiated [11].

Consequently,

the use of qualifications for the development of the quality of education at educational institutions has gradually expanded. This process has especially flourished at the HE subsystem;

there is yet no initiative to structure developed and adopted qualifications at the political level . However, there is a discussion about the need to create mechanisms and special institutions for the horizontal and vertical structuring of vocational education qualifications

Going international

Tajikistan retains its labor redundancy, expressed in the inability of the economy to provide employment to much of the available labor force. In fact, the labor market in Tajikistan is a two-component economy, consisting of the domestic labor market and foreign labor markets that attract migrant workers from Tajikistan. According to some estimates [12], the capacity of the external component of the Tajikistan labor market is almost one third of the capacity of two-component labor market.

In these circumstances and in the context of globalization of the labor market, a need for internationalization of qualifications is evident. Such (international) qualifications can provide an easy, painless and productive mobility of the labor force in the international space of the labor market.

In this regard, the National Education Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan (2020) outlined that the country’s education clearly aims at integration at the international level and thus, is supports the development of a NQF based on international standards.

Moreover, this policy document notes that "the entry of the Republic of Tajikistan into the global community, the signing of international conventions and acts, integration into the global system of education, exchange of students and scientists, the recognition of diplomas and many other tasks related to the training and research, paved the way for broad international cooperation, which is necessary to fully develop".

Based on this, the priorities of the strategy are established:

i. modernization of the educational content on the basis of the transition from the knowledge to competency training model;

ii. modernization of the content of primary and secondary vocational education with a focus on the needs of local labor markets, needs of families and successful adaptation to external labor markets.

As for higher education, the intention of Tajikistan gradually enters the space of the Bologna Process. It seeks a place in the "world level" and showing to authorities the task to bring the HE system in line with international standards and norms, that is connected with radical changes in education and established traditions.


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Tajikistan joined the Tempus program in 2004. During the 2004-2011 period, the project funded 30 projects totaling $ 7.1 million Euro. In 2012, the Tempus project "Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia: Bologna principles and regional coordination" started, implementing measures for the rapprochement of the qualifications of Tajikistan to similar systems in the Central Asian region and the European Union.

In this context, it should be noted that the agreement on mutual recognition and equivalence of documents on education, scientific degrees and titles were signed between the governments of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan in 2001.

There is an understanding that mobility is one of the fundamental elements of the Bologna process, which creates opportunities for personal growth, developing international cooperation and contributes to the improvement of the quality of higher education and scientific research. Work will continue on the problems related to immigration, recognition of diplomas and mobility of the labor force in a globalized labor market [11].

In the current period of development of the vocational education system in Tajikistan, the scenario has gradually changed as a result of the projects implemented by international organizations and best practices shared in the region. The view that the qualifications framework is a central element of the European space of professional education and the importance of mechanisms to achieve comparability and transparency of vocational education are some good examples. This approach is helping educational institutions to develop modules and training programs, ensuring the quality of vocational education to facilitate the recognition of qualifications at the international level.

Concluding remarks

The analysis of the current situation in Tajikistan demonstrates that the NQF development process is in the primary stage (description of qualifications). The country's legislation concerning NQFs focuses on each specialty at all levels of professional education, which includes the qualifications standard of this specialty. The qualifications standard usually describes the qualification (as the combination of knowledge and skills) as the outcome of educational programmes. The Lists of directions and specialties for all levels of professional education were approved by the government (in 2007 for the HE and SPE, and in 2013 for the IPE). These Lists are developed on the basis of the similar documents approved by the CIS relevant authority for CIS countries.

The qualifications description process is well developed in the subsystem of HE, which is associated with the aspiration of the country to enter into the Bologna Process. As for the IPE subsystem, it is a result of international donors’ project initiatives. In the SPE subsystem, the qualifications description process has only just begun, in connection with a plan to transition to the credit learning technology. Herewith, the education institutions play the main role in the process of describing the qualification.

The approval process of the developed qualifications is held formally (without proper analysis and evaluation), which is the result of a lack of specialized structures in this field. There is also no mechanism for integrated statistical registration, systematization and structuring of the accepted qualifications. The development, analysis and evaluation of the approved qualifications almost does not involve the representatives of employers, except some cases


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related to the implementation of projects of international organizations. Positive changes in the involvement of employers in the description and evaluation of qualifications can be observed. The Law "On the training of specialists tailored to needs of the labor market" was adopted in 2012, which aims to define the legal, financial and organizational basis of partnership between state and private sectors in the process of training of specialists according to the needs of the labor market.

The National Education Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan (2012-2020) set the scenario for significant progress in the political perception of the problem of education quality. This strategic document envisages a transition to competency-based education, the modular organization of educational programs at all levels on the basis of the qualification requirements of the NQF.

The recently adopted laws, strategic and methodological documents form the legal, political and methodological basis for joint activities of representatives of educational institutions and labor market, with the view to develop a new generation of qualification standards and to create the NQF. The draft of the NQF Concept is developed and the debate is now around the need to establish a mechanism and special institution for the horizontal and vertical structuring of qualifications in the country.

The current professional education development in Tajikistan is marked by the country’s labor redundancy (the unemployment rate according to official data as reported in the Labour Force Survey 2009 was at 11.4%, while the World Bank reports 10,9% for 2014) and the presence of large external labor migration. It is further influenced by a number of other aspects, such as demographic and economic factors. International organizations’ projects and the use of best practices in the region exert influence on approaches to reform in the country. They have gradually contributed to strengthening the view and the position that the NQF is a central element into entering the European professional education space and an important mechanism for achieving comparability and transparency of the country qualifications. This approach helps educational institutions to develop modules and training programs that improve education quality and promote the recognition of qualifications at the international level, mitigating the process of mobility of labor resources in the regional labor market.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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11. Minutes of interviews with key individuals of vocational education system in Tajikistan/ Dushanbe, December, 2015.

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Tempus programme Joint Projects. Khorog, 2015. -110 p.

ANNEX

2 6 XVII Postgraduate studiesISCED 6

2 5 XVII

2 4 X VI

2 3 X V M asterISCED 52 2 X VI

2 1 X V

BachelorISCED 5

2 0 X IV

1 9 X III Secondary vocational education-ISCED 5B1 8 X II Initial vocational

educationISCED 3

1 7 XI

G eneral secondary education - ISCED 3

Secondary vocational education - ISCED 31 6 X

1 5 IX

General bas ic education(required) - ISCED 21 4 VIII

1 3 VII

1 2 VI

1 1 V

1 0 IV

General primary education (required) - ISCED 29 III

8 II

7 I

Age

o f

stu d e n ts

ye ar

o f

stu d yPre-school education

Fig. A1. General structure of education in Tajikistan


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Fig.А2.The number of students in professional schools (thousand people).

020406080100120140160180

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

IVE SVE HE


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Fig. А3.State financing on the levels of professional education

(per pupil/student in US $)

200,9 243,8 248,1 371,4

135,2 152,3 185,1275,8

271,5 325,2 390,5 470,0

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

2010 2011 2012 2013

IVET SVET HE


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Table A1: The quality assurance system in Tajikistan

Quality assurance

mechanisms

Quality assurance function

Performers Validity period Standards Required Level

Cost of each procedure

Consequences

Lice

nsin

g

Start of activities (creation of EI)

State Agency for Control of Education (under MES)

In the initial phase of EI’s activity every 5 years during the certification and accreditation

Standards and licensing procedures

Obl

igat

orily

560 TJ Somoni (about 220 US dollars)

Right on the functioning

Atte

stat

ion

It establishes that the content of programs, the level and quality of knowledge of graduates meet the requirements of SES


Every 5 years Standards of attestation (such as in the case of licensing) O

blig

ator

ily

10,000 TJ Somoni (about 2,200 US dollars) in average

The right to award a scientific degree, license renewal

Acc

redi

tatio

n

It recognizes that the EI meets the standards of level of education, established for certain types of educational activities


Every five years, within three months of receiving certification, the duration may vary from 2 to 5 years, depending on the case

The standards are the same as in the case of attestation and licensing

Obl

igat

orily

2-3,000 TJ Somoni (about 450-680 US dollars) in average

The right to award scientific degree and to issue certificates for individual courses

Source: Report of the World Bank "Tajikistan: Analysis of the higher education sector”, 2014//http://www-wds.worldbank.org/

NATIONAL REPORT UZBEKISTAN

Organization of Qualifications in Uzbekistan

Authors:

Aleksey Semyonov Abbas Khodjaev

Tashkent 2016


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Executive Summary

This report provides a brief summary of the current system of qualifications employed by the Republic of Uzbekistan and aims at the analysis of the current state of affairs in relation to the development of National Qualifications Framework. The existing structure of qualifications is well regulated in Uzbekistan and the system is centrally controlled by the relevant ministries. The involvement of stakeholders in development of qualifications is evident and strong links VET-HE, HE-Industry, and VET-industry are favouring the dynamics of qualifications system development and review. The system of qualifications has been majorly reconsidered after gaining independence by the Republic of Uzbekistan and current system is developed based on contemporary needs in country’s development. The legislation in the area is aiding further development of the system both structurally and content wise. A lot of emphasis is given to the employment of international experience for the development of the current system and ensuring continuity of education. This experience is then integrated into the existing structures. The analysis of the current systems suggests that further steps of development might include the development of the overarching qualification framework across sectors and levels, internationalization of State Educational Standards (SES), and development of international comparisons in qualifications adopted in Uzbekistan.


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Glossary of Terms “State Educational Standard” (SES) – defines requirements to the quality of personnel training, content of education; sufficient and necessary level of training of students and qualification requirements of graduates of educational establishments; necessary volume of academic load; procedures and mechanisms of evaluation of the activities of educational establishments and quality of personnel training. SES are a basis for preparation of other normative documents, regulating the educational process and evaluating the activities of educational establishments [11]. “Renewed classificator of main working and serving professions” – classificator that is used for systematizing main titles of working and serving professions, determination of the range of tariff ranks for working and position categories for serving professions, and requirements to the level and area of education [10]. “Classificator of directions and specialties of higher education” – is a part of the unified system of classification and coding of information of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Renewed Classificator is developed in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan #1553 issued on the 20th of May 2011 “On measures for strengthening the material and technical base of higher educational institutions and fundamental enhancement of quality of training of qualified specialists”. Classificator is based on the “Law on Education” and “National Programme of Personnel Training” and constructed in accordance with the principles of “International standard classification of education” adopted by UNESCO in March 1997 [11]. Qualification Requirements – document containing requirements for general knowledge and level of professional readiness of graduates of a corresponding stage of continuous education [11]. Academic Lyceum – three years based special educational establishment that provides intensive development of intellectual abilities, in-depth, differentiated and profession-oriented education [12]. Professional College – three years based educational establishment that provides in-depth development of professional inclinations, skills and knowledge, obtaining of one or more specialties in selected professions [12]. Higher Education Establishment – educational establishment (university, academy, institute, highest school) that provides higher professional education on one (bachelor) or two (bachelor and masters) steps [12]. Baccalaureate – basic higher education with fundamental knowledge in one of the directions of higher education provided in not less than 4 years [12].


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Masters – higher education in a particular specialty with the length of education of not less than 2 years based on baccalaureate [12]. Graduate Education – type of continuous education directed at fulfillment of the needs of society in scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel of highest qualification [12]. Institute of Senior Fellows-Researchers - form of graduate education organized in higher educational establishments and scientific research establishments and directed at in-depth study of specialty, conduct of scientific research and defense of doctoral dissertations by candidates of academic degree of doctor of science on scientific and scientific-pedagogical specialties of highest qualification [16].


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The existing organization of Qualifications in Uzbekistan

After acquiring independence in 1991 Uzbekistan has invested many resources into development of its education system. Presently the system that was in place before 1991 is fully reconsidered and transformed for the purposes of serving the needs of the Republic of Uzbekistan in all sectors of economy, social and political areas.

The education system of Uzbekistan consists of multiple levels presented at Diagram 1 below.

Diagram 1. Levels of Education in Uzbekistan (adapted from: website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan [3])

The education system is generally supervised by the Cabinet of Ministers either directly or through appropriate ministries.

The tasks of the Cabinet of Ministers in the field of education, inter alia, include [3]:

implementation of a unified state policy in the field of education; overseeing the state educational bodies;

Education in Uzbekistan is

realised in the following

ways

Secondary Education

Specialized Secondary and

Vocational Education

Extracurricular Non School Education

Pre-School Education

Personnel training and retraining

Graduate education

Higher Education


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development and implementation of education development programs; establishing the rules for creation, reorganization and liquidation of educational

institutions; determining the rules for accreditation of educational institutions, certification of

teaching and research staff; issuing permits for educational activities to educational institutions of other

states on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan; determining the rules for recognizing and matching the equivalence of

international documents on education according to the law; approval of state educational standards; approval of state specimens of educational documents and the procedure for

their issuance; setting the number of government grants and admission rules to educational

institutions; appointment of rectors of public higher education institutions; establishing the order of students transfer from one accredited educational

institution to another; other powers in accordance with the law.

In Uzbekistan, the direct management of the educational institutions is mainly carried out by two sectorial ministries - the Ministry of Public Education (MPE) and the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education (MHSSE).

MPE is responsible for preschool, non-school educational institutions and secondary schools [2]. In 2015/2016 academic year there were 9692 schools (including 22 primary schools, 9582 9-year schools, 88 specialized schools), 4 pedagogical institutes (Nukus State Pedagogical Institute, Dzizakh State Pedagogical Institute, Navoi State Pedagogical Institute, Kokand State Pedagogical Institute), and 4916 preschool educational establishments [3].

MHSSE reports to the Cabinet of Ministers and manages the provision of higher and secondary professional education in the Uzbekistan. In 2015/2016 academic year there were 8017 HEIs in Uzbekistan, including 28 in Tashkent city, 45 in the regions, 7 branches/partners of foreign universities, 144 Academic lyceums and 1412 professional colleges [1].

The overarching system of education in Uzbekistan at all levels is presented in diagram 2 below.

17 On the 13th of May 2016, the new Tashkent State University of Uzbek Language and Literature named after Alisher Navoi was declared to be established in accordance with the Presidential Decree 4797.


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Diagram 2. Education System of Uzbekistan [1]

Despite the existence of two sectorial ministries diagram 2 demonstrates close interconnectedness of various stages of education with the emphasis on continuous education and lifelong learning. Overlap of education programs and forms of education shows constant dialogue between the stakeholders to ensure holistic nature of education in Uzbekistan.

The main legislation acts that drive the reform in educational system include:

Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On education” (1997) [12]; “National Programme on Personnel Training” (1997) [4]; Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers “On development and introduction of

educational standards to the system of continuous education” (1998) [11].

The reforms in HE and VET are taking place in accordance with the law "On Education" and “National Program on Personnel Training” (NPPT) adopted in 1997. NPPT is a long term program which consists of three phases and aims at radical reform of the education sector, a complete rejection of its ideological blinders, the creation of the national program for personnel training at the level of developed democratic countries that meet the requirements of high spirituality and morality [4]. Namely, the phases are:


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Phase 1 implemented in 1997-2001 laid the legal, personnel, scientific-methodological and financial basis for reforming and developing the educational system. Implementation of the program became an integral part of all public, academic, industrial and governmental structures, beginning a new system of continuous education, including new types of specialized secondary educational institutions (professional colleges and academic lyceums) and two-tier system of higher education.

Phase 2 implemented in 2001-2005 targeted on full implementation NPPT based on the results of monitoring the previous phase; a particular importance at this phase is given to improvement of the quality of education and training of teachers.

Phase 3 implemented since 2005 aimed at improvement and further development of the program. Increased international cooperation is seen as a mechanism for achieving the objectives of the NPPT. [4]

Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers “On development and introduction of educational standards to the system of continuous education” [11] is related to state Educational standards that are aimed to set the area specific qualifications framework for all specialties listed in “Renewed classificator of main working and serving professions” [10] and in “Classificator of directions and specialties of higher education” [11]. This document sets clear descriptors of what graduates of bachelor level and masters level should possess in terms of skills and knowledge in general. Thus, this document can be compared to the level descriptors used in the European countries, but the main difference is that it addresses only exit level descriptors rather than each level within the programs.

In accordance with the article 7 of the law “On Education” and resolutions of the NPPT all educational establishments are required to provide their programs in accordance with State Educational Standards (SES). The aims and objectives of development of SES, inter alia, include:

Ensure high quality of education; Definitions of criteria of quality assurance for personnel training; Ensure continuity of education; Ensure competitiveness of graduates on the labour market; Introduction of an objective system of quality assurance of education and

training, attestation and accreditation of educational institutions; Effective integration of education, research and industrial needs; Ensure harmonization of the requirements of national standards with

international requirements for quality assurance [11].

SES are developed by the base HEIs together with industries, establishments and organisations in the relevant social and economic area. Developed SES are subject to multilevel expertise in relevant state bodies and their approval is done through the order of the Minister of Higher and Secondary Specialised Education. SES approved by the ministry are then going through the process of state registration in the “Uzstandart” agency and then come into force.


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Normally SES prescribes the set of standards for:

The structure, indicative content of educational disciplines and subjects, the volume of academic workload, skill level and quality of training of students and graduates;

Requirements, rules and regulations, information technology requirements, methods of teaching and pedagogical technology, as well as specific terms, concepts and categories used in the education system;

Assessment and diagnostic procedures for the knowledge and professional skills of students, evaluation of the quality of graduates and quality of teaching ;

Competences of students at each level of education [11].

The recent step forward in development and reconsideration of SES was based on the introduction of changes into the decree “On approval of state education standards of higher education” [7]. These changes allowed the system of SES to become more flexible and adaptive to changes. Previously SES existed for the bachelor and master programmes, while after the amendments they were reorganised by the areas of education. This allowed linking directly qualification requirements to the individual bachelor and master programmes, while linking SES to the area of education.

Although NQFs are not defined in current educational system of Uzbekistan, it does not mean that they do not exists [5]. Currently a set of SES and “Classificator of directions and specialties of higher education” provide a structure of defined and nationally accredited qualifications, which are awarded at defined levels, indicate the interrelationships of the qualifications and how one can progress from one level to another. SES and Higher Educational Classificator are, therefore, the route through which the country brings education and training together in a single unified system. Moreover, they provide a framework, which assures quality recognized nationally and consistent training standards; and provide a way of structuring existing and new qualifications. This role is nearly identical with the one given to NQF in European countries [14].

However due to the different approach and historical development of education system in Uzbekistan, some elements, which are present in European system are missing, e.g. individual within level descriptors. The concept of levels exists but generally, it is not referred to using numerical or alphanumerical values, but the name of the education stage, e.g. primary, secondary, secondary specialized etc. The structure of levels, however is similar to the one used by the EHEA member countries, and in general follows the Bologna process guidelines in terms of structure, despite the fact the Uzbekistan is not a part of Bologna.


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Institutions and Stakeholders’ Roles in Setting and Maintaining Qualifications

The development of qualifications is a complex process, which requires a lot of input from stakeholders. There are a number of stakeholders involved into development of the educational system, maintenance of quality and standards and revision of curriculum for HE and VET [8, 9]. The following are identified stakeholders that are involved in the aforementioned processes:

Cabinet of Ministers; MHSSE; Educational Establishments; Ministries and agencies responsible for the relevant social and economic areas; Employers and industry representatives; Professional bodies and unions; State Testing Centre; Students; Parents.

Stakeholder involvement takes place at the stage of development of SES and qualification requirements. Base HEIs are cooperating with sectorial ministries and agencies, large enterprises and business communities. Through this process, main parameters of necessary qualifications are determined based on the current production processes, technologies, techniques, nomenclature of products and services. Along with that perspective development of sectors and areas of production are taken into consideration. Qualification requirements developed through this process are subjected to a multilevel expertise for correspondence of form and content to normative requirements, SES and other parameters.

Involvement of two categories of stakeholders (parents and students) is more informal, but their opinion and views are considered for quality enhancement purposes and are often reflected in the regulatory documents.

It is important to note that along with the development of the system of qualifications awarded to graduates of educational establishments, MHSSE and Centre of Secondary Specialised Professional Education (CSSPE) also monitor the specialty based need in graduates at different levels. Change in profile of secondary specialised, professional educational establishments is practiced in educational process depending on the regional demand in specialists, introduction of new and removal of undemanded specialties and areas of training in professional colleges and HEIs. Yearly compilation and approval of admission quotas to secondary specialized, professional [6] and higher educational establishments is implemented based on the prognosis of demand for specialists taking into consideration the recommendations of the Ministry of Economy.

The process of development and approval of SES, qualification requirements and other normative documents, internal quality control and monitoring are implemented under


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the coordination of MHSSE. At the same time the external quality control, attestation and accreditation of educational establishments are implemented by the State Testing Center(STC)under the Cabinet on Ministers. The review is done periodically by the STC and as a result a recommendation for each education establishment is issued. In general, the main task of the STC in this are is to determine the correspondence of existing potential, experience, qualification, level of preparedness and other capabilities of the educational establishment under review to qualifications awarded to its graduates. STC has a wide range of authorities. Education establishments that fail to pass attestation or fail to receive accreditation in the framework of existing legislation can be closed.

Interaction of secondary specialized, professional and higher education establishments and enterprises of employers is implemented in the form of social partnership, integration of production and educational process, apprenticeship etc. Mainly such interaction includes conducting of practical tutorials at the workplace, practical familiarization with the production processes, delivery of some practical tutorials by the production specialists, diploma projecting and defense of diplomas and masters dissertations, employment of graduates etc.

At the same time the interaction is taking place between secondary specialized and higher education establishments. Taking into consideration potential applicants to HEIs all academic lyceums are attributed to a particular HEI, for example, academic lyceum under National University of Uzbekistan. Interaction is taking place between the HEIs and professional colleges, although these are not attributed to HEIs. This interaction implies help in preparation of study plans, conduct of thematic tutorials, preparation of study literature, work with talented students of colleges and lyceums etc.

Overall the whole system of VET and HE is built bearing in mind continuous education and professional development and maintenance of strong links between HE and VET is one of the principles on which the education reforms are built and implemented.

Ministry of Education pays a lot of attention to making sure that newly developed qualifications are demanded on the labour market and reflect current developments in a wider world. To ensure that such reflections are incorporated into the new SES and new programs foreign specialists are invited for consulting purposes. Some of the developments are based on the commonly accepted European norms, e.g. the development of new SES for foreign languages is based on Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR).

Evolution of Qualifications Systems

The system of education in Uzbekistan is constantly evolving and its development is driven by the development of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Since 1991 the System of Education has been majorly reviewed and developed in the context of two main legislative documents:

Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On education” (1997) [12];


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“National Pogramme on Personnel Training” (1997) [4].

Despite the fact that these documents were accepted more than 15 years ago their underlining principles and future oriented wording still leaves a lot of space for further development. The following aims are outlined in NPPT:

reform of the education system in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Education", ensuring its ongoing development as a unified education-research-production system on the basis of public and private educational institutions, creating a competitive environment in the field of education and training;

link of education and training with the ongoing transformations of the society and construction of a developed democratic state;

providing personnel training agencies with highly qualified specialists to further increase the prestige and social status of the teaching profession;

reorganization of the structure and content of the training, based on social and economic development of the country, the needs of society, the modern achievements in science, culture, art and technology;

development and implementation of effective forms and methods of spiritual and moral education of students;

introduction of an objective quality assurance system of education and training, attestation and accreditation of educational institutions;

creation of a normative, logistical and information base, supporting the required level of quality of education to guarantee the systems operations and sustainable development and the priority of the training system in the new socio-economic conditions;

ensuring the effective integration of education, research and industry, the development of mechanisms to support the state's needs, as well as support of businesses and organizations in provision of quantity and quality of prepared personnel;

development and introduction into practice of the effective mechanisms to attract extra-budgetary funds, including foreign investment to continuous education and training;

development of mutually beneficial international cooperation in the field of training.

Since 1997 the following steps have been taken to achieve these aims:

complete transition to 12 year secondary education including 9 years of the schooling and 3 years of academic lyceum or professional college. Opening 7 HEIs that work in collaboration with foreign education establishments;

formation of strong links between academic lyceums and HEIs and professional colleges and industry respectively. Development of platform for cooperation of education research and industry;


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development of specialized training programs for teachers, involvement of foreign trained specialist in teaching and program development processes, participation in international projects;

development of a system of constant revision and update of educational programs, reorganization of education establishments;

development of specialized programs directed at spiritual and moral education of students;

establishment of sustainable system of attestation, accreditation and SES; a number of legal documents are adopted directed at maintenance of the high

quality of education; active involvement of stakeholders in development of education system; diversification of funds allocated for higher education, establishment of

sustainable self-funded institutions; participation in international projects, research activity.

Moreover, major investment is put into development of the resource base of higher and secondary education. The following has been achieved in recent years:

a) creation of a completely new system of secondary specialized, professional education in the country, which includes more than 1500 newly constructed, substantially reconstructed and equipped academic lyceums and professional colleges;

b) Implementation of state programme of development of school education, which included more than 10000 newly constructed, reconstructed, substantially refurbished and equipped secondary schools;

c) Implementation of state programme of development of sport for youth, which included more than 2000 newly constructed and reconstructed stadiums, sport halls, and other sports objects for youth;

d) Implementation of state programme of development of schools of music and arts, including 330 schools fully equipped and resources with appropriate pedagogical personnel;

e) Major reconstruction and resourcing of pre-school, and extracurricular non-school educational establishments;

f) Construction of a new building for the National Library of Uzbekistan; g) Major reconstruction and resourcing of Higher Education Institutions; h) Major investment in E-education and provision of e-education services for

general population of Uzbekistan; i) Yearly reorganisation and resourcing of professional colleges, based on

economic needs of the Republic of Uzbekistan and its labour market. j) Annual reorganization and re-resourcing of a number of professional colleges

based on current economic needs of the Republic of Uzbekistan and its labour market.

The system of education is therefore nurtured as a dynamic system that constantly undergoes changes including structural changes and changes to individual system


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components. All developments and changes are confirmed by the corresponding legislative documents at the state level or by the internal decisions of educational establishments within the remits of their charter.

How Qualifications Systems Are Used

All educational establishments in Uzbekistan work in the framework of existing legislation and other documents approved by appropriate ministries, professional bodies or academic councils of educational establishment. There are a few exceptions of this general rule, which include the international universities. These universities are created in conjunction with foreign partners and one of their aims is to bring international experience to the country. Therefore, these universities have their own peculiarities related to quality assurance, program structures, delivery methods and assessment, which are developed in conjunction with the foreign partners.

Employers and educational establishments are well aware of the existing system and career growth and professional development of the employees is carried out in accordance with the “National Classificators”, with the exception of some private businesses, which sometimes use their own systems of personnel training and retraining. Educational Establishments are responsible for making sure that programs are developed and students are assessed in accordance with SES.

Employers are making sure that they get a specialist in the area by reference to SES and “National Classificators” as well as the student transcript, which confirms performance in relevant subjects. However, this practice needs constant attention as not all employers in the private and family business get access to SES in their final form, despite its availability in the open access, due to lack of awareness or are conscious what skills and knowledge the students with the given diploma are ought to possess. This area needs further development as defined in phase 3 of NPPT; moreover, it is of interest to study the international experience of involvement of employers into this area.

Currently the government is paying a lot of attention to the SES structure and form and their transition to a focused level based learning outcomes approach. There are some best practices implemented in Uzbekistan that show this development under way.

The example of best practice includes recent changes in SES for foreign languages [13]. New SES took CEFR as a basis and clearly demonstrates the “Learning Outcomes based approach”, which is already implemented by the educational establishments in Uzbekistan. The SES for foreign languages covers all levels of education starting from secondary education and continuing into secondary specialized and higher education. It follows the principle of continuity of education and clearly outlines the descriptors that should be applied at each level. SES for foreign languages also uses the competences as the outcomes of each level of education and provides descriptors for three competence areas:


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linguistic competence – covers knowledge of grammar, phonetics, as well as reading, writing, speaking, listening skills etc.

sociolinguistic competence – covers knowledge of cultural context of the language, cultural specifics of the language, as well as skills of culturally-informed communication, ability to find appropriate language specific forms and structures for communication

pragmatic competence – covers the skills of communication, discussion, dialogue, debate etc.

SES for foreign languages describes what a student should know and to what extent each skill should be mastered for each level of education. Moreover, the international reference is given within each level, i.e. the equivalent to CEFR levels (A1, A2 etc.) is given for each level of education used in Uzbekistan.

All educational establishments in Uzbekistan that award exit qualifications are working based on the National Classificator code, i.e. all exit qualifications are assigned one of the codes, which is used to determine the qualifications and relevant SES that was used in order to provide education for this particular profession. In the universities the teaching plans, which contain the list of modules and regulate for the number of hours that should be allocated for each module, are composed in accordance with SES and other normative documents. This system can be considered as best practice as the teaching plans are approved by the Rector of the university and disseminated to the faculties for implementation. All individual module programs are then developed based on the teaching plans and SES.

The Internationalisation Option

Overall, the internationalization option is very important for educational sector in Uzbekistan and is well understood both at high and low levels. Due to historical aspects and the way the system of education operates, there are many similarities as well as differences with the European equivalents. However when the reforms are implemented European experience is extensively studied in order to find out its applicability to the context of Uzbekistan. An example of such reference is describe above using the SES for foreign languages.

Another good practice in terms of internationalization of its quality frameworks in Uzbekistan can be found in the approach to provision of international education to its citizens. In the 1990s the approach was manly based at sending talented youth to other countries in order to get international qualifications and then return to Uzbekistan and disseminate their experience as well as apply their knowledge and skills at the workplace. Full government scholarship was normally awarded for such students. In 2000s this strategy started to move towards encouragement of international universities to develop cooperation with Uzbekistan in terms of opening branches or


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campuses or independent institutions or individual courses on the basis of local universities within Uzbekistan. While International partners would be responsible for the provision of the qualifications and teaching/learning materials as well as teaching expertise, Uzbekistan would take responsibility for recognizing these qualifications and making sure that graduates do not face employment difficulties within the Republic. This strategy has worked very well and gradually many international universities have started cooperation with Uzbekistan. Among those are seven higher educational establishments (Westminster International University in Tashkent, Management and Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent, Filial of Moscow State University named after V.V. Lomonosov, Filial of Russian Economics University named after G.V. Plehanov in Tashkent, Filial of Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after I.M. Gubkin, Torino Polytechnic University in Tashkent, Inha University in Tashkent)18 that opened in the Republic with their own peculiarities in relation to Quality and Standards. These Universities represent not only different countries but also different systems of education as they include European, Asian and Russian educational establishments. This system also being integrated to the VET and not only HE. As some of these universities after establishment have opened academic Lyceums, which are working in conjunction with the educational establishments and MHSSE. While students, with exception of scholarship students, are required to pay contract for studying in the international universities the Lyceums are part of the compulsory secondary education and are free for citizens of Uzbekistan. This approach has proven to be very successful and international Universities grow popularity within the country and considered to be very prestigious among general public.

The mobility programs are also being developed within the country both in terms of student mobility and workers mobility. Often the mobility is implemented in the framework of various joint projects including TEMPUS, World Bank, and UNDP projects, and numerous bilateral and multilateral agreements - it also becomes popular among students and businesses to have a part of their training or study to take place abroad.

It is important to note in this context various projects being implemented in the area of the development of national qualification frameworks. On is the project of the European Commission in cooperation with the 5 Central Asian countries – “Central Asia Education Platform” – implemented since 2012. This project has 5 priority directions, one of which is formation of national qualification frameworks. International conference on national qualification frameworks with participation of all stakeholders was conducted in Riga, April 2016. Another project is implemented in the framework of ERASMUS+ “National Qualification Frameworks: Guidelines for development and recognition of qualifications” (NURSLING), which started in 2016.

Developing international cooperation higher educational establishments and MHSSE set forth the following objectives:

18 As of 19.06.2016


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Further training of the research and teaching staff of the universities; Creation of new curricula, and modern educational materials for different areas

of education; Broad participation of the research and teaching staff of the universities in the

international scientific and practical seminars, symposiums and conferences; The participation of the teaching staff and students of the Republic in foreign

exchange programs and trainings; The invitation of foreign teachers and professors to work in higher education

institutions of the republic with the aim of improving the educational process and the exchange of experience [15].

Among others, international cooperation links are represented through working with such organizations and programs as British Council, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Goethe Institute, German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), French Institute in Uzbekistan, Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Ministry of Education of China, Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation, Malaysian Technical Cooperation Program (MTCP), Indian Technical Cooperation Program (ITECH) [1].

Conclusive remarks

It can be seen from the desk research, that Uzbekistan is working towards the development of its educational system to make sure that it is comparable and competitive with internationally accepted standards. Currently “National Qualification Frameworks” in the European understanding of the term is not present in Uzbekistan, however many systems employed can serve as a basis for its development. Individual specialties and areas have their own set of standards and qualifications that are centrally regulated, but the overall National level framework for all levels is still not evident. Development of such a framework would make it easier to compare education in Uzbekistan to its equivalents in other countries and make it easier to develop and modify the internal structure of qualifications. Another potential area of development is to make sure that all SES are cross-comparable and developed based on a single framework at the national and international level. During the research, it was identified that most SES are available in the open access in Uzbek language, it would be advantageous to have them available in English language as well to allow easier international comparison, and in Russian language for better regional integration. This would also allow to further develop and enhance exchanges between the universities as course mapping and credit transfer exercise would become easier. Working on development of NQF opens many perspectives for regional and international cooperation as it allows developing internationally comparable qualifications systems at national level.


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References [1] Daliev Sh., “Higher Education Reforms in Uzbekistan”, presentation of the member

of the official delegation of the Republic of Uzbekistan at Regional Workshop on

“Qualification Frameworks in Central Asia Countries: Current Developments and

Cooperation Perspectives”, Riga, April 20-22, 2016, available from:

<http://www.caep-project.org/riga2016/materials-and-presentations/>, accessed

on: <19.06.2016>

[2] “Main indicators of the public education of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2015-2016

studying years”, Official website of the Ministry of Public Education, available from: <

http://www.uzedu.uz/Xtv/BarchasiPage/67?tp=86>, accessed on: <19.06.2016>

[3] Ministry of Foreign Affairs,(2015) Official website, available from :

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NATIONAL QUALIFICATION S FRAMEWORKS (NQF) IN … · context of the present debate on Qualification...

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