WorldSkills Russia with the support of UNDP has implemented a project to launch a network of centres for vocational training and independent skills assessment by the WorldSkills standards in Uzbekistan

For two years, WorldSkills Russia has been systematically working on the introduction of WorldSkills tools into the national training system of Uzbekistan.

The cooperation began in 2019 when representatives of Uzbekistan took part in the events of WorldSkills Kazan 2019. In the same year, as part of the interaction between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, WorldSkills Russia has become a partner in the implementation of the project “Promoting Youth Employment in Uzbekistan”, aimed at popularizing skills and improving the standards of workforce training in the country.

In the summer of 2020, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Association for the Development and Popularization of Working Professions of the Republic of Uzbekistan and WorldSkills Russia, the purpose of which is to mainstream the movement and improve the quality of vocational education in Uzbekistan. WorldSkills Russia acted as a mentor to implement the methodology of independent skills assessment with the subsequent issuance of a Skills Passport. One of the results of the joint activity was the Decree by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on equating a Skills Passport with a Diploma of vocational education, which allows graduates to further apply the acquired knowledge in their work.

In September 2020, a trilateral agreement on vocational training of Uzbekistan citizens in Russia in the Russian language between the Agency for External Labor Migration under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, WorldSkills Russia, and the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) came into force. As a result of the training, migrant workers have improved their qualifications and got Skills Passports, which will contribute to their more profitable employment in Russia.

The final stage of the programme was the restart of the system of vocational training and independent skills assessment by the WorldSkills methodology in Uzbekistan. As part of this, WorldSkills Russia integrated its methods and tools through the joint creation and implementation of new training programmes into Uzbekistan education system. Experts, masters of vocational training, teachers of Uzbekistan, and other participants of the project were provided with remote access to digital and physical sites of Russian educational institutions, as well as to laboratories of industrial Russian partners. The communication of the project participants was via online platforms using digital technologies and solutions.

During the final stage, joint work was carried out to change the workforce training system through people who are carriers of best practices, through the joint creation and implementation of a single pool of benchmark programmes and assessment tools.

Educational institutions with a high potential for growth and systematic skills development were also identified. The distributed sites in the project will become the starting point in the creation of a network of vocational education and skills assessment centres, which in the future will mainstream best practices in the country.

“We have implemented a full-cycle programme with the support of the UNDP and together with colleagues from Uzbekistan, which was developed in WorldSkills Russia. The results were the pool of professional experts who have been trained and accredited according to international WorldSkills standards, a network of training and skills assessment centres in Uzbekistan, the pool of benchmark programmes, as well as the system of independent skills assessment by the WorldSkills standards with the subsequent issuance of a Skills Passport was launched. We are pleased to note that the programme has been successfully tested and can now be applied to other Eurasian countries”, says Alina Doskanova, WorldSkills Russia Deputy Director General for International Relations, WorldSkills Asia Board member.