On June 20, 2022 the workshop in Urgench city of Khorezm region was organized by “Skills development for employability in rural areas of Uzbekistan” project funded by the European Union. It was the first of a series of workshops which will accompany the implementation of the project regional action plan. Workshops serve as a platform for discussion on the draft TVET Strategy and Quality Assurance Framework in connection with the Ministries of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education, Agriculture, Water Resources, Employment and Labour relations, State Inspectorate, National Centre for Knowledge and Innovation in Agriculture (AKIS), the Farmers Council and the private sector. It is important that the strategy percolated down to the regions where people live with specific problems, challenges and opportunities. Earlier preparatory meetings have taken place in the regions to gather information on the regional situation following the important reforms that the government is implementing and raise awareness of the regional stakeholders about the project. The workshop is the continuation of those meetings.

The main purpose of the workshop was to bring together the views and suggestions of employers in the direction of skills development, based on the regional context. The discussion was geared towards the initiatives which the project could support in terms of skill development, especially regarding Farmers and Entrepreneurs. An important part of the workshop was addressing the project support to the selected Training Provider in the region under the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources. In the wake of the new strategy, modern initiatives were suggested in the areas of professional standards, educational standards, renewed equipment, modularization of curricula, digitalization, work-based learning and modern pedagogy.

The output of the workshop was a regional action plan regarding the above items, among others, and supported by the project. Other workshops will take plan at regular interval to follow the implementation of the action plan. The Workshop is not a stand-alone initiative. It will contribute to initiate cooperation network with the regional actors such as the concerned ministries, AKIS, the Farmers Council, Clusters. International trends of modern TVET providers show the growth of leadership and partnerships whereby the Training Providers connect with the regional Actors. Digitalization contribute to this trend.  The draft Strategy suggests new roads to travel. Each region has its challenges and its opportunities. The workshop should help it to harness opportunities and to move forward.