European Union supports Vocational Centre in Ismayilli

On 4 March 2011, the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Azerbaijan jointly with the Ministry of Education officially opened the Vocational Educational Centre in Ismayilli. The Centre is the physical incarnation of a cooperation endeavour that the European Union and the government of Azerbaijan initiated 6 years ago to develop Vocational Education Training in Azerbaijan.  

"The work undertaken during this project, notably the preparation of a labour market survey and the holding of consultation with local industry, guarantees that the training will be in line with the needs of Azerbaijan economy and the needs of Ismayilli region in particular. This is a very concrete project to promote diversification in the country," said Jerome Pons, Charge d'Affaires at the EU Delegation.

This undertaking began with an initiative by the Ministry of Education to modernize and reform the Vocational Education Training (VET) system in line with modern European standards. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Education and the EU, with Ismayilli being selected as a pilot region to implement a modern competency based VET system in the tourist sector.  

To make this initiative a reality the EU allocated over AZN 2.5 million for technical assistance to assist the Ministry of Education in developing staff capacity, to create a modern VET strategy and develop curricula and training. The EU also committed itself to outfitting the school with all the modern kitchen and hotel equipment necessary to provide European level VET training in tourism.


/Today.Az/