Foreword

The content of this report is the outcome of a mission to Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan from 25 February to 18 March, 1996¹. In each of these countries, mission members met the authorities responsible for vocational and technical education, visited schools and, on some occasions, met with entrepreneurs. Thus, in spite of the short duration of their visit, they were able to gather valuable, but heterogeneous, information, both on the current status of the system and on reform plans.

^1. The mission team consisted of David Atchoarena (IIEP), in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, and Georges Prokhoroff and Dieter Timmermann (Consultants) in the five countries visited.

It is not the purpose of the report to propose a diagnosis or to formulate recommendations, rather, the report merely aims to present the salient features of vocational and technical education as they emerged in the course of the mission and from an examination of the data collected. Hence, it does not give an exhaustive view but instead takes a synoptic, analytical, and comparative approach. While presenting a picture of training provided in the countries visited, the report seeks to identify limitations, but also advantages. The comparative outlook completes the overview by revealing how - from the same legacy - the various countries have differed as regards both the pace and the mode of reform.

Thanks are due to a large number of people in the five countries visited, without their inputs it would not have been possible to draw up this report. Thanks are also due, for their aid in this work, to the institutions as follows:

Profound thanks are given to all principals, teachers, and pupils of the schools visited.

In each country the support of the National Commission for UNESCO was highly appreciated, in both the preparation and the accomplishment of the mission. The UNESCO Office in Almaty greatly assisted in the work, as did the Units of the GTZ in Bishkek and Almaty.

The teams of the sectoral study (UNESCO/Asian Development Bank) in Almaty and of the Master Plan for Education and Training (Kyrgyzstan/Asian Development Bank/Germany) in Bishkek provided particularly useful documentation to complete the information gathered.

A first version of this report was discussed at a sub-regional workshop held from 27 to 30 August 1996 at Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan. The report of the workshop has been published and is available at IIEP and GTZ².

^2. UNESCO/IIEP/GTZ. 1997. “Reforming technical and vocational education in Central Asia and Mongolia”. Report of a sub-regional workshop.

Despite the wealth of information gathered during the interviews, the calibre of the material collected, and the meticulous drafting of the present report, readers will perhaps encounter some inaccuracies, oversimplifications, and indeed gaps. Naturally, such shortcomings are the entire responsibility of the authors.