Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1992)

Article 1 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of education and training policies. The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report received in September 2013 which includes information in reply to the 2009 direct request. The Government indicates that one of the priority directions of the state policy in the field of employment, reflected in the Employment Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan 2006–15, is the development and implementation of the policy in the field of education and of the labour market. The Committee notes that the State Employment Service (SES) is implementing a number of measures in the field of vocational training and retraining of jobseekers and unemployed persons. In 2012, 4,464 persons were engaged by the SES in vocational and advanced training courses, including 320 persons on the basis of modular training programmes. According to the State Statistical Committee, there were 108 vocational and technical schools in 2012, with the number of students enrolled amounting to 28,993, which exceeds by 6 per cent the level in 2011 and by 39 per cent the level in 2003. In 2012, the number of graduates from vocational and technical schools was 13,789. The Government indicates that training programmes based on the ILO modular methodology have been used since 2006. Moreover, the Government indicates in its report that plans to establish a Human Resources Development Agency have been elaborated. The Committee invites the Government to provide further information on the formulation and implementation of vocational guidance and vocational training programmes, closely linked with the employment needs, and on their results. It also invites the Government to include information on the establishment and activities of the Human Resources Development Agency in relation to the matters covered by the Convention.

Articles 3 and 4. Extension and development of the system of vocational training. In reply to the previous comments, the Committee notes that within the framework of the UNDP project “Development of the National Social Protection System”, 32 training programmes on a modular basis were elaborated. The Committee notes that the employment centre in Baku was selected as a pilot institution to provide support on the lines of special improved programmes for the establishment of the Vocational Guidance Centre for Youth. Conferences were also organized in March and April 2012 in all regions of the country on the organization of vocational guidance services to ensure efficient employment of youth. The Government also provides information on officials of the SES participating in training at the ILO International Training Centre in Turin, on the Decent Work Country Programme and on the project developed with the World Bank entitled “Social Protection Development”. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on progress made as the result of the assistance received from the ILO and other international organizations to develop the vocational and technical education systems, and the steps taken with a view to extending the systems of vocational training to cover fields of economic activity not previously within their scope, and to ensure that they are adapted to the changing requirements of individuals throughout their lives, as well as those of the economy and of the different branches of economic activity.

Article 5. Cooperation of employers’ and workers’ organizations. In reply to the previous comments, the Government indicates in its report that particular attention is paid to issues such as the development of the joint proposals of the State and the employers with regard to reforming the system of vocational education on the basis of the needs of the developing economy; and the implementation of necessary measures to establish the system of forecasting vocational training needs on the basis of the requirements of the labour market. The Committee invites the Government to continue to report on the cooperation of employers’ and workers’ organizations in the formulation and implementation of vocational guidance and vocational training policies and programmes so as to fully take into account their experiences and views.