Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

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

Articles 1 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of education and training policies. The Committee notes the Education Development Strategy of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2012–20 (EDS 2020), which sought to improve the quality of education in Kyrgyzstan, in accordance with the country’s social, political and economic development level. The EDS 2020 aimed to ensure that the educational system provides citizens with the knowledge and skills needed to enable them to be successful in life and in the labour market. In this respect, the EDS 2020 included among its key objectives: ensuring coverage of the majority of preschool children in development programmes and training; guaranteeing access to high quality basic general and secondary education for everyone, regardless of age, gender, ethnic and religious background, residence, intellectual and physical development, social-economic status or other factors; developing working skills that respond to the current requirements of the labour market and the needs of the population; creating the conditions for continuous lifelong learning; developing social partnerships at all levels of the education system; promoting employers’ participation in the educational process; establishing an education credit system to facilitate the flexibility and mobility of students, allowing them to combine work and study in higher educational institutions (in accordance with the provisions of the Bologna and Lisbon agreements); preserving cultural and linguistic diversity and tolerance in multilingual educational environments; developing a strategic planning and management system in the education sector based on data collection and analysis techniques, including gender disaggregated statistical data; and launching a monitoring and evaluation system to systematically improve the education system. To provide a framework for the implementation of the measures necessary to achieve these objectives, the EDS 2020 contemplated the development of a national education policy. In this context, the Committee refers to its comments on the application of the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), in which it notes that the “National Development Strategy of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2018–40” and the medium-term “Development Program of the Kyrgyz Republic for the period 2018–22: Unity, Trust, Creation” contemplate the adoption of measures to ensure that every citizen has access to quality education and that the education system enables persons to fulfil their potential, providing them with practical knowledge and competencies. For instance, the 2018–2040 Development Strategy envisages the adoption of measures to: ensure access to and full coverage of pre-school and school education; improve vocational training quality in accordance with labour market demands; and establish a continuous development system. Finally, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it intends to develop an “Education Development Strategy for 2021–2030”. In addition, an inter-agency working group was established for the development of the “Strategic Plan for Technical and Vocational Education and Training for 2021–2025”. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated detailed information on the nature, scope and impact of the policies and programmes adopted and implemented in relation to education and vocational training, and on their contribution to attaining the objectives of the Convention. It also requests the Government to provide extracts of reports, studies and inquiries, statistical information, and other documents relevant to such policies and programmes. It further requests the Government to provide information on progress made in the development and adoption of the national education policy, the “Education Development Strategy for 2021–2030”, and the “Strategic Plan for Technical and Vocational Education and Training for 2021–2025”; and to transmit copies once these are adopted.

Article 2. Development of the vocational training system. The Committee notes that, at the time of the adoption of the EDS 2020, the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system was comprised of 110 vocational schools located in different regions (63 in rural areas and 47 in urban areas), including in remote areas. The following educational programmes were being implemented in the framework of the TVET system: primary vocational education, general secondary education, and secondary vocational education. The Committee nevertheless notes that, according to the EDS 2020, the TVET system did not fully respond to the modern requirements arising from the level of social and economic development of the country and the needs of the labour market, especially in rural areas. The EDS 2020 pointed out that this reduced the attractiveness of the TVET system, both as a supplier of educational services for youth, and as a partner for representatives of the business sector. In this respect, the EDS 2020 highlighted the main challenges facing the primary and technical-vocational education and training systems. First, the courses offered were not linked to the current needs of the labour market. In addition, most of the teachers in these systems were not up to date with respect to technological developments in their areas of specialization. Moreover, there is no national mechanism to engage industries and social partners in policy formulation, implementation and monitoring. The educational and training institutions did not have sufficient autonomy to flexibly respond to changes in the labour market, and the social status of vocational training was much lower than that of higher education institutions. In this context, the EDS 2020 envisaged the adoption of a set of measures with a view to improving the quality and relevance of training in accordance with the needs of the labour market, the economy and the society as a whole, improving access to the TVET system, strengthening the role of the social partners, developing a National Qualification Framework (NQF) for priority areas of vocational education and training, promoting the participation of employers in students’ qualification evaluation process and increasing the appeal of the TVET system to attract all segments of the population. Moreover, the Committee notes the implementation since July 2013 of the Second Vocational Education and Skill Development Project (VESD II), funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Agency for Vocational Education and Training (AVET). The VESD II seeks to improve the quality and relevance of, and equitable access to and effectiveness of the TVET system through modernization of the training methodology, teaching and learning environments, and training delivery. In this regard, the VESD II contemplates the adoption of measures to make the TVET system more responsive to labour market needs, develop skilled workers and craftsmen, technicians and middle-level staff and promote the introduction of reforms in the vocational education and training system. In addition, the Committee notes the implementation from December 2016 to November 2019 of the second phase of the project “G20 Training Strategy: A partnership between the ILO and the Russian Federation”, which also sought to strengthen the TVET system. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated detailed information on the nature, scope and impact of the measures taken or envisaged on the development of open, flexible and complementary systems of general, technical and vocational education, educational and vocational guidance and vocational training.

Women in employment and training. The Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 29 November 2021, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), requested the Government to take measures to ensure girls’ access to primary and secondary education and to address the causes of school dropout among girls. It also expressed concern regarding the gender stereotypes that persist in the education system and the low enrolment rates of girls and women in non-traditional fields of education, such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics and information and communications technology (document CEDAW/C/KGZ/CO/5, paragraph 31). The Committee requests the Government to provide updated detailed information, including statistical data disaggregated by sex, age and region, on the number of beneficiaries of vocational guidance and training programmes, the type of vocational training provided, and the impact of such training on women’s access to productive, stable and freely chosen employment. It also requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to ensure equal access of girls and women to vocational guidance and training relevant to all economic sectors and at all levels of responsibility, and the impact of such measures on women’s ability to engage in the broadest possible range of economic activities, including in non-traditional occupations. Noting that some 65 per cent of women in Kyrgyzstan live in rural areas, the Committee further requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on economic empowerment projects and employment support, including vocational and entrepreneurship training provided to women in rural areas.

Articles 3. Information made available for vocational guidance purposes. The Committee notes that the Government does not provide information in response to its previous comments on the application of this Article of the Convention. The Committee therefore reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on specific measures that have been taken to ensure that comprehensive information and the broadest possible guidance are available to all children, young persons and adults, including persons with disabilities. It also reiterates its request that the Government describe the type of information made available for vocational guidance and the manner in which such information is kept up to date and supply specimens of the documentation made available.

Article 4. Lifelong learning. The Committee notes from the EDS 2020 that at the time of its adoption there were 12 adult education centres in all oblasts and over 1,000 centres throughout the country are licensed to provide informal educational programmes for adults. The EDS 2020 nonetheless emphasized that adult education faces certain challenges, including the lack of a retraining system for adults, particularly in vocational education, that meets labour market requirements. Moreover, it referred to the low quality of non-formal education, due to the lack of an accreditation system for educational organizations that provide such training. Against this background, the EDS 2020 priority areas included: increasing basic education coverage of those who have never acquired a basic education or did not complete it, providing the legislative framework for adult lifelong learning; establishing a quality assurance system for adult education; and creating a system of professional experience and qualification recognition. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken to extend vocational training systems to cover sectors not previously within their scope, such as the informal economy, and to ensure that these systems are adapted to the changing needs of individuals throughout their working life, and also to the specific needs of those in the different branches of economic activity, in accordance with this provision of the Convention and the guidelines set out in the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004 (No. 195).

Article 5. Cooperation of employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes that representatives of workers’ organizations sit on the Supervisory Committee to support, develop and strengthen the TVET system established in the framework of the development programme “Skills for Inclusive Growth” (approved by Government directive No. 251-r of 15 July 2018). The Government adds that workers’ representatives are also members of the inter-agency technical working group established to develop a “Strategic Plan for Technical and Vocational Education and Training for 2021–2025”. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the manner in which it ensures cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations as well as with other relevant bodies, in relation to the development and implementation of vocational guidance policies and programmes, including the development programme “Skills for Inclusive Growth” and the “Strategic Plan for Technical and Vocational Education and Training for 2021-2025”. The Government is also requested to indicate the nature, scope and outcomes of this cooperation.