President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation on new approaches to the employment and vocational education system.
Since the beginning of the year, models based on international experience have been introduced in this area. In particular, the banking system has begun to actively interact with mahallas, providing support in ensuring employment. In the first half of the year alone, more than 3 million people were involved in gainful employment.
The system created to reduce poverty and the funds allocated for this purpose are already yielding results – as of July 1 of this year, the poverty level in the country has fallen to 6.8 percent.
The quality of vocational education remains a key element in increasing employment. This requires expanding cooperation with employers, improving the level of training, and actively involving the private sector. The mismatch between educational programs and labor market requirements remains a serious problem in the training of specialists.
Some labor regulations create difficulties for businesses, especially small enterprises. The potential of digital technologies is not fully utilized in the hiring process. The current rules also do not motivate employers to openly advertise vacancies, which distorts statistics and hinders accurate analysis of the labor market and the development of relevant training programs.
The presentation showcased new initiatives and measures aimed at addressing these issues.
According to the new approaches, employment authorities should transform from supervisory bodies into partnership structures serving employers. In particular, it is proposed to abolish fines for failure to provide information about vacancies and refusal to accept referred candidates. This will enable employment authorities to collect reliable data and effectively refer job seekers to suitable positions, while the final decision on hiring remains with the employer.
To implement this model, a special electronic platform will be created, which will initially be launched in Tashkent in test mode and then disseminated across the country.
In addition, vacancies for which it is difficult to find specialists will be included in the priority areas of vocational training, which will allow for targeted training.
In order to improve the quality of vocational education, it is planned to involve representatives of the private sector in the activities of vocational skills centers, and individual centers will specialize in specific industries.
Those responsible have been instructed to move to a three-level vocational education system. In particular, there are plans to introduce free online video courses and provide working citizens with the opportunity to retrain or upgrade their qualifications using “vocational vouchers”.
The Head of State emphasized that training qualified personnel is one of the key factors in reducing unemployment and poverty in the country.