Lifelong learning: a step towards bringing the education and the labor market closer together

A seminar dedicated to evolving the micro-qualifications as a tool for adapting the education system to the modern labor market requirements has begun at Satbayev University. The seminar was organized as a result of an agreement between Information Center for Academic Mobility and Recognition (CIMEA, Italy) and National Center for Development of Higher Education at RK MSHE, reached within the framework of Strategic Partnership Forum. The seminar was attended by representatives of 103 universities and colleges in Kazakhstan.

For Kazakhstan, micro-qualification is an actual trend that helps to build an education system based on forming the specific skills and meets the challenges of the modern world. Such a system will contribute to the sustainability of the community by giving access to quality education and allowing workers to adapt to the labor market faster, and will ensure economic growth for the whole society.

- Micro-qualification is a new direction both here and in Europe, - said Amantai Abilkhairovich Nurmagambetov, Adviser to NCDHE’s director. - Therefore, together with our European colleagues, we are developing rules for the development of micro-qualifications, their assessment, and use, so that anyone can get the information and skills they need to work successfully and build a career during their lifetime.

The seminar was attended by representatives of business, government and foreign representatives. The seminar was opened by Gulzhan Jarassova, Deputy Chairperson of Committee of Higher and Postgraduate Education at RK MSHE, who spoke about the normative legal acts regulating non-formal education and micro-qualification. Various aspects of implementing the given legislation in practice were highlighted by Vice-rector for Academic Affairs of Kazakh National Pedagogical University named after Abai Banu Narbekova, Deputy Director of Human Capital Development Department at NCE "Atameken" Lyazzat Shonayeva and Director of Methodological Support Department of National Qualification System at CTHR Sandugash Konkayeva.

The participants were introduced to the international perspective by CEO of CRIMEA Luca Lantero and CIMEA’s director Ciara Finochetti. They presented the Italian experience and international standards in the field of micro-qualification.

The seminar program included a discussion of successful examples of the introduction of micro-qualifications in key sectors of the economy: IT, marketing, finance and manufacturing. After the discussion, the cooperation agreement was signed between National Center for Development of Higher Education and CIMEA, which opens the way for integrating the international experience into the educational system of Kazakhstan.

The three-day seminar will provide participants with the opportunity to study international practices in detail and share experiences with leading CIMEA specialists. This event was an important step in the modernization of vocational education and strengthening its connection with the current demands of the labor market.