UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

03/05/2025 | Press release | Archived content

Improving Uzbekistan’s Qualification Systems: Lessons from Estonia

UNESCO, in collaboration with the National Qualifications System Development Institute held a high-level workshop on strengthening the national qualifications in Uzbekistan, with a focus on Estonia's model.
Workshop on National Qualification System
UNESCO Uzbekistan
5 March 2025
Mr. Olav Aarna, Academic Advisor of the Estonian Qualifications Authority and a renowned expert in national qualification frameworks and lifelong learning played a central role during the workshop. Mr. Aarna shared insights into Estonia's national qualification system, which has become a model for many countries looking to enhance their education and workforce development strategies.

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As the main participants of the workshop, the representatives of the National Qualifications Development Institute of Uzbekistan actively engaged in discussions and explored the ways to strengthen Uzbekistan's national qualifications system. The institute work on regulating labor relations based on new-generation professional standards, improving higher and vocational education programs, and advancing the workforce development system to a new level of quality. Additionally, they focus on ensuring the international recognition of qualifications and integrating national qualification levels with advanced foreign qualification systems.

During the workshop, Mr. Aarna delivered detailed presentations on Estonia's approach to qualifications recognition and validation, highlighting the processes that have made Estonia's system effective and internationally respected. Following the presentations, participants engaged in a roundtable discussion, where they explored critical topics such as quality assurance, qualifications recognition, and validation.

"This workshop provided an invaluable opportunity for Uzbekistan to learn from Estonia's experience," said Mr. Allabergenov. "By implementing best practices in qualifications frameworks, we aim to strengthen our own system and ensure that it meets the evolving demands of the job market."

The workshop marked an important step in Uzbekistan's efforts to refine its national qualifications framework. By fostering collaboration with international experts and learning from Estonia's successful model, Uzbekistan aims to enhance its education and workforce development strategies to better align with the needs of a rapidly changing labor market.

Mr. Olav Aarna has played a key role in shaping Estonia's education and research policies, particularly in developing competence-based qualification systems that have influenced education strategies across Central and Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union countries. As CEO of the Estonian Qualifications Authority, he was instrumental in implementing the European Qualifications Framework.
UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization published this content on March 05, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 03, 2025 at 17:23 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]