The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) opened their first industrial workshop in the city of Ganja on July 10, within the framework of the EU-funded three-year project to support the creation of a regional Vocational Education and Training Center (VET).

Axar.az reports with reference to the UN Development Program.

The project aims to improve the quality of education, in particular, to increase the attractiveness of vocational education in Ganja and adjacent regions, to stimulate enrollment and participation of students and to improve the vocational education system in these regions in accordance with the demand of the industry.

The project budget is $3.463 million of which $3.117 million is funded by the EU and $346.35 thousand by UNDP. In Ganja, the project received $1.801 million in financial support. So far, from the total budget in the amount of $117.15 thousand for 2017, $106.09 thousand were mastered, and $852.95 thousand were mastered for 2018. The funds were spent on purchasing equipment, hiring international specialists and organizing trainings.

The budget for this year is set at $478.35 thousand, of which $112.03 thousand has been spent.

The new modern industrial workshop is located in the Ganja Regional Center, established in 2018, and is equipped with world-class industrial and technical training equipment for vocational education programs in the six main areas that are included in the Ganja VET curriculum. The project specializes in equipping the students with industry skills in air conditioning systems, fashion design, repair services, mining, plastic welding services for installing and repairing plastic pumps, and turner services for the manufacture and assembly of metal parts for industrial equipment.

Enrollment of students in the Ganja regional center for vocational education and training began in 2018, and currently 60 students are enrolled in the various specializations mentioned above.

The project in Ganja is part of a broader program “Modernization of Vocational Education and Training Centers (VET) in Azerbaijan” of the EU and UNDP, which also provides for the creation of a regional VET center in the Lankaran economic region, namely in Jalilabad, to be funded by the EU with co-financing from UNDP and implemented by UNDP in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan and the State Agency on Vocational Education.