The ETF report, Policies for Human Capital Development, Armenia is part of the ETF's Torino Process assessment, its flagship evidence-based analytical tool that provides a detailed picture of a country's vocational education and training provision and labour market development. The report reveals some promising signs of progress within a challenging economic and training environment where youth unemployment remains a stubborn issue.
High unemployment
Youth unemployment remains high in comparison with the wider working age population, with little shift away from figures hovering around 40% for 15-24 year olds over the past decade, despite two brief drops into the mid-low 30s five and eight years ago. That's nearly twice the general 15+ unemployment rate of around 20%, according the ETF's 2019 Key Indicators for the landlocked Caucasian country.
The stubborn rates reflect a wider economic and labour picture where formal employment remains elusive for many: overall employment rates nudged up by half a percentage pint from 49.6% in 2010 to 50.1% in 2017, while employment rates for vocational training graduates fell back from 51.5% to 51.1% over the same period.
The figures suggest that a significant drop in the number of 15-24 year olds classed as NEETS from 44.6% to 28.7% over the same period has yet to feed through to any identifiable shift in the labour market[1]. A weak economy and relatively weak vocational education and training (VET) system remain insurmountable challenges for to employment for many.
Insufficient resources
The draft Torino Process assessment identifies four key areas of concern for Armenia's human capital development policies, including a "lack of resources for education and training." Public expenditure on education is only 2.3% of GDP (gross domestic product), though that figure represents 9.4% of the state budget (2018). Just 0.1 percent of public money is spent on ALMPs (Active Labour Market Policies) and only 0.72% is earmarked for initial and secondary VET.
Human capital development suffers from "insufficient public provider capacity" the report says, with "public training and the education sector unable to supply the range and numbers of skilled workers for the labour market." There is a lack of involvement from the private and non-governmental sector.
Gender imbalances remain a feature of the labour market, with only 60% of women active in the labour force, although more women pursue studies through higher education. There is a notable lack of women involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), with some sources pointing to significant levels of underachievement in this area, despite the fact that generally Armenian levels of educational attainment compare favourably with EU levels: in 2018 nearly 30% of Armenians had higher level qualifications (EU 34%), and 66% had medium level qualifications (EU 47%). Low-level attainment was just over 4% (EU nearly 19%).
Opportunities for human capital development remain challenging in a labour market where 44.5% are in informal jobs, the assessment notes.
Recommendations
The report identifies a range of recommendations that could help Armenia overcome the human capital challenges it faces, including:
*Accelerating the development of industry-lead continuing VET
* Strengthening and creating new VET and Skills Partnerships
* Increasing and promoting Work Based Learning
* Fully implementing the Armenian Qualifications Framework and updating vocational teacher training and professional development.
[1] For latest available data, refer to the ETF assessment of Human Capital Development policies in Armenia https://www.etf.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2020-07/05_trp_etf_assessment_2019_armenia.pdf
Please log in or sign up to comment.