NQF inventory Tajikistan

The Tajik national qualifications framework (NQF) has not been adopted yet. It is still in an ad hoc stage, where no major decisions, such as on number of levels or descriptors, have been taken.

The population of Tajikistan has been growing steadily in the past years, reaching circa 8. 7 million in 2016, from 6.25 million in 2000. Its population is predominantly rural, with 73.7% living in the countryside. The country has a very young population with 60.5% below 25 years-old; 32.4% between 25 and 54; and 7.2% over 55.

This data show that there is a challenge in accommodating this large share of young people within the education system as well as in the local labour market. Youth unemployment (age 15 to 29) has been increasing in recent years: in 2009, the
latest year for which figures are available, 15.4% of young people were out of work.
Unemployment is the result of a lack of jobs in the domestic labour market and limited economic development and business growth, especially in rural and remote areas. Migration is officially recognised as a tool to maintain social equilibrium and to support skills development not provided by the VET system.

The primary sources of income in Tajikistan are aluminium production, cotton growing and remittances from migrant workers. Cotton accounts for 60% of agricultural output, supporting 75% of the rural population, and using 45% of irrigated arable land. The aluminium industry is represented by the state-owned Tajik Aluminium Company – the biggest aluminium plant in Central Asia and one of the biggest in the world.

Around 1.3 million Tajik citizens live abroad, notably men aged 20 to 39, of whom one third live and work abroad, especially in Russia. Their labour provides an
important economic support to the home country in the form of remittances. It is estimated by the Economist magazine that approximately 47% of the country’s GDP comes from remittances. The reliance on access to the Russian labour market and remittances makes the country’s economy particularly vulnerable to changes in Russia’s economic fortunes.

In addition to migration, the increase in the working age population has particularly affected the informal sector, which is mainly made up of household-based enterprises or corporate enterprises owned by households producing goods and services. In 2009 informal employment accounted for 51% of the employed, excluding the agricultural sector.

The Tajik labour market lacks qualified people in most branches of industry; it is not sufficiently structured and 70% of employment is rural. The labour market is characterised by high unemployment and low salaries. Young people with traditional vocational qualifications, such as those provided by initial VET, experience considerable difficulties in finding employment in the country, and most become migrants.
Estimates of the number of migrants vary from one eighth to one third of the workforce. At the same time, every year many vacancies remain unfilled due to lack of relevant competences. There is a strong need to revitalise skills development and to improve transparency and efficiency through streamlining numerous specialisations into a manageable number of broad occupations or career paths. The quality and relevance of programmes of study needs to be improved to target gaps in the labour market, and to make vocational, professional and higher education institutions more accountable for quality results. Key elements of this process are the strengthening of quality assurance mechanisms and recognition of qualifications at national level.