Annex A. Engagement
The OECD Skills Strategy project involved ongoing oversight and input from the Kazakhstan National Project Team (NPT), which was co-ordinated by, and composed of, experts from several ministries, public employment services (PES) and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs (NCE), as outlined in Table A A.1.
The OECD conducted two missions to Kazakhstan between October 2019 and February 2020, and one mission virtually in June 2020, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. During the missions, the OECD team met with a broad range of stakeholders, representing ministerial departments, government agencies, employer associations, trade unions, education and training providers, research institutions and more. The OECD would like to thank all participants for their invaluable contributions to the project. A list of stakeholders invited to the consultations is provided in Table A A.2. A description of the objectives and format of each mission follows.
Mission 1: Skills Strategy Policy Seminar mission (24-25 October 2019)
In the first mission of the OECD Skills Strategy project, the OECD visited Kazakhstan to discuss the project with the NPT. The main objectives of this mission were to officially launch the project, discuss main policy priorities, discuss the proposed priority areas, and to plan the upcoming Assessment mission. This mission included the following elements:
Skills Strategy Policy seminar (24 October 2019): The official start of the OECD Skills Strategy project in Kazakhstan, beginning with the high-level OECD Skills Strategy Seminar. The seminar convened policy makers and senior officials from all departments of the Government of Kazakhstan at a high-level public event.
Technical-level meeting (24 October 2019): A meeting with the NPT to discuss the main skills policy priorities for Kazakhstan, and the scope and main challenges in each of the four priority areas.
Wrap-up meeting with core NPT (25 October 2019): A meeting with the NPT to discuss the main findings from this mission and to plan the Assessment mission.
Mission 2: Assessment mission (24-28 February 2020)
The Assessment mission was organised to undertake a series of workshops and group discussions to evaluate and refine the OECD’s initial assessment of the skills performance in Kazakhstan, including a first draft list of opportunities and related recommendations. This mission included the following elements:
Group discussions (24-27 February 2020): Four separate group discussions were convened with experts on each propriety area (officials from relevant departments; educational establishments; employer groups, etc.). In each of these meetings, OECD representatives introduced the OECD Skills Strategy as a strategic framework. Participants then discussed Kazakhstan’s main performance and opportunities for improvement in each of the four priority areas, with the OECD moderating each discussion.
Assessment Workshop (25 February 2020): The main purpose of this workshop was to collect detailed insights into Kazakhstan’s performance and initiatives across the four priority areas from a broad spectrum of relevant stakeholders. The workshop was also designed to build awareness of the challenges and opportunities in each priority area and to encourage stakeholders to identify the most important areas for recommendations. Over 70 representatives participated in the workshop, including policy makers; officials from several government departments and public agencies; representatives from across the educational spectrum; curriculum experts; trade unions; employer representatives; and representatives from the voluntary and community sectors.
Almaty Workshop (27 February 2020): This workshop followed the same objective and format as the previous day’s event in Nur-Sultan, albeit on a reduced scale in terms of the number of participants (approximately 50), as well as the time available to consider each priority area and related recommendations. The majority of participants were from educational establishments; training providers; and employer representatives.
Bilateral meeting with the Information and Analytical Center (26 February 2020): The objective of this meeting was to discuss the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) results in Kazakhstan, and the scope and main challenges of different groups and regions.
Meetings with the NPT (24 February and 28 February 2020): These meetings were held to discuss first the planning and then the outcomes of the Assessment mission.
Mission 3: Recommendations consultations (15-23 June 2020)
This third mission was organised to test and refine the draft recommendations. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the mission was held completely on line via Zoom. This mission included the following elements:
Recommendations Webinar to discuss high-level draft recommendations with all stakeholders (16 June 2020): The main purpose of this webinar was to build awareness of the challenges and opportunities in each priority area. Approximately 70 representatives participated in the webinar, including policy makers; officials from several government departments and public agencies; representatives from across the educational spectrum; curriculum experts; trade unions; employer representatives; and representatives from the voluntary and community sectors.
Group discussions (15-23 June 2020): These online sessions were organised to test and refine the draft recommendations with a broad spectrum of relevant stakeholders. A total of 12 one-hour sessions across the four priority areas were organised, with approximately 10 participants joining each session. The OECD introduced the main draft recommendations and then moderated discussions in a plenary format with the participants.
Meetings with the NPT (15 June and 23 June 2020): The first of these meetings was held to discuss Kazakhstan’s priority areas and the draft recommendations, as well as finalising the organisation of the consultations. In the second meeting, the OECD and the NPT discussed the outcomes of the mission and the next steps.