On May 31st, 2018, the EU Project “Support to the Education Sector of Turkmenistan” held the first certification ceremony in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, celebrating the accomplishments of a 280 blended learning course on the Learning Management System “Moodle”.
Mr. Johannes Stenbaek Madsen (pictured), Head of Cooperation Section of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, and Ms. Silvia Pietropaolo, Programme Manager for Turkmenistan , handed over the certificates to 46 administrators from 20 Turkmen vocational and higher education institutions in Turkmenistan.
The Turkmen authorities granted permission for the course within the framework of the National Digitalisation strategy, issued by the Presidential decree in September 2017. As an active part of the course, the Learning Management System was set up in all participating educational institutions, giving the opportunity to join a global community of 80 million users to learn when, where and how it best suits the learner.
The results of the course mark a milestone from the country’s traditional focus on investing in brick and mortar to investment in soft factors, like human capital, business processes, and change management. Turkmenistan is increasingly ready to enter the learning curve of technology-enabled learning that is perceived as adequate to the digital age and the fourth industrial revolution.
Each graduate spoke about the impact the course had on their professional journey and their gratitude for the newly obtained abilities and skills. Due to the high appreciation by the authorities and the community, a continuation of the course is planned for the autumn of 2018.
Designing and implementing further education is part of the efforts of the project, which overall objective is to further support the Government of Turkmenistan in the creation of a modern education system in line with international educational standards.
