UCA Enhances TVET Skills of Khorog State University Students

UCA’s School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPCE) recently delivered a specialised training course on “Home Appliances and Office Equipment Repair” for students of Khorog State University (KSU) in Tajikistan. The initiative aims to equip students with the skills necessary to establish and sustain a Technological Park at KSU. This will allow them to manage university equipment maintenance and offer repair services to the local community, creating a sustainable operational model for the park. The training was delivered as part of SPCE’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme (TVET) and in partnership with UCA’s Mountain University partnership.  

Sharing her experience from participation in the training programme, Mirova Shukrona, a student at KSU noted: “At the training, we gained practical experience in repairing phones, computers, and other household and office devices, which provided us with valuable hands-on skills. This learning experience is very different from my university programme and has given me a wealth of new knowledge and expertise,”

Since 2008, SPCE’s TVET programme has provided certificate and short-term training courses to communities in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), Tajikistan. Following an apprenticeship model, students acquire theoretical knowledge at the TVET training centre and gain practical experience through paid internships with local businesses. To date, the programme has supported over 1,286 apprentices.

Funded by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and supported by both UCA and Aga Khan University (AKU), MUP is part of the Aga Khan Development Network’s University Improvement Programme. Based at UCA, MUP supports Naryn State University (NSU) in Kyrgyzstan, Khorog State University (KSU) in Tajikistan, Karakorum International University (KIU) in Pakistan, and Badakhshan University (BU) in Afghanistan. This partnership also fosters joint research and teaching programmes, and encourages collaboration between public sector universities.