| Summary: | <p>According to Agenda 2030, partnerships among sectoral stakeholders have an important and instrumental role in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In fact, the lack of participation of actors is identified to be the biggest challenge in achieving the SDGs. Within educational policy, it is especially important for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as it significantly depends on the success of multistakeholder cooperation, in which international development organisations (IOs) are increasingly attaining their own stake and importance. </p>
<p>This study explores how IO employees navigate their relationships with other TVET stakeholders in five Central Asian countries. John Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Model (1995) is employed to analyse in which cases TVET as an educational public policy receives attention and funding from stakeholders and how in other cases it is being neglected. </p>
<p>From semi-structured interviews with 17 IO employees, it has been revealed that the main stakeholders in all five countries are state ministries responsible for TVET, but not in all countries these ministries are the driving forces of TVET development. According to Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Model (1995), the problem stream can be applied on Uzbekistan’s high population growth and Kazakhstan’s social discontent about unemployment. These problems are putting TVET in a priority position in the agenda-setting. Whereas Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’s low economic capacities together with failed political bodies are not allowing them to prioritise and pay due attention to TVET development which, in turn, is bringing larger contributions from IOs. Turkmenistan was described by participants as a country with a neutral political stance and difficult cooperation both with public and private stakeholders. Finally, the research respondents believe that for successful stakeholder relationships in Central Asia it is necessary to understand social and cultural structures, specific to the region, such as old clan/tribal or regional divisions. Due to differences in economic structures and current levels of TVET development, the participants explained that the idea of one regional TVET system is not possible in the region. Instead, they stressed the necessity to strengthen learning from each other and exchanging best practices.</p>
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