“I found this training a valuable opportunity to hone my skills and increase my practical knowledge in the field of cosmetology. At the same time, after getting into this field and gaining experience in it, I became motivated to open my entrepreneurial project in the future,” said Shukria Mohammed, a young woman who expressed the extent to which she benefited from TVET courses at Al-Khwarizmi Technical University College.
Shukria (Somali) is among 15 young women and men who received educational grants in a partnership between the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and Al-Khwarizmi Technical University College, as part of the activities of the project “Investing in the Future: Improving the Livelihoods and Education of Minority Refugee Groups within Society in Jordan”, launched by ARDD in cooperation with Vision Hope International, and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the aim to improve employment and livelihood opportunities for Sudanese, Yemeni, Somali refugees, as well as Jordania citizens.
Vocational and technical education in Jordan emerges as an important issue and priority for young people, as an investment in the future and a means of economic empowerment for future generations, not to mention its importance in providing them with skills, tools, and specializations that could open doors for them in the labor market. Access to advanced vocational education requires building the cultural capital of young people in accordance with the requirements of technology and the knowledge-based economy, providing adaptable and flexible vocational and technical knowledge, as well as improving legislation related to vocational and technical education and business environments.
During the 3-month training period, the young Jordanians, along with the Sudanese, Somali, and Yemeni refugees participating in the project gained innovative educational opportunities and modern techniques in the fields of imaging, entrepreneurship, cosmetology, mechanics, information systems, and computing, in order to enhance their active contribution to the development of the local economy and improve their employment and livelihood opportunities.
The young participants, whose ages ranged between (18 and 28 years), obtained various tools and experiences, as they identified the most prominent needs and opportunities that could enhance their productive participation in the labor market, as well as acquiring business and entrepreneurship skills. Moreover, they found an opportunity to refine their skills and practical knowledge to speed up the process of landing a job and opening their own entrepreneurial projects in the future.
According to the young people participating in the training, choosing the vocational training path to hone their skills and acquire skills and knowledge will help them get a job faster through the experience they will gain from training, for the practical side is the most important and useful part of vocational training as it develops and refines their talents.
In a related context, the training supervisors find that “whenever there is a diversity of professions, specializations, skills, and knowledge, this enriches the labor market and adds new ideas to it and gives it the possibility of development, improvement, and progress towards higher levels,” noting that many large projects started small or medium, so whoever has a skill or knowledge can start their own project, especially since vocational training opens up prospects for many additional ideas in society.
The supervisors stressed that one of the requirements of the labor market is the presence of skilled professionals who have the ability and potential for technical work. Hence, if they obtain knowledge and experience during their training and learning process, this would help them find job opportunities on the one hand, while on the other hand it would help the labor market, its establishments, sectors, and institutions to benefit from knowledge and experience, whether from their direct vocational education or through the training they have obtained.
The cooperation between ARDD and Al-Khwarizmi College comes within the framework of ARDD’s education strategy, which seeks to follow a comprehensive approach to education that takes into account ensuring access to quality education and providing continuous learning opportunities for all as key pillars for poverty alleviation and enabling sustainable social transformation.
According to Zainab Al-Khalil, Director of Programs at ARDD, focusing on vocational and technical education is a long-term investment in the future, as this collective effort between ARDD, Al-Khwarizmi College, and the donor embodies a commitment to providing equal opportunities for learning and development for all, regardless of their backgrounds or challenges. She also stressed the need to invest strongly in the vocational field, and to support and enhance efforts to empower young people to become pioneers in a world full of opportunities.
In turn, the Director of Training at Al-Khwarizmi College, Abdul Karim Al-Batayneh, saw that these training grants aim to develop professions that are in high demand, in addition to the possibility of starting a private business, and therefore the programs included specialized courses in entrepreneurship and the development of underprivileged students, indicating that vocational education represents the future of providing the labor market with the various skills and tools it needs, as well as obtaining jobs.
According to experts in education and social welfare, the reasons for the lack of access to quality education for underprivileged groups are the lack of documentation for refugees, poverty and the cost of transportation, poor school infrastructure, and the deterioration of security, hygiene, and healthcare, as the school environment in many areas does not meet international standards.
Therefore, it is important to continue cooperation between all civil society institutions, the government, and the public and private sectors to train and qualify young people in line with the demand in the labor market, with the importance of integration between training and knowledge obtained by trainees, and between the workplace in the field to be in direct contact with the market, while emphasizing that vocational training revives economic activity and improves the performance of the labor market, as sectors, establishments, and institutions tend to favor the most advanced skills that serve the productive process and increase competitiveness and revenues, which creates a new dynamic in society and helps to alleviate poverty and unemployment.
