Education, labour ministries join forces to encourage enrolment in vocational training

AMMAN — The Education Ministry and the Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) on Monday signed a cooperation agreement to implement the applied secondary education programme.

The programme involves admitting 2,000 students at vocational training centres across the Kingdom in the 2016/2017 scholastic year; 4,000 students in the 2017/2018 academic year; and 6,000 students in 2018/2019, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Deputy Prime Minister for Services and Minister of Education Mohammad Thneibat and Labour Minister Ali Ghezawi, who is also VTC chairman, signed the agreement in the presence of Higher Education Minister Wajih Owais.

In an interview with Petra, Thneibat said participants in the programme will receive an accredited certificate from the ministries of education and labour, enabling them to attend technical colleges that will be open soon.

He added the Labour Ministry will classify participants according to the trade they have been trained in, in a way that enables them to join the labour market and build a good career.

The Education Ministry is mulling giving students monthly financial incentives ranging between JD30 and JD40 as transportation allowance, in addition to subscribing them to the Social Security Corporation and public health insurance, Thneibat noted.

He also expressed the ministry’s keenness to increase the percentage of students joining vocational education from its current 12 per cent to 20 per cent within the coming few years, reaching 30 or 40 per cent in 10 years.

For his part, Ghezawi highlighted the importance of raising the number of vocational education students to fight poverty and unemployment. He noted that the agreement shows the government’s determination to alleviate these two problems.

The programme targets 11th and 12th graders, and consists of a theoretical part with academic courses and a practical part that focuses on providing students with the skills necessary for the specialisations they choose before joining the labour market, Petra added.

VTC acting director general, Hani Khleifat, said there are 42 institutes affiliated with the corporation across the country, offering 69 training programmes in different fields.