Regional cooperation between selected Arab countries in the field of TVET

Regional Conference on

Achievements & Potentials of Regional Cooperation Damascus, Syria 15 – 16 March 2011 Conference Report

Published by:

Deutsche Gesellschaft für

Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Postfach 5180

65726 Eschborn

T +49 61 96 79-0

F +49 61 96 79-11 15

E info@giz.de

Internet:

www.giz.de

Authors:

Alexandra Hilbig, Khawla Konyna & Lisa Helen Naser

Printed and distributed by:

GIZ Project Coordination Office

Damascus, 2011

Contents

List of Acronyms .............................................................................................................................. 1

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 2

2. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 3

3. PLENARY SESSION: WELCOME & OPENING .................................................................................. 3

Keynote Address I – GIZ Country Director ......................................................................................3

Keynote Address II – German Ambassador ....................................................................................3

Keynote Address II – Deputy Minister of Education .......................................................................4

4. PLENARY SESSION: ACHIEVEMENTS ............................................................................................. 4

Introduction .........................................................................................................................................4

Achievements in the field of Training of Trainers (ToT) ................................................................4

Achievements in the field of Arab Occupational Classification (AOC) ........................................5

Demonstration of the installable interactive interface for AOC ..................................................... 5

Achievements at the level of the TVET regional network ..............................................................5

Wrap-up ...............................................................................................................................................6

5. THEMATIC SESSION: WORKING GROUPS ..................................................................................... 6

Training of Trainers ............................................................................................................................6

Implementation of AOC .....................................................................................................................8

Strategic Planning for the regional TVET network activities .........................................................8

Summary of working groups .............................................................................................................9

Dissemination of ToT ....................................................................................................................... 9

Implementation of AOC ................................................................................................................... 9

TVET network ................................................................................................................................ 10

6. PLENARY SESSION: LESSONS LEARNED & FUTURE PERSPECTIVES ............................................... 11

7. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 13

8. Annexes .................................................................................................................................... 15

Annex I – Agenda .............................................................................................................................15

Annex II – List of participants .........................................................................................................17

Annex III – Results of AOC Working Group ...................................................................................21

Annex IV – Regional Council, Focal Points, & Secretariat contact details ................................24

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List of Acronyms

ALO Arab Labor Organization

AOC Arab Occupation Classification

AOL Action Oriented Learning

CAPMAS Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics

E-TVET Employment, Technical and Vocational Education & Training

HR Human Resources

IPNET Institute Pédagogique National de l'Enseigement Technique

ISCO International Standard Classification of Occupations

LM Labor Market

MOMM Ministry of Manpower and Emigration

MKI/vetEP Mubarak-Kohl Initiative/Vocational Education, Training and Employment Program

PVTD Productivity and Vocational Training Department

TOT Training of Trainers

TVET Technical and Vocational Education & Training

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

With the conference “Achievements and potentials of regional cooperation” the German funded project “Regional cooperation between selected Arab countries in the field of TVET” came to an end in March 2011 in Damascus.

The achievements of the second project phase have been presented to the audience. For many participants and in particular for multipliers, this has been the first gathering of all partners from the three main intervention fields of the project.

The partners involved in activities of the project during the second project phase were given the opportunity to meet and discuss the achievements of the project and possible next steps in the main interventions fields.

- How to secure further roll-out of the new methodologies that the core-trainers have been trained on in order to enhance the methodological capacities of TVET trainers and teachers?

- Current status of the establishment of national technical teams for nationalizing AOC - Linking to ALO and establish a sustainable updating mechanism between the partner

countries and ALO - Exchange about expereinces in using AOC within the different user groups - How to continue the cooperation in the network, and to secure funding for further

activities and meetings

The questions what makes regional cooperation relevant and what are the lessons learned from the cooperation between the five Arab countries have been discussed in a final panel discussion.

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2. INTRODUCTION The Regional Project on “Cooperation between selected Arab countries in the field of TVET” aims at enhancing the capacity of institutions and personnel for the reforms of the TVET systems in the partner countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria) by means of the regional TVET network. This will contribute to improving the quality of vocational training and education in the partner countries.

Within the framework of the project, activities focused on agreed regional work areas of priority. Looking into the future, the actors in project’s networks (who have the knowledge and expertise in implementation) needed to feed results and lessons learned into the network exchange process. The conference was the meeting point for all intervention fields and actors on different levels within the TVET networks. Focus was on the sustainability of working results in the three fields: the Arab Occupational Standard (AOC) and anchoring it at the Arab Labor Organization (ALO), the roll-out of the Training of Trainers (ToT) concept in the partner countries, and the TVET regional network knowledge management.

3. PLENARY SESSION: WELCOME & OPENING Keynote Address I – GIZ Country Director

Dr. Magdy El-Menshawy (GIZ country director for Syria and Lebanon) opened the conference with a speech in which he reminded the participants that many similarities exist in the countries of the region, but that yet, exchange about joint challenges and existing best practices is still weak. He added that the regional project was put in place to address and improve this fact; and that this project is complementing other German government and donor programs in the region.

He concluded by thanking the Syrian authorities for the continuous cooperation and wishing all a fruitful conference.

Keynote Address II – German Ambassador His Excellency Dr. Andreas Reinicke the German Ambassador to Syria delivered his address speaking to the audience on his vision of TVET as an ambassador, taking his own country as an example. He began his address suggesting that Germany would not have been so successful if it did not have a longstanding tradition of vocational training and education. He added that a country’s development is strongly dependent on the ability and capacity of its people to work, develop and implement complex ideas directly on the ground. Thus, he stated: ”Vocational training provides the very important skills for the functioning of a complex and modern society”. Concerning the regional dimension of the project, reflections on the very similar European integration impose themselves. Since, despite difficulties, this is part of a globalized world, he welcomed the efforts of the regional project in creating a framework of cooperation and integration in the Arab world. His concluding words addressed the necessary cooperation between vocational training institutions and the private sector.

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Keynote Address II – Deputy Minister of Education Then Dr. Fouad Ghaloul, Deputy Minister of Education in Syria, conveyed greetings and wishes of H.E. the Minister Dr. Ali Saad to the participants. He stated that the ministry is in the process offering new vocations with new curricula (based on the vocational standards that used AOC as a reference) oriented to local and international LM needs and requirements, and emphasized the need to cope with fast developments in setting standards and competences of education.

Dr. Ghaloul noted that the importance of the event comes from its aims to develop plans for follow-up what the project has started. In addition, he asserted that the need for skilled and competent labor requires big efforts in laying down strategies and setting policies to reform the TVET system and brings back its stature.

4. PLENARY SESSION: ACHIEVEMENTS Introduction Mrs. Alexandra Hilbig (GIZ Project Manager) reminded the participants of the conference that the very first kick-off meeting of the project in 2003 was also held in Damascus, and that many people present today were also present at that time, while others have also joined in the meantime.

When the project started it had the objective to strengthen regional cooperation in the field of Technical and Vocational Education by enabling the participating countries to benefit from developments and good practices in neighboring countries for their own systems. All of those together have made many important things happen in the first as well as current second phase of the project. She also explained that regional conferences were initiated as a form to focus on priority issues, and re-iterated the objectives and content of the three conferences organized during the project phase to facilitate the south-south dialogue in the field of TVET. Her concluding words referred to the fact that the conference gathers all partners and participants who have been working with the project and thus gives everyone a chance to see what has been achieved in the other intervention fields and discuss details of past, present and future projects.

Achievements in the field of Training of Trainers (ToT) Mr. Nicolas Abourjeili (IPNET, Lebanon) one of the core trainers who participated in the TOT seminars briefed the other conference participants on the activities of the TOT group and its goals. Three training seminars were conducted for 25 core trainers from the five partner countries (5 per country). With support from the national coordinators of ToT activities as well as the Focal Point of the project in the country, core trainers then developed national dissemination plans in which multipliers are

trained. He emphasized that the seminars were a great learning experience for all the participants, and that a big change has happened for the 25 core trainers. They now have learned many interactive methods, have more knowledge, capacity to solve problems, engage in teamwork, are better listeners and organizers, and most importantly, became able to deal with situations in the classroom much better than before.

Mr. Abourjeili recounted the experience of one of his fellow core trainers whose students insisted on using the new methods even after the end of one-month trial when he wanted to

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go back to the traditional teaching methods. Personally, Mr. Abourjeili said that the trainings helped him to know more about his own habits, social relations among people, the labor-market approach, and to select the best from a variety of opinions, as well as to develop more self-confidence. The seminars were rendered particularly stimulating and helpful through the exchange of regional experiences, which was highly valued.

Achievements in the field of Arab Occupational Classification (AOC)

Mr. Mahmoud Njoum (Palestinian Ministry of Labor) is the national coordinator for AOC activities in Palestine. He stated that continuous progress and trainings for individuals are needed to increase capacities and competences. Since approved by the ALO, Arab countries are asked to implement the AOC on a national level. He called on ALO to take initiative in a more proactive way to include all Arab countries, and not just the five included in the project in order to work towards a common Arab market, and the free movement of Arab labor force in order

to replace foreign labor in Arab countries with Arabs. Furthermore, he gave a recap of all the training workshops held in the past and re-emphasized that the project is active on three different levels, namely the national level, the regional level, and on the ALO level. He then presented the Jordanian experience with AOC which he called a very “rich experience” leading to expertise and knowledge exchange, and the achievement of many national and regional objectives. Still, more continuity is needed to reach better experiences. Mr. Njoum finished his presentation by stating that “This project is not finished, it has just started – the missions are clear on a national and Arab level”.

Demonstration of the installable interactive interface for AOC As a result of the discussion during the regional conference on the use and application of AOC in Amman last year, and based on the suggestion of the regional council of the project for the updating mechanism, the project supported the objective of increasing AOC usability and facilitating its implementation in the daily work of different users by transforming the AOC into a database and developing an interactive interface (software) with functions for searching and browsing.

Dr. Talal Boufa, Central Bureau of Statistics in Syria, gave the conference participants a demonstration of the AOC interactive interface that is installable from a CD, and stated that in his experience, it was very easy to use, containing both the international (ISCO) and the Arab classifications.

Achievements at the level of the TVET regional network Mrs. Nadera Al-Bakheet is the director of the E-TVET council in Jordan, and member of the regional council of the project as well as the Focal Point for Jordan. She started by outlining that all five countries have benefited from the solutions that were implemented through the project, and that it is the aim of the network that its activities expand in the future. This strengthening of the network was the particular aim of the second project phase.

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Mrs. Al-Bakheet also stated that the network can be considered an official regional network because those who are members of the network are representatives of both public and private sectors active in the field of TVET. Together, solutions can be found with which each returns to their respective country. She then emphasized that the new issue to be tackled at the level of the regional council is sustainability, namely, the question of how the network can be preserved, and what the next steps are. She explained that “the network is a major accomplishment and we should not move backwards because the continuity of this network is crucial. We should have a regional solution for labour market problems and satisfy the requirements of TVET systems. We know our problems and when we discuss them, we see that they are all the same. A regional solution will be the maximum benefit for all countries. Dialogue should continue to preserve and sustain this regional network.”

Wrap-up The first session concluded with comments from audience after presentation of all achievements of different work areas. The following are the main points.

Mr. Sharief (ALO) highlighted the late but fruitful cooperation between the ALO and the project and added that it is now known what the ALO should do in the Arab world concerning the AOC, namely to circulate it and to make it accessible for all Arab countries. He notes that it is rare for ALO to deal with Ministries of Education and statistical bureaus, however, his organization had been trying to find this link with the different agencies related to AOC in order to work together. Follow up has to happen in all countries of course; and ALO. Among others, ALO is planning on signing a diplomatic protocol to start work of Arab Association of TVET Institutions in Riyadh next year. He concluded by saying that “We are planning to organize three activities this year in different Arab countries.“

Mr. Riad (EG) and Mr. Maghames (PL) were assured that further details on AOC (comparing it with the international classifications, modifications of the titles) will be discussed in the afternoon session.

Mr. Nasrallah (JO) from Jordan Chamber of Industry added to the discussion about the network that there is no completely perfect project, and that there are always some issues or small problems. Asking rhetorically whether there is need to continue with this project, he said that there is no disagreement “Yes, we need to continue with this project.” Finally, Mr. Nasrallah explained that a lot of potential is available and that this will strengthen the trust of other donors to help in future activities.

5. THEMATIC SESSION: WORKING GROUPS Training of Trainers For the reform of national TVET systems, capacitating core trainers to become Trainers-of-Trainers (ToT) in selected fields was considered central by network members. The project designed an intervention specifically to enhance the core trainers’ methodological-didactical competencies through offering three regional training seminars as well as supporting pilot seminars on national level.

The working group (consisting mainly of core trainers, national coordinators for ToT, and others) was implemented in the form of “Open Space” that was suggested by colleagues from Palestine. Audience proposed topics included: introduction of the TVET-portal as a means for further communication, Human Resources Development targeting trainers, review of the dissemination plans (with particular regard to financing), experiences with Action-

For 85% of participants, the training provided enhanced their capacities as trainers.

90% of the trainers will continue exchanging with regional colleagues and working on the topics identified.

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Oriented Learning, the future of regional strategic plan for the policy makers, and preparing curricula compatible to the Action-Oriented Learning methodology.

Eventually, the “Open Space” session was implemented with three chosen topics. The results are summarized in the following table.

Introduction of the TVET portal as a means for future communication

Suggested by Amer Shashtari (PL) Contributors: • Mohammad Nawaiseh (JO) • Khaled Hamada (SY) • Samar Darwish (SY) • Mohammad Bari (SY) • Ghada Abu Fakhr (SY)

Aims:

1) Establish communication between core-trainers in different countries & exchange experiences between them Agreed results are: - Create a forum for core-trainers - Nominate a committee to define the forum

sections 2) Establish E-Learning courses for the core-trainers:

Agreed results are: - Create a committee to define & choose courses to

change them to E-Learning courses - Nominate a team for changing process - Develop the forum - Examine & discuss - Define evaluation criteria

Review of dissemination plans (with particular regard to finance)

Suggested by Amer Shashtari (PL) Contributors: • Mohammad Nawaiseh (JO) • Khaled Hamada (SY) • Samar Darwish (SY) • Mohammad Bari (SY) • Ghada Abu Fakhr (SY)

Aims: - Afford appropriate fund for the dissemination plan - Feed back for the implementation Agreed results: - Follow up on the fund by the authorities - Continue with project implementation in each of the

selected countries and by the core-trainers and coordinate with each other

Preparing core-trainers to teach on the Action-Oriented Learning methodology

Contributors: • George Nohra (LB) • Carlos Naffah (LB) • Dr. Saied Khourasani (SY)

Agreed results: - Communicate with decision makers - Study the competencies and needs of core-trainers - Relate the trainers needs with labor market needs - Define criteria to choose multipliers - Organize workshops for core-trainers & multipliers with

AOL methodology Evaluation Criteria

- Problem solving - Working with a team - Transfer knowledge to others - Self improvement - Confidence - Planning - Develop solving problems - Innovation & creation

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Implementation of AOC AOC is considered the most notorious output of the first phase of the project. In the second phase, support was focusing on the real implementation of AOC in the partner countries. However, countries have their individual structures and challenges which prevailed in different status of implementation as presented in the morning session.

The framework for implementation has two dimensions:

- On the national level, it is necessary to work on nationalization/adaptation of AOC with country needs. Discussion in country groups aimed at answering the question: What are the steps needed in the country to get a “nationalized” AOC? Who is the initiator? How this will be organized.

- On the regional level, it is necessary to maintain the harmonization of the national classifications with AOC (under the umbrella of ALO). Dialogue with ALO representative tackles the mechanism for discussion and agreement on updates for AOC as well as implementation of the approved updates and dissemination of the new version.

In addition, multipliers who were trained were given the chance to exchange on experiences in implementing what they learned.

Details and results of the country working groups and the exchange of experiences are shown in (Annex III).

Strategic Planning for the regional TVET network activities The conference comes as a final event of the project „Regional Cooperation of selected Arab countries in the field of TVET“. Participants of the regional network were very clear about their wish to continue this mutually beneficial cooperation. This working group (with some members of the Regional Council) discussed potential next steps. Discussion in this group was based on the already existing agreements and proposals, namely:

• Proposal for financing the Regional TVET Network activity

• Project proposal for extension of the project (agreed upon during Regional Council meeting in July 2010)

In the workshop, representatives1

• Deepening and continuing the cooperation and exchange in the fields of the Arab Occupational Classification (AOC) and the Training-of-Trainers (ToT) roll-out

discussed potential objectives, next steps and the funding proposal for further cooperation. Both public and private sector of the five participating countries Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria have a clear interest to continue dialogue and cooperation on a regional level. Concrete topics and objectives in a short-term perspective are:

• Extending the cooperation to new fields, such as:

1 Representatives of Lebanon and Palestine unfortunately were not able to join the meeting.

100% of participants stated that nationalization of AOC for each country is needed.

90% of participants considered the results of the discussion as tangible and applicable to their own work.

71% of participants absolutely agree that exchange in the network contributes to strengthening reform capacities of TVET institutions and personnel.

90% of participants considered the results of the discussion as tangible and applicable to their own work.

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o Regional Qualification Framework o Establishment of a regional Labor Market Information System (LMIS)

The overall strategy of the Regional Council to continue cooperation consists of the following steps:

• Draft and conclude an MoU among the partners that details this concept note with regard to

o Vision and objectives o Functions and structures within the network (see next point) o Planned activities

• Market the new ideas (Regional Qualification Framework, Labor Market Information System) among important stakeholders

• Draft a project proposal, detailing the objectives and approach to these topics • Based on this, link the cooperation initiative to donor programs and/or public sources

that can provide funding for activities that go beyond the funding scope of the involved partners (e.g. conducting a study per country on assessment of current status of NQF/RQF as input for working on the Regional Qualification framework)

• The next meeting of the RC has been fixed for September 2011 in Amman, Jordan.

The funding proposal covering costs for the next two Regional Council meetings that has been circulated among the private sector representatives was discussed and agreed during the meeting (except Lebanon); the private sector representative of Palestine agreed to the proposal before the meeting.

To date, regional cooperation in the field of TVET has been strategically coordinated by a Regional Council (RC; members see annex IV); activities and their implementation have been coordinated by national focal points (FPs). Supporting secretariat functions have been fulfilled by the GIZ project. It was agreed to uphold this structure; with the end of the German funded project, the secretariat function needs to be replaced. The E-TVET Council, Jordan, represented by Mrs. Nadera Bakheet, has thankfully agreed to take over this function, at least for the coming year.

Summary of working groups Dissemination of ToT The group consisted of representatives from /5/ partner countries who developed relationships of harmony with each other. Although the core trainers were not in a good mood after receiving the evaluation of their final projects, they actively participated in the Open Space.

The major agreement tackled the following:

- With regard to the dissemination plans, the implementation could face a financial barrier (limited allocations from the public budget), and the need for provision of occupational standards as well as developing new curricula for the AOL methodology (focusing on LM-orientation of the curricula).

- Continuing the communications among the core trainers using the TVET portal.

Implementation of AOC Discussions in the working group on the implementation of AOC acknowledged that the different usages for AOC include: preparing training curricula, career counseling and guidance, national statistics, and employment. It was clear that countries are not on the same level of implementation with Jordan being advanced in the scope of usage

Some issues in the technical level of implementation were identified, namely: formulating the detailed description in bullet points, differences in titles between the national and Arab

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classifications, differences in codes between the AOC and ISCO, missing occupations/jobs from the AOC which exist in the national classification, missing national legislation to implement AOC.

For the full implementation of AOC in the Arab countries, the group recommended the following at the technical level:

- Matching the codes of AOC with the older version of ISCO (to maintain time series of data in statistics).

- Reformulating the detailed description of jobs in bullet points - Match titles of occupations/jobs with the national ones - ALO should cooperate with countries in issuing the required legislations and forming

committees which will initiate the implementation process. - Adding a code for “others” at the end of each unit group that covers occupations/jobs

which are not included in the classification. - Developing a generic detailed description for the unit groups to be used in cases where a

certain occupation/job is not listed in the classification (for building the training curricula) - Since ALO is the umbrella for the Arab countries which will remove the obstacles facing

the implementation, it is requested to support the efforts for the implementation and updating to bridge the gaps (in capacities).

At the organizational level, participants agreed that establishing structures for the nationalization is the first step and then comes the mechanism for updating AOC on the Arab level. The proposed structure to achieve the nationalization in Syria was explained by Dr. Maldaoun, Deputy Minister of Labor to cover the 3 dimensions of implementation (LM observatory), coordination (technical team), and endorsement by decision makers (deputy ministers and general managers).

In response to a question about the role of ALO, Mr. Sharief mentioned that his organization conducted the Arab Forum in KSA on Jan. 2010 where Arab TVET Strategy –the pillar for AOC implementations on the national, regional, and Arab levels- was adopted. In addition, the foundation of the Arab Association of TVET Institutions has been agreed upon by the Ministers of Labor with a plan that includes as a priority using AOC in developing the curricula for selected occupations serving priority sectors. He also mentioned some issues that need to be tackled by ALO:

- Annual analysis and processing

- Formation of national teams that advise top management with regard to AOC implementation.

of the requested updates in AOC especially those coming from the statistical bodies.

- Importance of stability of the responsibility of following up the implementation of AOC within the country. This requires introducing procedures (processes) with clear mandate for a specific unit to initiate and follow up on things without the need to go back to the ministerial level.

- Regular annual meetings to sort out the obstacles facing AOC implementation.

TVET network Strengthening the regional TVET network was discussed with the intention to continue cooperation beyond the project end. An issue was whether to continue working focusing on the same fields or extend to new topics. No obstacles in financing the future activities were identified. There is an agreement on maintaining the steering structure that was created within the project.

Clear agreements were formulated with regard to:

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Regional cooperation achieves more than the actual program objectives since cooperation processes bring regions together as they tackle obstacles and work on modifying legislations to accommodate the regional project

- Continuing cooperation on the agreed objectives (ToT & AOC) as well as adding new priority topics (LMIS, examinations and quality, links to industry, capacity building for the TVET institutions,…etc.).

- Development of an concept document for future cooperation in the network (where Mr. Nasrallah will contribute to the content and circulation)

- Financing the next two meetings of the regional council members (where E-TVET secretary takes the initiative to manage the communications and logistics)

6. PLENARY SESSION: LESSONS LEARNED & FUTURE PERSPECTIVES The objective of the panel discussion was to demonstrate experiences of the regional cooperation and draw conclusions of its potentials for future.

Referring to the experience of the EU, panelists argued that “shared objectives” is the driver for regional cooperation especially when countries realize that it is impossible to go on without it. Still, objectives are easy to be identified but many difficulties arise at the practical level. It was stated that the major challenge of regional cooperation is consumption of more resources and time due to the need to fine-tune the starting points (different legislations, different political agendas...etc) before common grounds can be laid down.

Cooperation in the EU is considered successful despite the fact that member countries have different cultural background and official language, and they had different starting points. For cooperation programs that are created by the participating regions themselves, ownership is there from the beginning which is a success factor.

Participating in regional cooperation creates competition when actors realize that those “others” are already so far, so they also want to get there. The individuals will then start to work towards development in their field.

From the development program perspective, establishing cooperation mechanisms entailed administrative issues that take a lot of effort, nevertheless, since individual countries are too small from an investment point of view (free trade zones are evidence of the general trend), it is essential to continue working together. The project started with a top down approach but then tried to work the other way. Implementation showed that it is rather difficult to reach agreements via email so at least telephone contact needs to be made if not face-to-face meetings.

Info: Panel Discussion

The participants included are: - Mr. Jyrki Torni, Mrs. Carmen Garcia Audi from European Delegation in Syria, - Mr. Nidal Fahmy Ayyesh from VTC Beit Jala, Palestinian Territories (core trainer) - Mr. Mohammed Irshaid from Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance, Jordan.(national

coordinator for AOC) - Mrs. Alexandra Hilbig, project manager, GIZ. - Dr. Haytham El-Yafi from the Arab Federation of Engineering Industries (Regional Council

member)

Lesson learned: a national network that one can work with should be established first or at least in parallel to the creation of regional networks.

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Working on the Arab level changed over the last decade. Currently, employers associations on the Arab level are taking advantage of differences between countries to bring legislative and cultural aspects closer. The continuous communication on the regional level affects in increasing susceptibility of partners to new ideas which affected indirectly the TVET policies and resulted in diverging trends. Regional projects have such intrinsic benefit in exposing partners to things beyond their context. Some actors, who are also members in national organizations; take the vision of what should be done for the sector and help their countries to legislate in harmony with the region. On the other hand, European specialized organizations prefer to cooperate with peer organizations in the region.

Since the ToT intervention within the project was based on identified needs (mostly similar or common), one major benefit of regional cooperation for trainers is that they are informed about the TVET systems in neighboring countries and that the exchange during joint activities shaped their performance. However, a clear common vision for future regional cooperation is needed in order to be able to achieve objectives of this cooperation (namely, working on the same standards in the region).

An affirmation of a lesson learned comes from the experience in the reform of the TVET system in Jordan which showed that programs partner with multiple institutions, but with a designated reference institution (like E/TVET Council), all efforts are aligned and duplication is avoided. Also, cooperation is easier in the implementation (execution) level than on the higher level. A recommendation to “keep pace“ in regional cooperation and overcome the obstacles of starting at different points in the reform of TVET systems is based on building relationships between people because they pursue resources available in their own countries and as soon as resources come in, different levels of experience and administrative aspects start to converge and come together.

One condition of success of a regional cooperation is to look at the TVET sector as a whole. First step in the reform entails creating a national network. Links and making initial contacts is very important because person-to-person contacts are part of all cultures, however, it is dangerous to JUST rely on links, and it is important to create the processes in parallel.

We listen to each other, discuss, and build consensus. Then, each member goes back to his/her own country and contributes in the national development.

Joint work and cooperation that was started within the project is just the beginning.

With involvement of ALO, all results of the national initiative could be utilized by other countries in the region

Participation in regional and international projects is opted for based on the national needs and plans

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Future perspectives Beyond the project end, implementation on the national level (plans for disseminations) is funded from resources of partner countries. Contribution of ALO (updating mechanism for AOC) is agreed. As for the activities in the TVET network, a concrete proposal for one year has been developed and will be discussed today.

In synergy you can make more resources available. It is very important to find a way to finance the issues through networks representing business because they have in interest in growth and competitiveness. Trust between the private sector and the regulator is an issue here. EU is keen to promote this mechanism to get the demand side involved and create sustainability from the supply side

The TVET sector needs to partner with the business sector to share the effort and knowledge, however, the business sector needs some reforms to act as a partner. LM policies (including the informal sector) should be aligned towards this objective.

The future vision of our work includes establishing joint committees communicating interactively with the network to feed the exchange of ideas, information and insights into contributions in policy/making and setting future strategies.

It is recommended to work on institutionalizing an “Education/Industry Interface“ as well as capacity building of TVET management to be able to grasp the developments in the market and reflect then into the training system as competences.

To complement all other efforts, change of culture needs to be tackled. This could be accomplished through good small examples which demonstrate that change is not hard and sell new ideas.

Harmonization does not mean that every country has the same thing. What should develop are “comparable systems”, so mechanisms to compare certificates and levels of education, etc. are needed.

It is recommended to continue the cooperation to establish the mechanisms of cooperation and to lower the expectations

Past experiences are always available and there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Best practices of regional cooperation can be found all around the Mediterranean region.

7. Conclusions With the conference “Achievements and Potentials of regional cooperation” the regional project on “Regional cooperation between selected Arab countries in the field of TVET” came officially to an end.

The partners who have been working with the project during the second project phase came together in Damascus for two days to discuss the achievements of the project and necessary next steps in the different intervention fields.

As for the enhancement of the methodological capacities of teachers and trainers in TVET, the 25 core-trainers had the opportunity to meet and discuss their most important topics in an Open Space session. The review of the dissemination plans per country and the provision of necessary resources for implementing the national roll-out have been discussed with the focal points from the respective countries. Further a TVET-portal as a means for further communication has been introduced to the core-trainers. Finally, certificates have been handed out to the core-trainers for participating in a project work that is implementing the methods they have been introduced to and finalizing the training. In most of the countries the plans for the national roll-out are agreed and resources provided. With the

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communication platform introduced and access provided there could be a good chance that core-trainers will continue exchanging about their experiences and learning efforts.

In the field of AOC there have been discussions about the current status of implementation or usage of AOC at the country level with regards to the necessity of establishing technical teams involving all relevant user groups for a nationalization of AOC. In addition a suggested updating mechanism with ALO as the owner of AOC was discussed. AOC multipliers from the different user groups exchanged their experiences with using AOC. An interactive database installable from a CD has been introduced to the audience as a new tool for a more user-friendly AOC.

There have been important tasks accomplished; the most relevant user groups being identified and multipliers have been trained, user manuals per user group have been developed and disseminated, however, very important steps still remain to be done.

The representatives of the steering body of the network came together for reviewing a funding proposal that has been presented by the private sector representatives in order to facilitate further meetings of the regional council. An agreement between the representatives being present could be reached and a first meeting was scheduled for September 2011.

In a discussion on the final day of the conference lessons learned and further potentials for regional cooperation have been debated.

- It is evident that regional cooperation requires more time and resources in general compared with bilateral initiatives.

- Different legislations and levels of implementation on the national level induce different needs.

- Handling mechanisms for cooperation and coordination among partners in regional cooperation is at least of same importance as the technical topic of cooperation.

- Effective mechanisms on the national level are needed including trust between private sector and the legislator, as well as a stable national vision and reform programs.

- In designing programs for regional cooperation, creating things together from the beginning is important for ownership.

- For the regional cooperation to succeed, it is important to first find and decide on realistic objectives, decide where you want to work (nationally, regionally), and then look for best practices.

In total participants draw a positive balance about the achievements and underlined the need for further opportunities for regional exchange.

15

8. Annexes Annex I – Agenda

16

17

Annex II – List of participants Country Name Institution Email

Egypt

Abdel Megeed Zied Investors Association, NCHRD eliacoegypt@yahoo.com Ahmed Salem Abo Srea MKI-vetEP ahmedsalem5555@yahoo.com Ashraf Riad Abdel Hamed Ministry of Manpower and Emigration ariad@mome.gov.eg Asmaa Abdell Rsoule Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics Mona.monir88@gmail.com Ateyat Abd Raboh Hafez Dandash Ministry of Manpower and Emigration Eng_mer@yahoo.com

Hussein Mohammed Ministry of Manpower and Emigration hma380@yahoo.com Iman Hassanein Radwan Ministry of Manpower and Emigration elkadys@live.com

Mastoora Attiah Garrar Arab Labor Organization Mervat Dessouky El Shabasy Ministry of Manpower and Emigration Eng_mer@yahoo.com

Mervat Mostafa Khorshid Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics mona.monir@hp.com Mohammed Sharief Arab Labor Organization mohamedalo46@yahoo.com

Nadia Mohamed El Hadidy Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics nadia_hadidi@hotmail.com

Sherif Qenawy Gowayed MKI-vetEP sherif_1232007@yahoo.com Tamer el-Meehy ENTRUST - Moderator t_meehy@entrust-dmc.com

Wafaa Radwan Abd El Aziz Ministry of Manpower and Emigration wafaa_radwan_abdelaziz@hotmail.com

Jordan

Ahmad Fahed Bani Hani Al Balqua University ahmadfahed2001@yahoo.com Ali Nasrallah Chamber of Industry alinsrllh@yahoo.com Amal Usama Al-Lahham Department of Statistics (DOS) Amal.Allaham@DOS.GOV.JO Ensaf Ahmed Mohamed Alnemer Department of Statistics (DOS) ensaf@dos.gov.jo Fawzi Hassan Mohammad Shakhatreh Ministry of Education F_shakhatreh@yahoo.com Fuad Mohd Ibrahim AL-Bujoq Ministry of Labor falbojoq@yahoo.com

Haitham Alwahedy Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) hwhedy@yahoo.com Haitham Salim Ammari Ministry of Labor haitham@dos.gov.jo Ibrahim Qattash Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) qattash1957@hotmail.com Jamal Taha Al Balqua University Jamal_deeb2001@yahoo.com Jehan Wanas Muosa Department of Statistics (DOS) jehan@dos.gov.jo Khaled al-Aqqad Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) khaqqad@yahoo.com

Mahmoud Ahmad Mahmoud Al Jaber Ministry of Labor mah_jaber1@yahoo.com

Mohammad Damin Ali Al Ferokh Ministry of Labor W_froukh@yahoo.com Mohammad Khair Irshaid Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance mirshed_eng@yahoo.com Mohammad Mahmoud Naqrash Department of Statistics (DOS) naqrsh@yahoo.com Mohammad Tahsen Ali Al-Nawiseh Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) nwiseh@yahoo.com Mohammed A. Kloub (Ph.D) Al Balqua University kloubsb@yahoo.com Nadera al-Bakheet E-TVET Council nadera_bakheet@yahoo.com

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Country Name Institution Email

Jordan

Rateb Issa Ahmad Abu-Jallod Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) aratebissa@yahoo.com Sawsan M.S. Jaber Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) Sawsan_turk@yahoo.com Suhair Izzldeen Issa AlHory Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) Suhair_alhawari@yahoo.com

Thamer Barakat Department of Statistics (DOS) thamer.barakat@dos.gov.jo Yahya Saoud Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) ysaoud@vtc.gov.jo

Lebanon

Ali Ghazi Abou Taam National Employment Office aaboutaam5672@hotmail.com Bouchra Mohamad El Sahili National Employment Office boushra_awalli@hotmail.com Carlos Naffah giz Lebanon carlos_naffah@hotmail.com Elie Berbari National Employment Office eleberbari@hotmail.com Georges Nohra IPNET g.nohra@yahoo.com

Hiam Tannous IPNET htannous@hotmail.com

Hussein Jouni Ministry of Education & Higher Education Jano_95@windowslive.com Hussein Shalhoub National Employment Office Jad Haddad Ministry of Education and Higher Education jadwhaddad@yahoo.com

Joubran Tannous IPNET Jibs111@hotmail.com Nicolas Abourjeili IPNET nicolasabourjeili@hotmail.com Raghida Khazaal TVET, Ministry of Education and Higher Education raghidakhazaal@yahoo.com Sonia Fontaine giz Lebanon sonia.fontaine@giz.de Therese Joseph Neematallah Chahine National Employment Office tarrouzac@yahoo.com Viviane Ibrahim Saade National Employment Office vivasaade9@hotmail.com Yaacoub Abdallah Saab TVET, Ministry of Education and Higher Education Yaacoub_saab@hotmail.com

Palestine

Abedelhafeez Ezat Mahmoud Salahat Ministry of Labor abed.41@hotmail.com Alaa Jameel Ahmad Othman Mousa Ministry of Education & Higher Education Ala2.2008@hotmail.com Amer.R.S.Shashtari Hejjawi Technical College Amer-rs@hotmail.com

Assem Ezzat Mohammad Al-Saleh Ministry of Labor ww_ww44@yahoo.com

Hamdalla Jaber Ministry of Labor abuosaid.jaber@gmail.com Hussien Maghames Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) hmugamis@pcbs.gov.ps Jamal Sheikhibrahim Ministry of Higher Education Jamal_sheikh56@yahoo.com Mahmoud Al Njoum Ministry of Labor miki_njoum@yahoo.com

Mukafeh Asri Mohammad Sulaiman Ministry of Labor Mukafeh_s@yahoo.com Nancy Yaser Hassan Eqylan Vocational Secondary School Hebron Nansy_eQylan@yahoo.com Naser Husni Ahmed Ghanim Ministry of Higher Education naser_aw@yahoo.com Nazieh Ahmed Abdullah Arman Ministry of Labor nazieh_arman@yahoo.com Nidal Fahmy Ayyesh Vocational Training Center, Beit Jala Nidal_f@hotmail.com Nisreen Wajeh Nayef Barri Ministry of Labor Kaddoumi2000@yahoo.com Raief Shabaneh Ministry of Education and Higher Education raiefsky@yahoo.com

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Country Name Institution Email

Palestine Sondos Abu Bakr Vocational Training Center, Jenin sondosbaker@yahoo.com Sultan Farouq Irhaiel Ministry of Labor Alm7awer@hotmail.com

Syria

Ahmad Haytham El Yafi (Ph.D) Arab Federation of Engineering Industries ahyafi@scs-net.org Ahmad Mohsen Ben Ali Ministry of Higher Education amohsen@mail.sy Bassam Bahsas Ministry of Education basambahsas@yahoo.com

Bronia Mansor Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Brdabah70@gmail.com Essam Zamrick Damascus Chamber of Industry ezamrick@hotmail.com

Fahmi Al Akhal Ministry of Education Fhmy_akhal@yahoo.com Faihaa Mohamed Al Naser giz faihaanaser@gmail.com Fouad Ghaloul (Ph.D) Ministry of Education f.ghaloul@mail.sy Ghada Haza' Abu Fakhr Ministry of Education Tammam213@yahoo.com Hala Rizk (Ph.D) Career Guidance Center-UNDP hala.rizk@undpprojects.sy

Issa Maldaon (Ph.D) Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor usagr@scs-net.org

Kinan Bahnassi (Ph.D) LM Information for Labor and Employment Policy -UNDP kinan.bahnassi@undpprojects.sy

Khalid Hamadeh Ministry of Education khaled22101@hotmail.com Loutfi Darkhabani Ministry of Higher Education l_darkhabani@hotmail.com Mahmoud Khalof Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) mahmoudkof@yahoo.com Mahmoud Mustafa Ministry of Education M_a_mustafa@mail.sy Mahran al-Masri Ministry of Education Mahranmasri185@hotmail.com Mayada Chaherli Planning and International Cooperation Commission Muhammad Bari Ministry of Education Momadbari@hotmail.com Nazek Rahmah Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor nazek_rahma@yahoo.co.uk Riad Jbawi Ministry of Education Engriad60@gmail.com Saeed Khurasani (Ph.D) Ministry of Education dadwar@gmail.com

Salwan Ali Basha Public Corporation for Employment and Enterprise Develop. s.alibacha@yahoo.com Samar Darwish Ministry of Education samadarwish@yahoo.com Shamil Badran Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) cbs.syr@gmail.com Susan Al-Jammal Ministry of Education susanaljammal@yahoo.com Talal Boufa (Ph.D) Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) talalBoufah@maktoob.com

Wafaa Ahmad Danda Ministry of Education wafaa.dandy@windowslive.com Wafaa Othman Fares Public Corporation for Employment and Enterprise Develop. wafaafares22@yahoo.com Andreas Reinicke (Ph.D) German Ambassador in Syria Magdy El-Menshawy (Ph.D) giz magdy.el-menshawy@giz.de Jyrki Torni Delegation of European Commission, Damascus Carmen Garcia Audi Delegation of European Commission, Damascus carmen.garcia-audi@eeas.europa.eu Alexandra Hilbig giz alexandra.hilbig@giz.de

20

Country Name Institution Email

Syria

Khawla Konyna giz khawla.konyna@giz.de

Zeid Sadat giz zeid.sadat@giz.de

Hiba Shafie giz hiba.shafie@giz.de

Lisa Helen Naser giz lisa.naser@giz.de

Germany

Christian Koch COMO christian.koch@como-consult.de Christine Noller GET christine.noller@icon-institute.de Klaus Bader-Labarre giz klaus.bader-labarre@giz.de Lutz Thelen GET lutz.thelen@gmx.de

Tarek Abulzahab GET Tarek.Abulzahab@icon-institute.de

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Annex III – Results of AOC Working Group

Country Group / Egypt How AOC will be used on the national level: 1- Transform the detailed description into bullet points to make it easier to use 2- Unify the titles with the national classification 3- Match the codes of AOC with ISCO (on the level of 4 digits) 4- Add occupations/jobs that are not in AOC 5- Add special code for the undefined occupations (others – code ends with 99) 6- Prepare a cross reference table between the current version of AOC and the previous one. 7- Prepare a group that will train the users after it is finalized This is done through:

Formation of a committee encompassing all institutions concerned with statistics, employment, and vocational training. Those are: CAPMAS, MOMM, MKI/vetEP, PVTD, Vocational education sector and others

AOC is being applied at MOMM as follows: • Preparation of vocational programs • Preparation of standards for measuring skill level • Vocational guidance (theory, practice is in process)

And AOC was used in MKI/vetEP: • With the employment facilitators (at Dahaqlieh and Qena)

Institutions which could use the AOC in Egypt are:

• All institutions concerned with vocational training and preparation of training programs (PVTD, Social Security, Education, Housing, Transportation,…etc)

5BCountry Group – Jordan Usages of AOC on the national level: 1- In the field of Statistics:

- A guide for using AOC was produced, and AOC is linked with all classifications like classification of economic activities, and classification of education.

- Cross/reference tables between AOC and ISCO were used 2- In the field of vocational training and education:

AOC was used as a reference for building the occupational standards in which requirements of training and employment as well as the performance standard are specified. Three guides for occupational standards were prepared in collaboration with: - Three parties of production (Ministry of Labor, Syndicates/Trades Union, and private sector) - Training providers - Accreditation institution Training providers usages: - Al Balqaa University addressed public and private universities to introduce the classification

and its benefit for students and job seekers. - Ministry of Education/vocational education:

o Participated with the Center of Accreditation and Quality Control in preparing the guides for occupational standards as a reference for building programs and curricula in the department of vocational education

o /5/ curricula for vocational education which is based on AOC were adopted, and another /4/ is in the process of adoption

- VTC: o Started adopting AOC as a base for building its vocational programs o Prepared /40/ integrated training modules based on the AOC

3- Usages in the field of employment: Directorates of employment/employment offices – Ministry of labor Employment offices are linked with a database that has the demand for trained labor so that the job seeker can be provided with the main requirements of the job

4- Usages in the field of vocational awareness, guidance, and counseling: Guides are assigned and trained for the purpose of vocational awareness based on AOC

22

Country Group / Lebanon 1- Regulation wise:

- Minister of Labor adopted AOC (in the framework of the Council of Arab Ministers of Labor - No implementation decrees were issued - There is a national classification of occupations (2005) which is partially implemented

(Employment offices, ministries) 2- Implementation:

- The national classification of occupations is used in studies, and statistics of the labor market - The classification is used to update the training and education programs

3- Future vision and objectives: - Prepare for coordination committees amongst different ministries concerned with the

implementation of AOC on the national level (Ministry of Education/Vocational Education Directorate, Ministry of Labor/National Employment Office) in order to expand its usage.

- Making use of the occupational classification in the guidance and counseling services (the topic of the training seminar in Egypt on October 2010) after filling the vacancies in the vocational guidance department.

- Continuous cooperation with all Arab countries in the field of exchanging experiences and updating the AOC

Country Group / Palestine 1- Follow up on the implementation of the Prime Ministry decision issued in July 2009 which adopts

the AOC 2008, and nominating the members of the national team which is mentioned in the same decision.

2- Assign PCBS the task of implementing AOC in Palestine and working on the following: 3- Follow up on solving issues in the implementation of AOC by PCBS with the Ministry of Labor and

other institutions using it (formation of specialized technical committee) 4- Define tasks of the national team and it plan 5- The National Strategy of TVET was adopted and AOC was set as a reference in the executive

plan (higher council of TVET) 6- Build a HRC system based on AOC 7- Build a vocational counseling and guidance based on AOC 8- Build a system for certification and authorization of training and employment institutions based on

AOC 9- Build LMIS based on AOC 10- Activate the role of Employment, Education, and Training Councils in implementing AOC 11- Build training and education programs based on AOC (Project of developing the curricula and

programs) 12- Institutionalize and set a frame of working on the Arab level through ALO and partner countries

with the objective to follow up and development of the implementation of AOC

Country Group / Syria Proposal:

• Formation of a supervisory committee at the level of deputy ministers/General Directors including and representatives of employers.

• Formation of a technical committee from institutions concerned with the implementation of AOC

• Designation of an executive arm for the implementation mechanism

Concerned institutions: MOSAL, MOE, MOHE, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Chambers of Industry, CBS, LM Observatory, Ministry of Industry

23

Multipliers Group – Statisticians Egypt: AOC was not used:

- AOC should be linked to ISCO - New versions of AOC should be linked to older versions

Jordan: AOC was used in the labor force surveys, then went back to using ISCO 2008 because of:

- Difficulty of cross/referencing AOC with ISCO - Difficulty in describing the occupation - Cross/reference tables of ISCO and AOC needs to be reviewed

Palestine: - Still using ISCO although using AOC is approved in addition to linking the 2 classifications

Syria: - AOC is used up to 4 digits only.

Summary: AOC needs to be harmonized with ISCO

10BMultipliers Group – Curricula Developers Syria:

- Statistical survey of vocational education output and LM needs - Results of the analytical study of the survey are occupations in demand in the Labor Market - Using AOC in defining tasks and duties of jobs within the occupation - Using the previous analysis in preparing training modules, and writing the training modules

Palestine: 1- Define occupational sectors on demand in the labor market 2- Define training needs through a survey for the Electricity, Electronics and Automation, IT, and

Management families. 3- Job analysis for the occupational families based on the AOC 4- Get approval of LM 5- Prepare curricula outline 6- Produce training modules 7- Develop HR capacities to teach curricula

11BMultipliers Group – Career Guidance/Counseling 1) Egypt

AOC is being used by Mubarak Kohl (MKI-vet EP) There is a difference in description between the national classification and the AOC There is an issue with the titles of some occupations/jobs There are missing jobs from AOC

2) Palestine: AOC is ratified officially in 2009 ISCO was used before, now AOC is used AOC is now being used in vocational education AOC is also used practically in the counseling and guidance

3) Jordan: AOC is used without an official ratification And it is used in counseling/guidance as well as in VET State ratification is required to link AOC usage amongst all stakeholders

4) Lebanon: AOC is not used. Lebanese classification is used.

5) Syria: Using AOC in vocational counseling and guidance at the Career Guidance Center in Damascus AOC is ratified by the Prime Ministry

24

Annex IV – Regional Council, Focal Points, & Secretariat contact details Name Institution/Background E-mail

Egyp

t

Eng. Abdel Megeed Zied General Secretary Investors Association, NCHRD eliacoegypt@yahoo.com

Eng. Ahmad Taha PVTD Chairman Ministry of Trade & Industry ahmed.taha@imc-egypt.org

Ms. Iman Zakarya

Undersecretary for Vocational Training & Development of Human Resources MOMM

imanzakaria24@yahoo.com

Dr. Mahmoud Aboel Nasr Ministry of Education aboelnasr@link.net Eng. Mahmoud Ahmed Kamal

PVTD, Ministry of Trade & Industry mkkamal@imc-egypt.org

Jord

an Dr. Abdalla Ababneh Director

NCHRD AbdallaA@nchrd.gov.jo

Mrs. Nadera al-Bakheet Director E-TVET Council nadera_bakheet@yahoo.com

Mr. Ali Nasrallah Jordan Chamber of Industry ali.nasrallah@jci.org.jo

Leba

non Mr. Ahmad Diab

Director General of TVET Ministry of Education and Higher Education

directeurg@hotmail.com

Mr. Said Hamadeh

Association of Lebanese Industries General Coordinator of joint projects

said@liraprogram.com; ali@ali.org.lb

Pale

stin

e

Dr.Salah Zaroo Deputy Assistant for International Cooperation Ministry of Labor

szaroo@mol.gov.ps; szaroo@gmail.com

Mr. Ziad Jweiles General Dir. Of TVET, Ministry of Education & Higher Education

zjweiles@gmail.com

Mr. Roubin Joulani Metal & Engineering Industries Union Industry_union@yahoo.com

Syria

Dr. Fouad Ghaloul Deputy Minister Ministry of Education f.ghaloul@mail.sy

Dr. Issa Maldaon Ministry of Social Affairs & Labor usagr@scs-net.org

Mr. Essam Zamrick Vice president, Damascus Chamber of Industry essam.zamrick@yahoo.com

Dr. Haytham El Yafi Secretary General Arab Federation of Engineering Industries

ahyafi@scs-net.org.

Dr. Saeed Khurasani DG of VET Ministry of Education E dadwar@gmail.com