AMMAN -- The Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) got the green light to expand its scope of education to offer training at the technician level.
To date, the VTC's mandate has allowed it to offer training programmes only at the semi-skilled, skilled and professional levels on a scale of five levels.
Training technicians was the preserve of community colleges, but these institutions opted for less costly academic programmes more in demand and that attract students by offering them the possibility of later transferring to universities, VTC Director General Ziad Matarneh said at a press conference on Saturday.
The corporation has been lobbying for the past few years to expand its mandate to fill this gap. Matarneh said the deficit in technicians has left the local labour market in dire need in almost all trades, with such vacancies being filled by guest workers.
He told reporters that the executive committee of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training agreed to the VTC's proposal to provide training at the technician level two weeks ago.
The committee forwarded its recommendation to the council, which is chaired by the prime minister. Its members include seven ministers and representatives of the private sector, in addition to the VTC and other institutions.
Critics have accused this policy-making body of lacking a clear vision for the future of vocational and technical training at a time when there are thousands of job openings as a result of large-scale investment projects in the country.
These include at least 20,000 jobs in Aqaba tourism projects in the next three to five years. These projects, senior executives at the investing companies have announced, need technicians and semi-skilled workers during construction and hospitality workers to staff hotels, restaurants and other facilities in the Red Sea resort.
According to Matarneh, if the expansion plan proceeds, vocational training in the country will be boosted. Matarneh said one of the negative aspects in the status quo of vocational training is that only students with the lowest academic achievements (many of them virtually illiterate although they finished 10th grade) are the ones who accept to train at one of the VTC's 60 centres.
When students know for sure there is a chance to move to the technician level and get a diploma, with a possibility of bridging at one of the country's technical universities and becoming specialists, demand on VTC training will increase and quality of applicants will improve.
Last year, around 9,400 young men and women enrolled in the VTC regular training programmes, while 6,300 in this category completed their two-year training.
Meanwhile, the corporation offered short-term programmes to upgrade the skills of employees in the public and private sectors from Jordan and Arab countries. In total, the number of participants stood at around 6,300 last year.
During the year, the VTC also expanded its network of partners to include thousands of employers, hundreds of local NGOs and dozens of institutions in Arab countries and the world.
By Mahmoud Al Abed
© Jordan Times 2006
