AMMAN - The Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) is on the brink of a makeover that is likely to eliminate a "negative image" associated with the three-decade-old agency, VTC Director General Majed Habashneh said on Monday.
The reinvigoration strategy, he said, consists of "slow and fast track" parallel plans envisioned to transform the largest vocational training institution into a financially and administratively independent organisation overseen by a board, 60 per cent of which will comprise private sector representatives.
"There is a political will to restructure the corporation," Habashneh said in an interview with The Jordan Times, explaining that efforts are under way to make the necessary changes to the law governing the agency's work.
"We will be working from the civil service system and will decentralise the operations of the 46 centres which comprise our network," the VTC chief said.
Bureaucratic hurdles inherent in the current system are impeding the progress of the institution, which is facing difficulty keeping up with the fast-paced changes in the labour market, he said.
"For example, I have a memo from one director of a VTC training centre in Irbid asking for permission to buy raw materials for his centre worth just JD500. We have to go through a complicated process to obtain the approval as required by the system. It will take a long time and trainees might drop out before the training even begins," Habashneh said.
Once the changes are in place, the same director will have the authority to make the order himself, even independently from the VTC headquarters, Habashneh said, adding that such flexibility will ensure smooth operations.
The makeover will also address the migration of qualified personnel, according to the VTC chief.
"We at the VTC have very qualified trainers who are unfortunately paid peanuts. How can I retain a good trainer when his salary is only JD250, at a time when he is offered a multiple of that in the Gulf countries?"
In its new form, the VTC will have an independent salary scale that will help retain training teams, he said, which is essential for the implementation of the plans designed to reintroduce the agency to the local community and the business world with promises to provide a better product.
The slow track restructuring process, which involves a set time frame, is supported by the World Bank, he noted.
But pending the realisation of the major changes, the VTC is working on short-term plans to engage the private sector in its efforts.
Yesterday, the VTC signed an agreement with the Furniture Manufacturers and Exporters Association, under which the agency will be training labour force needed to staff the Kingdom's furniture factories.
A similar agreement has been concluded with LG, under which 1,500 Jordanian youths will be trained on specified skills needed by the company. A focus is now being placed on demand-driven training, said Habashneh, whose agency offered vocational training to 14,500 persons during 2008, of whom 6,000 are still receiving training.
The VTC is also struggling to attract trainees amid competition where the agency is the underdog. Students who join the training programmes have to pay tuition fees, albeit minimal, while other training organisations, such as the army-run National Centre for Employment, offer trainees allowances during training, Habashneh noted.
He also admitted that for the past three decades, the VTC has been the destination of low-achievers in school. One way to attract better-quality students is through offering excelling trainees the choice to join higher education institutions.
The current system only allows the VTC to train limited-skilled workers, skilled workers and craftsmen.
"I wish we could have an open system... what the labour market needs more now is the fourth level of trained personnel: technicians, who were supposed to be the product of community colleges that failed to accomplish their mission. We can handle that," Habashneh said.
By Mahmoud Al Abed
© Jordan Times 2008
