Public Private Partnership in the Arab States

TVET experts from the Arab States visited the Mubarak-Kohl-Initiative and the National Skill Standards Project in Cairo, Egypt, 10-14 December 2006. The goal of the study tour was to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practice examples in public private partnership (PPP) in TVET among institutes and stakeholders in the Arab region.

The participants in the tour represented UNEVOC Centres in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Syria and Tunisia. They observed and debated the practical modalities of implementing PPP and identified strengths and weaknesses of as well as obstacles and barriers to PPP initiatives. They also developed recommendations that serve as a tool to guide the formulation and implementation of such initiatives in the participants’ home countries. It is expected that the impact of the visit will enhance implementation of the PPP in the Arab region. As a follow-up to the study tour, the participants will share their newly acquired knowledge within their countries through national dissemination seminars.

The study tour was organised by UNESCO-UNEVOC, in cooperation with the UNESCO Offices in Cairo and Beirut.

Background

Around the world, many countries currently face the challenge of further developing and overhauling their TVET systems to meet trade and industry requirements for qualified labour and the population’s need for skills and qualifications that are relevant to employment. TVET systems in many Arab States are in need of a reform to overcome the mismatch between TVET output and the demands of the labour market. One strategy to address this issue is to foster the involvement of stakeholders from the public and private sectors in the various aspects of TVET.

This was also a topic at the 2nd G8/BMENA Meeting of Ministers of Education in Sharm-el-Sheikh, 23-24 May 2006, At this meeting, the participants agreed to “emphasise the role of public private partnerships (PPP) and stakeholder participation in all aspects of a sector wide reform the education sector”.

National Skill Standards Project (NSSP)

The National Skill Standards Project (NSSP) works in partnership with employers’ organisations on the development of a national skill standards scheme, job descriptions, curricula, learning material, testing and accreditation requirements in Egypt.

Mubarak-Kohl Initiative

The Mubarak-Kohl Initiative applies a customized version of the German Dual System. It involves the business community in planning, implementing, evaluating and accrediting TVET in Egypt.

Documents

Report of the Study Tour

Links

Mubarak-Kohl-Initiative