Jordan Labor Watch
A research paper prepared by Phenix Center for Economic studies earlier this year, titled "Expansion in Vocational and Technical Education and Training in Jordan", confirmed that vocational training centers will be adversely affected in the long term by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The paper found that the Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) has been adversely impacted by the socio-economic repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic, particularly due to poor quality of education, lack of resources and poor infrastructure. The paper noted that there is a lack of a database of students’ specializations, and that students are not provided with information on the labor market and its needs.
The study showed that programs within vocational training centres are often designed to target male students. Women are often stereotyped in Jordanian culture as being less qualified than their male counterparts. These combined factors impede women’s desire to participate in vocational and technical training programmes. The paper recommended that the general infrastructure of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) must be strengthened, by providing vocational schools with suitable and modernized facilities, equipment and laboratories. The paper also recommended that more funds and investments be allocated to vocational schools, in order to equip students with the technical skills required by the labour market.
The paper stressed that the development of a national database on available, accessible, accessible and continuously accessible employment opportunities is an important aspect of supporting youth in their academic and professional choice. It also recommended strengthening gender participation in vocational training and the labour market, developing and implementing more gender-sensitive policies at all workplaces, and developing training programmes that would attract more women applicants.