Under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Khaled Toukan, Minster of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched today, the final report of “Assessment of Gaps between Knowledge Skills Acquired through Higher Education and Labor Market Demands in Jordan”.
 

The Report is part of the “Higher Education and Labor Market” project which is funded by UNDP’s Arab Human Development Report Trust Fund and is implemented by the MoHESR in cooperation with UNDP. 

The project addresses one of the contributing factors to unemployment in Jordan, namely, the mismatch between qualifications acquired through the higher education system and those required by the labor market.   This is especially important for the country as more than half of its population are less than 25 years of age, with an already 23% of University graduates currently unemployed.

In response to the above, the project contracted a local consulting company to carry out a study to assess the skills and knowledge acquired by graduates of universities in Information Technology and Business Administration on one hand, and the present and future trends in labour market demands on the other hand. 

The project organized a national workshop which included 200 specialists in employment services, training and human resource management, private, public sector and universities’ representatives as well as students’ representatives. The participants discussed the possible development of Employment Support Services (ESS) to be institutionalized within the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. 

The outcome of the workshop was a consensus among all participants on a variety of themes, which were believed to be most critical for the development of ESS for Higher Education. Vision was built on the following themes: Government, ESS Management and Organization and Higher Education and Labor Market. Participants generated key strategies and initial ideas for actions which could be considered in realizing the common ground. The results of this workshop were instrumental in the formulation of a policy paper on institutionalizing the provision of ESS into the Higher Education sector.

Based on the workshop outcomes and recommendations of the pilot assessment study the project was able to make policy recommendations to assist MoHESR in developing a higher education reform strategy to ensure that students graduate with relevant qualifications, to meet present and future labor market requirements of a knowledge-based economy

The project also proposed establishing a specialized Unit within the MoHESR in order to institutionalize the assessment process which will be done at periodic intervals to ensure that university programmes are updated in line with labour-market trends.  The Unit will play a central role in introducing and regulating the ESS within universities.

The Ceremony in Jordan included speeches by H.E. Dr. Khaled Toukan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Ms. Mona Hider, UNDP Resident Representative. a.i, as well as a presentation of the report.