The Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is organizing today a one-day workshop to discuss and suggest possible programmes and support services to assist university graduates in finding employment opportunities.
This workshop is part of a project “Assessment of Gaps between Knowledge/Skills Acquired through Higher Education and Labor Market Demands” that is implemented by the Ministry in cooperation with UNDP.
The project, which is funded by UNDP’s Arab Human Development Trust Fund, 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.
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 consultants are also assessing the low participation of women in labour market force.
The 200 workshop participants include specialists in employment services, training and human resource management, private, public sector and universities’ representatives as well as students’ representatives. The participants will discuss the possible development of Employment Support Services (ESS) to be institutionalized within the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. The programmes and services could involve partnerships and employment agreements with public and private institutions, regular training programmes for graduates and the hiring organization; business development services; access to micro finance programmes and others activities.
Based on the study and the workshop outcomes, the project will make policy recommendations to assist the Ministry in developing a higher education reform strategy, that is gender sensitive, in order to ensure that students graduate with relevant qualifications, conducive to critical thinking in order to meet present and future labour market requirements of a knowledge-based economy.
The project also proposes establishing a specialized Unit within the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research 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.