Vocational training meets the demand of the job market in the industrial sector and decreases unemployment

At a time when unemployment is increasing amongst university graduates, industrial institutions are facing a shortage in skilled labor.  This has been the case for several years and prompted the IECD as well as Scheinder Electric to kick off the “Seeds of hope” project in 2007, aiming at strengthening the mainstreaming of young people with technical degrees in the job market and in accordance with their skills.  The project is funded by the International Organisation of the Francophony in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Industry and in partnership with the directorate general of vocational and technical training, and had been implemented initially in three private VT schools but now expanded to reach 12 technical schools located in various parts of Lebanon.
Within the same vein, the Al- Nahar newspaper published an interview with the project's technical expert, David Shabab, in which he clarified that electrical engineering is a profession that has possibilities for several employment opportunities.  As such, and after several consultations with experts, a new electronics baccalaureate was introduced in order to meet market demands.  He also noted that the Lebanese job markets needs skilled technicians especially since students tend to choose academy over vocational training.  He added that there are currently 10,000 job opportunities in the industrial sector according to the statistics of the Association of Industrialists for 2014 as well as the study of the Ministry of Industry conducted in 2007, noting that this shows that there is a crisis in terms of enrollment in technical schools because of lack of awareness and orientation. Shabab further stated that according to the IECD statistics, 14% of baccalaureate graduates from technical schools entered the job market without training.  This figure increased to 55% after undergoing training in private companies and to 83% upon completion of electronics baccalaureate accompanied by professional counseling.
Source: Al-Nahar 25 November 2014