A strategic vision for,Qualification of trained labor dealing with modern technology [Archives:2004/761/Business & Economy]

Mahyoub Al-Kamaly
The ministry of technical education and vocational training has worked out a strategic perception for qualification of Yemeni labour and making it acquire skills of knowledge according to a timetable extending to 2012 and during which 15 thousand technicians and vocationally trained labour are to be graduating annually rating a proportion of 15% of outputs of university, secondary and basic education.
The plane aims at engaging the private sector and vocational training fund for implementation of technical and vocational training programs. The goal is to achieve equality of opportunities for national labour and to destroy unemployment on the labour market, providing opportunity for the working Yemeni woman for training and joining available jobs for her in various areas with government and private sector institutions.
The ministry works for building 137 technical centers and institutes during the period extending to the end of the ongoing second 5-year plan due to expire in December 205. The centers and institutes are distributed over the country's governorates to accommodate around 32864 students from both sexes from the basic education graduates, 17 thousand of whom from institutes of vocational training after the stage of basic education and 8000 from graduates of technical institutes and colleges after secondary stage education.

Preparing specialized labour
Specialties of technical education and vocational training focus on industrial, agricultural, trade and technical fields, all of which deal with modern technology, information technology and electronic machines. This means keeping pace with the labour market needs and opportunities available with government and private sectors and in meeting with requirements of investors for skilled labour. Therefore the strategic scheme has oriented its attention to let trainees acquire modern scientific skills for the aim of obliterating knowledge illiteracy which is spread among the national labour.

Development of education curricula & training programs
The national strategic perception in this area of the ministry included a plan for developing curricula of technical education and vocational training to meet needs of labour market through modernization of infrastructure of educational and training institutes and centers by further qualification of the human cadres supervising qualification processes. According to this trend he ministry of technical education and vocational training has worked for rebuilding curricula through combining theoretical education and applied education to enable the student to choose specialty in one field such as mechanics, general branches of electricity and other fields.
To achieve those goals aspired for from developing curricula and training programs, the ministry has engaged the private sector and employers in amending curricula and setting up future plans aimed at qualification of the national labour.

Opportunities special for woman
Due to the low level of woman participation in the labour market and concentration of her activity in agricultural farms, the plan is keen on having the woman present at programs of technical qualification and vocational training to make her able to join labour market. The ministry has for this purpose given attention to involve the woman in training courses in important fields, such as food industries, household management, running small projects, embroidery and sewing and many other handicrafts to contribute to improvement of family income and take part in advancing development process and reduce average of unemployment among women.
The strategic perception of technical education and vocational training has its future plans for realization of balance between outputs of education in general and requirements of the labour market in a manner leading to raising the proportion of outputs of technical education from 3 out of one thousand of the total national labour to 15% until the year 2012. The plan also intends to improve quality of production and develop its fields as well as active contribution to implementation of investment projects, meeting requirements and needs of the private sector and investors for skilled labour, in addition to equality of opportunities among trained workers.
To sum it up, this plan is considered a forward step for upgrading conditions of the national labour according to scientific means and studied training programs that would work for preparing skilled labour handling modern technology and using it in its work with success provided this plan is well implemented.
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