Joint Report, November 06, 2022
Under the auspices of the Higher Education Minister Prof. Nouraldin Abualrob, Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie organized the closing ceremony of the “Development of TVET Pedagogical Competencies in Palestinian Universities “TVETCQ,” which has been led by Kadoorie University for four years in partnership with a number of Palestinian and European universities.
The ceremony was presented in presence of the Representative of the Higher Education Minister, Dr. Basri Saleh, Kadoorie President, Prof. Nouraldin Abualrob, the Director of the Erasmus+ Office in Palestine, Dr. Abdulkarim Daraghmah, and the European Union Representative, Dr. Jacob Arts, GIZ representatives, and the Palestinian project-partner universities.
In this context, Dr. Saleh stressed the Ministry’s keenness to deepen the cooperative relationships and partnerships between the private sector and higher education institutions, which will reduce unemployment rates and motivate Palestinian skilled professionals to innovate and create new business opportunities.
He pointed to the significant role of Kadoorie University in honing the students’ skills through its academic, vocational, and technical programs, and in developing the Palestinian higher education system in parallel support by the European Union and the GIZ, indicating the critical priority of the Ministry to support and develop the technical education and generally raise the status of the Palestinian higher education.
for his part, Prof. Abualrob welcomed the audience thanking the European Union, Erasmus+, and the project coordinator and partners, for their effective participation through the exchange of expertise and fruitful cooperation which contributed to building the higher education capacities and improving the pedagogical ones in different fields of vocational and technical education and training. “This has reflected positively on the outcomes of the academic staff in the higher education institutions and the labor market,” he said, “and the university will keep supporting the next initiatives in international projects throughout its leadership or participation,” University President affirmed.
Additionally, Dr. Abualrob also explained that the university has built partnerships with Palestinian universities including Palestine Polytechnic University, An-Najah National University, Al-Quds University, and Arab American University, as well as European universities including the Technical University of Berlin, the University of Applied Studies in Germany, Lile University and Medlink Association in France and the EVBB in Belgium to expand the university’s higher education capacities to be more modern and innovative, mainly in technical and vocational education and training.
For her part, the Project Leader, Dr. Nuha Iter thanked all the project’s partners and supporters from the European Union and Erasmus+ program who expressed deep cooperation that led positively to the success of the project’s goals and objectives as well as serving the Palestinian and international vocational and technical education.
Dr. Iter presented the project’s outcomes which meet the needs of the teaching faculty staff in the universities and the Palestinian labor market.
The Erasmus+ Director in Palestine, Dr. Daraghmah expressed his pleasure in being present in one of the most significant Erasmus+ projects in the field of higher education particularly in vocational and technical education and training as it had a clear role in building the capacities of the educational sector and in developing the vocational and technical curricula in Palestine.
He also explained that TVETCQ has provided Palestinian universities with opportunities to exchange experiences and expertise in TVET education and training, by equipping the graduates with marketable skills and the potential paths for self-employment.
The closing ceremony came in a series of two consecutive days. The first day included specialized sessions that had several topics on general outcomes of the project, fourth package outcomes (students’ graduation projects), fifth work package (vocational training programs), sixth work package (curricula development), and discussion on the project’s outcomes and ways of benefits at the national level.
The second session included dialogues on European models about TVET’s certificates, capacities, and qualifications, a dialogue between government representatives and the project team, and a summary of the dialogue session and recommendations.
The third session’s content was about the explanation of posters as well as a round tour of a posters’ show.
The second day of the ceremony had two sessions; the first was about evaluating the project and positive reflections and feedback, while the second session had proposing measures that included project sustainability and putting forward proposals for new projects based on the project’s outcomes.
