UNESCO delivers tablets to the Department of Labour and Vocational Training of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs as part of the TVET Reform Project – Iraq

UNESCO Iraq Office delivered 40 tablets to the Department of Labour and Vocational Training of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), as part of the activities of the TVET reform project in Iraq. This step raises the level of cooperation between UNESCO and MoLSA in the field of education and training, as it was agreed to deliver these devices to the 38 Vocational Training Centers (VTCs) across all the governorates of Iraq for the purpose of using these devices in education and training for students. These tablets contain the curricula developed in cooperation with the Ministry, in addition to the reports of the labour market needs survey, which were implemented during the project.

Mr. Raed Jabbar Bahedh expressed his sincere thanks to UNESCO for this cooperation, as he emphasized the extent of the benefit that the VTCs and trainees will obtain from these devices, stressing that this step will be a good initiative in resuming activities with UNESCO, as MoLSA and the VTCs need support from UNESCO in the field of training, especially at the present time and due to the repercussions of COVID, digital alternatives to textbooks are preferred. We hope that these curricula will be accessible to the trainees in an easy and smooth manner, and we are keen on further cooperation with continuous emphasis on the solid role that our institutions play in the training process and linking outputs to employment in various labour sectors.

UNESCO Project Officer Mr. Bilal Al-Hamaydah, confirmed that the content of these devices came as a result of the work that continued for four years in partnership with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and MoLSA, in both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), where the tablets for the project were prepared. These tablets contain the curricula that were developed in cooperation with MoLSA and were piloted within the Competency-Based Training program.  The curricula include household electrical installations, methods for maintaining home air conditioning devices, women’s hairdressing curricula, life skills and entrepreneurship).  In addition, the curricula that were developed within the project in the construction, hospitality and agriculture fields, as well as the 8 labour market assessment and skills analysis reports for Iraq and KRI., covering the economic sectors of wholesale and retail trade, vehicle maintenance and transportation, storage and manufacturing, information and communication technology, construction, hospitality and, agriculture.