UNESCO and the EU strengthen links between public and private sectors in Basra
UNESCO and the EU strengthen links between public and private sectors in Basra
UNESCO works to strengthen links between the public and private sectors under “Reviving Mosul and Basra Old Cities” project, funded by European Union.
The project aims at facilitating Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) mechanisms between the Vocational Centers in Basra and the private Construction sector for improvement of high quality vocational education and training, to facilitate the establishment of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism/platform.
As of today, 66 cooperation and partnership agreements for five years have been signed between the Vocational Training Centers in Basra and companies/employers.
The Chief of Education Unit, Santosh Khatri, highlighted the importance of TVET, PPPs for the development of a high quality vocational education and training, because they foster regular communication between employers and TVET providers. Such communication is critical in TVET practice because on one hand, it enables TVET providers to learn more about the skills demanded by the employers, and on the other hand, it allows the employers to have an input in the curricula of TVET, in addition, it gives them a recruiting tool to employ skilled workers.
The Chief of Culture Unit, Junaid Sorosh-Wali, praised the excellent work done by DoLSA and the vocational training facilities in training 302 young unemployed Basra residents and giving them the construction skills that is required to help restore Basra’s historic homes.
UNESCO Project Officer, Bilal Al Hamaydah, emphasized that UNESCO is supporting the Vocational Training Centre in Basra to develop and implement a business linkage programme between the Centers and the employers from the construction sector. The programme will create links to the Public and Private Partnership guide for TVET that was developed under the TVET Reform and the rapid assessment of the local construction sector for Iraq.