Indeed, Triodos Facet is still working together with VETA, and in particular the Morogoro Vocational Teachers Training College (MVTTC), in promoting entrepreneurship among youth in vocational training.

In the first 4 years of the project, we developed a tailor-made Entrepreneurship curriculum for VETA in English and Swahili, including a Teachers manual and Trainees handbook. We also used some elements of KAB, as well as the ILO business game. In the current 4-year project, we are upscaling the implementation of the curriculum to 120 VTCs nationwide. Please also find our newsletter attached with more information.

We are also collaborating with ILO-YEF. The YEF coorindator for Tanzania is a member of our consultative committee, and we are also represented in YEF´s national advisory committee.

Read the Newsletter to find out more!

This report is an attempt to report back on the major findings from 8 tracer studies that were carried out in 8 countries under an SDC funded project, as well as provide some insights on lessons learned and recommendations on the tools and process used to carry out these assessments. This is to help future similar initiatives in KAB and other entrepreneurship education programmes. The key question was to find out what happened to KAB participants 2 or 3 years after graduation and how does their school-to-work transition and current employment situation compare to peers who did not take the course. The research project however did not look more into detail at the impact the programme had had on their first beneficiaries, i.e. the trainers and teachers trained.

Under the framework of the Skills Development Project, a second KAB pilot phase was implemented in 7 vocational training centres in various regions in South Lebanon. Following the success of the first Business plan competition that was held in July 2010, KAB participants were encouraged to submit a business plan to be viewed and assessed by a jury on 13 and 14 January 2011.

59 business plans were submitted of which 15 were chosen to present their business plans in front of the jury. There were 4 in-kind prizes of which a 1^st prize amounting to 1000$, a 2^nd prize amounting to 750$, a 3^rd prize of 500$ and a 4^th prize of 250$. As there were business plans presented by very young students, honorary prizes were awarded to 3 students with outstanding business plans.

The winners were presented with certificates and their respective prizes during a graduation ceremony that was held in Nabatieh on the 29^th of March 2011.

Attached are some photos of the event and the winners.

Under the framework of the Skills Development Project, a KAB pilot phase was implemented in 7 vocational training centres in various regions in South Lebanon. At the end of the KAB course, participants were encouraged to submit a business plan to be viewed and assessed by a jury.

50 business plans were submitted of which 12 were chosen to present their business plans in front of the jury. There were 11 in-kind prizes of which a 1^st prize amounting to 1000$, a 2^nd prize amounting to 750$, a 3^rd prize of 500$, a 4^th prize of 250$ and a 200$ prize for a business plan from each school (a total of 7). As this competition encouraged students to attend KAB till the end and present a business plan it was decided to be replicated in the second phase of the pilot.

The winners were presented with certificates and their respective prizes during a graduation ceremony that was held in Saida on the 8^th of July 2010.

Attached are some photos of the event and the winners.

The expansion of KAB in schools and intermediate institutes during FY09/10 & 10/11was successfully completed and has equipped 16-19 year olds with entrepreneurship skills. This was achieved through: the monitoring of the programme implementation in selected schools; following up with Ministry coordinators; regular visits to the educational institutions and the provision of support to teachers. The programme successfully achieved the last expansion phase to cover 14 governorates all over Syria. 100% of schools and institutes have been covered in: Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Lattakia and Deir El Zour, while the remaining 9 governorates started to implement the programme in some schools and institutes. KAB is now being implemented at the university level in various faculties of 5 universities.

In order to successfully complete the expansion phase the following was achieved:

2009-2010:

13 ToTs were conducted for the Ministry of Education to train 374 teachers

3 ToTs were conducted for the Ministry of Higher Education to train 75 teachers

2010-2011:

6 ToTs were conducted for the Ministry of Education to train 185 teachers

3 ToTs were conducted for the Ministry of Higher Education to train 69 teachers

Achievements:

The programme is being implemented all over Syria and is ready to be handed over to the Ministry of Education. This objective was achieved based on the good preparation of the pilot phase and the expansion phase during 4 years. The good relationship with the ministry and its engagement in all programme issues from the onset was essential.

Expansion to Universities:

Due to the success of the programme in the last semester, the Ministry of Higher Education and SHABAB have expressed their willingness to expand the programme to cover all faculties across Syria. SHABAB is currently training the teachers who will be delivering KAB in universities, evaluating the implementation and conducting regular monitoring visits. The same KAB package is being used but university lecturers and professors are given the freedom to modify the package and integrate new information.

Lessons learned:

• Engaging the Ministry throughout the project life builds a sense of ownership.
• Maintaining a good relationship with stakeholders.
• In order to maintain the quality of the programme, incentives should be given to the teachers.
• Nominations of KAB teachers should be based on specific criteria set to ensure quality in delivery.
• Ensuring the availability of training facilities that suit the interactive teaching methods of the programme.
• Ensuring the availability of visual aids and stationary.
• Number of students in each training hall should not exceed 25-30
• Strict procedures should be taken to monitor the students' attendance in institutes and industrial schools (close collaboration with schools’ management).
• With respect to universities, a fixed timetable for the KAB course should be set before the beginning of the academic year. Students can arrange their time according to this schedule.

Outlook:

SHABAB will continue the nationalization process of the KAB programme by building the capacity of the KAB Unit at the Ministry of Education.

SHABAB will also continue the implementation of the programme with the Ministry of Higher Education and will be responsible for the quality of implementation.

Below are 3 tables illustrating the number of KAB beneficiaries and institutions that implemented the KAB Programme from 2006 to date and the number of TOTs conducted.

Under the Framework of the Skills Development, Employment Services and Local Economic Recovery for the Construction Sector in South Lebanon a Graduation Ceremony was held on the 29^th of March 2011in Nabatieh.

Within the ceremony, 10 teachers were certified as KAB National Facilitators.

This comes after their successful delivery of KAB to students during the pilot phase in various vocational training centers in South Lebanon under the supervision of Rania Bikhazi, KAB International Key Facilitator and Enterprise Development Specialist at the ILO Regional Office for Arab States.

Attached are some graduation photos.

The first KAB National Key Facilitator workshop in the Arab Region was held in Erbil, Iraq at the Information Technology Academy.

The workshop was attended by 22 teachers (3 women and 19 men) and was delivered by Samih Jaber, KAB Regional Key Facilitator and Rania Bikhazi, KAB International Key Facilitator and Enterprise Development Specialist at ILO Regional Office for Arab States.

Given the specificity of the Iraq context making it impossible for the ILO to monitor the delivery of teachers in the classroom, 2 written exams were administered in the workshop. The first test examined the technical knowledge and the second assessed the teachers' ability to conduct properly the KAB games.

Attached are some workshop photos.

A KAB ToT workshop was held in Aden Yemen at the Mercure Hotel from January 23 till February 2,  2011.

The ToT was delivered by Mr. Ahmed Abdulbary, KAB Regional Key Facilitator and was co-facilitated by Mr. Wael Ghosn, KAB National Facilitator (Lebanon) under the overall supervision of Rania Bikhazi, KAB International Key Facilitator and Enterprise Development Specialist at the ILO Regional Office for Arab States.

The Workshop included 27 participants of which 13 were women which provided a gender balanced environment. The workshop evaluation showed that the training exceeded the particpants expectations and introduced them to various participatory approach techniques.

Attached are some workshop photos.