4-5 September 2012: Amman, Jordan

Under the framework of the ILO/KAB project in Yemen and the decision of the MTEVT to nationalize the KAB programme in Yemen, a 2 day adaptation workshop was facilitated by the ILO-RO SME Specialist and an ILO KAB Regional Key Facilitator in the presence of a Yemeni delegation/programme review committee which included:

• Mr. Abdelqader Al Olabi, Deputy Minister for Curricula & Continuous Education
• Mr. Ali Hamoud Taher, Director of Curricula & Continuous Education
• Mr. Abdelhakim Hashem Ahmad, Supervisor
• Mr. Ayman Ghanem, KAB national facilitator
• Mr. Sami Othman Salam, KAB national facilitator

The objective of the workshop was to customize the generic Arabic KAB version to the socio-economic and cultural context of Yemen based on the comments of the committee. Additions of new topics related to Decent Work, Social Security and Green Enterprises were also made.

The 2 days adaptation workshop was successful, most of the changes requested by the Yemeni review committee were approved by the ILO and it was agreed to introduce the new added topics to the trainers in the up-coming National Key Facilitator workshop (NKF) scheduled to be held sometime in November in Sana’a. As a result of the NKF workshop, a number of potential Yemeni NKFs will be selected to conduct 4 TOFs under the ILO/SMEPS project before the end of the year. This comes as a result of the MTEVT request that needs an additional 100 KAB teachers to complete the nationalization process of the programme.

Under the framework of the Entrepreneurial Learning project, 2 KAB Training of Facilitators Workshops were jointly held by the ETF, UNESCO and ILO to train teachers coming from vocational education and general education on the delivery of KAB in classrooms. Both workshops were held at the Padova Hotel in Lebanon and the opening ceremony of both workshops was attended by Mr. Soubhi Abou Chahine, Advisor to the Minister of Education and Higher Education in Lebanon; Ms. Rania Bikhazi, Enterprise Development Specialist, ILO Regional Office for Arab states; Mr. Abdelaziz Jouani, Specialist in Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Skills-Country Manager, ETF; Mr. Oussama Ghneim,CERD,Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Lebanon; and Mr. Sulieman Sulieman, Programme Specialist, Technical and Vocational Education, UNESCO.

The first workshop workshop that targeted general education teachers, was facilitated by Mr. Samih Jaber, KAB Regional Key Facilitator. The workshop was held from August 27 till September 1st, 2012 and was a mixture of the first 4 KAB modules and material from the economics curriculum taught in classes. As it is the first time KAB material is piloted in general education in the Arab region, this experience will be highly informative and beneficial and will be a stepping stone for the integration of KAB in general education. The workshop was attended by 22 teachers (both men and women) and 5 supervisors from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education who will later be monitoring the delivery of KAB in classrooms during the 2012-2013 academic year.

The second workshop that targeted vocational education teachers, was facilitated by Mr. Wael Ghosn and Mr. Ahmed Abdulbary, KAB Regional Key Facilitators from Lebanon and Yemen respectively. The workshop was held from August 27 till September 7, 2012 and was attended by 25 teachers (men and women) and 3 supervisors who will be monitoring the delivery of KAB in classrooms during the 2012-2013 academic year.

During the training workshops teachers were exposed to KAB's participatory teaching techniques and learned to implement them by delivering micro teaching sessions. Teachers also got to play all KAB Games and were handed a KAB Games Guide that  was compiled for the Arab region to ensure game techniques and lessons learned are standardized across the region. Teachers were also given a brief introduction on the decent work and green topics that will be added in the 2013 KAB Arabic package.

After finally having attended a KAB Trainig of Facilitators' Workshop I can say it is an amazing experience which creates a unique KAB Family over a 1-2 week period. KAB Key Facilitators and teachers alike learn from each other and develop their business and training skills in a friendly and fun atmosphere.

Since pictures speak louder than words, you can check out the interactive and fun atmosphere the teachers from Lebanon lived over 1-2 weeks in the attached photos.

ILO and the Welfare Association sign a partnership agreement to promote entrepreneurship education in the oPt.

The Welfare Association (WA) signed, on Thursday July 12^th, a partnership agreement with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in its headquarter in Ramallah, in the aim to support the nationalization  of the ILO entrepreneurship education package ‘’ Know About Business ‘’ in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The agreement was signed by the Director General of WA in Palestine, Dr. Tafida Al Jarbawi, and by the ILO country representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, Mr. Mounir Kleibo. The event was attended by officials from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Labour.

Dr. Al Jarbawi pointed out the importance of youth employment and youth education both representing priority areas of intervention for the WA. A total of USD 17 million was allocated to implement youth employment projects and to support young entrepreneurs in the establishment of their small businesses and thus create job opportunities. The latter contributed to the creation of hundreds of job opportunities for new graduates coming from vocational training and academic backgrounds; in addition, tens of small enterprises were established and have helped entrepreneurs generate income to support their families in different regions.

Dr. Al Jarbawi confirmed the importance of the ILO  initiative to nationalize the "Know About Business" Programme  in the occupied Palestinian territory and the extent of its contribution to support vocational education, develop the entrepreneurial skills of graduates, and strengthen the link between the education system and the labour market.

Mr. Mounir Kleibo thanked the WA for its financial contribution to the KAB project and reiterated ILO’s strong commitment to promote decent and productive work in Palestine while focusing on women and youth.

A press release by the Al Ayyam newspaper can be accessed on the following link: http://www.al-ayyam.com/article.aspx?did=195334&date

The International Training Centre or the ILO in Turin will held an international training of trainers forum from 12th to 23rd of November 2012.

It comprises a 1) three days generic training of trainers and 2) seven days specialist training of trainers concerning ILO training packages on aspects of entrepreneur and enterprise development - including KAB, My COOP, Value-Chain Development, Gender Strategies for Value Chain Development, Women’s Entrepreneurship Development - Capacity Development Programme.

A KAB Follow-up Workshop was held at the BDC offices in Amman from 8 to 13 October 2011. 24 facilitator attended from NCET the workshop that was delivered by Ms. Dania Achi and Mr. Ahmed Abdulbari, KAB Regional Key Facilitators.

The workshop was held after the end of the first KAB sessions in which 189 students participated at the National Company for Employment and Training. KAB teachers shared delivery experiences and discussed challenges faced during implementation. Ms. Achi and Mr. Abdulbary reviewed the delivery techniques of the KAB teachers and came up with  recommendations to expand KAB's outreach at the NCET.

An evaluation of the KAB project Phase I in Palestine was done by Mr. Chris Weinmann accompanied by Ms. Rania Bikhazi, Enterprise Development Specialist.

The evaluation started in Amman where a meeting was held with the KAB Regional Key Facilitator, Mr. Samih Jaber, who was the lead expert working on the KAB project. Mr. Jaber gave a detailed presentation of the activities he conducted under the project namely the TOFs, refresher courses, and the NKF workshop. He also clarified the specificities of the teachers’ certification process in Palestine which included attending the NKF workshop, a written test on the KAB content and the delivery of a full TOF under ILO monitoring.

Over 3 days, Mr. Weinmann and Ms. Bikhazi held meetings with the MoL and the MoEHE. They met with the Minister of Labour who spoke highly of the KAB programme as a means to bridge the gap between vocational education and the labour market needs. Follow-up meetings were held with the National KAB Coordinator Mr. Abdullah Al Silawi and the 5 recently certified KAB National Key Facilitators (NKFs).

The NKFs highlighted the need to review the pre and post tests of the KAB programme, simplify it and train the teachers on how to analyze the results. They also focused on the need to provide KAB teachers with incentives in order to motivate them and keep up their enthusiasm.

A meeting was held with the Director General of Technical Education at the MoEHE who also expressed the Ministry’s full support of the programme which will be rolled out nationally starting January 2011. He also stressed on the need to involve the administration and principals of schools and colleges to ensure full understanding of the programme and the provision of the needed support to the teachers.

A long meeting was held with the National KAB Coordinator under the MoEHE and 5 out of the 8 potential NKFs. The latter raised a number of issues namely:

• · Who can assess the business plans submitted by students?
• · Analysis of the pre and post questionnaires
• · Who will assess the KAB impact once the MoEHE will nationalize?
• · Incentives for teachers and NKFs who will train other teachers.

A number of success stories were presented to the evaluators such as newly opened coffee shops, furniture shops and car mechanics especially in the Hebron area.

Mr. Weinmann also held additional meetings with UNDP, DFID to get to know the portfolio of private sector and SME development initiatives in Palestine along with a meeting with the previous KAB coordinator.

A KAB Training of Facilitators' workshop (ToF) was held at the Riyadh College of Telecommunication and Information in the presence of 28 males participants ((24 teachers, 1 KAB national coordinator from RIYADAH and 3 supervisors).

The workshop was launched by the newly appointed CEO of RIYADAH, Dr. Sherif Elabdelwahab, who stressed on the need to promote self-employment as career option among Saudi youth (men and women) and be able, through RIYADAH, to reach those who are part of the educational system and those who graduated from the system and remain without jobs. A short opening speech was made by the Enterprise Development Specialist highlighting the importance of entrepreneurship education for youth and the role of the ILO/RO-Beirut in the region in that field.

The TOF was held from 19 November till 01 December 2011 and was facilitated by Mr. Samih Jaber, ILO KAB Regional Key Facilitator, and Mr. Wael Ghosn, KAB Regional Key Facilitator. 

Under the framework of the Entrepreneurial Learning project, a KAB Awareness Raising Workshop was jointly held by the European Training Foundation (ETF), UNESCO and ILO to raise awareness on entrepreneurship education and the ILO Know About Business programme amongst policymakers, government officials and senior educators in Lebanon.

The Workshop was facilitated by Mr. Samih Jaber, KAB Regional Key Facilitator in the presence of the Enterprise Development Specialist Ms. Rania Bikhazi. Workshop participants included the Advisor to the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Director General of General Education, Vocational Training and General Education School directors, and other government officials.

Preparing youth for self-employment and enterprise development is key to national education efforts in Arab countries. The workshop introduced participants to the ILO Know About Business programme, its objectives, implementation methodology and sustainability strategy. Participants drafted and endorsed a detailed work plan for the implementation of KAB in Lebanon during the 2012-2013 academic year.