In this edition of the APYouthNet Talk Show, Lyn Kok, President & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Thailand discusses the role and prospects of corporate banking in the field of microfinance, and its impact on youth employment.

Under the ILO/BDC project “Know About Business in the National Company for Employment and Training” and as part of the short-term KAB impact assessment, 7 focus group sessions were held from 4-7 March 2013 at the Business Development Center (BDC) in Amman, Jordan. The focus groups were held with the following participants:

1. Former students at the NCET who did not attend KAB classes

2. Former KAB students at the NCET who got employed

3. Former KAB students at the NCET who opened their own business

4. Former KAB students at the NCET who are unemployed

5. Employers of former KAB students at the NCET

6. Parents of former KAB students at the NCET

7. KAB Trainers at the NCET

The focus groups were facilitated by Alexandra Irani, ILO consultant, and co-facilitated by Ms. Farah Al-Azab as part of her capacity building process as a KAB Coordinator on an upcoming ILO/BDC project. The focus group participants were selected and contacted by the National Company for Employment and Training based on a selection criteria that was made available to them ahead of the focus group dates. Most focus groups included 8-12 participants; ranged between 1 to 2 hours and were video-taped for record keeping. The participants were informed of the confidentiality of the recordings and their consent was sought before proceeding with the recording.

Findings from all focus groups showed the following main points:

• KAB had a significant positive impact on students on a personal level and a business level. It helped increase their self-confidence and taught them how to think strategically, plan all activities they want to undertake and organize their time.
• Even KAB students who faced difficulties in finding a job or are still currently unemployed mentioned the positive impact KAB had on them.
• KAB students, trainers and parents all recommended providing financial linkages to students who complete their business plans and are ready to establish or grow their business.

Thanks to the continuous efforts of Mr. Mohammad Bin Yassin and Mr. Mohamad el Saoub, supervisors at the NCET; Mr. Alaa Abou Hajeh, KAB National Facilitator; Ms. Farah Al Azab, Ms. Hadeel Issa and Mr. Ghaleb Hijazi from BDC, the 7 focus groups were successfully held and the required information from the selected participants was obtained.

Under the framework of the ILO-SMEPS/KAB project in Yemen, the KAB NKF certification process was initiated by the Enterprise Development Specialist on January 12th 2013 in Yemen as part of the nationalization phase of the programme.

Five potential KAB NKFs delivered two KAB TOFs simultaneously  at the Bustan Hotel from 12-24 January 2013 for their certification under the technical monitoring of the Enterprise Development Specialist and 2 KAB Regional Key Facilitators. A total of 48 teachers and one official from SMEPS took part in the two KAB TOF workshops.

The nationalization of the programme requires training an additional 100 teachers to be able to cover the remaining vocational centres and complete the commitment made by SMEPS to the MTEVT. The certification of the five NKFs would lead to the institutionalization of the KAB programme in Yemen and will ensure its sustainability at the end of the current ILO project.

The preparations of both workshops were very well done and it is noteworthy to mention that the 4 trainers (in addition to Ms. Khlood Shaker who is very competent but works at SMEPS as the KAB Coordinator) worked extensively ahead of the training and until late hours at night. They were all present at 7:30am to prepare and adjust the training rooms and stayed until 20:00 for their individual coaching sessions taking comments and observations very positively and showing their readiness and willingness to improve.

After evaulating the performance assessments, 4 KAB facilitators were certified as KAB National Key Facilitators and can all proceed with the delivery of up-coming KAB TOFs in Yemen.

ILO and SMEPS are very pleased with this outcome and proud of the project's achievements so far that are leading to the sustainability of the KAB programme in Yemen.

Under the framework of the ILO/UNESCO project entitled “Expansion of the KAB programme in Kurdistan targeting students enrolled in vocational education institutions and unemployed youth graduates of TVET”, a second KAB follow-up workshop was held in Erbil from 1-4 February 2013.    

The workshop was implemented in two parts. The first part started on Friday February 1, 2013 in the afternoon in the presence of 9 KAB facilitators previously trained under an ILO project in 2008-2011. Over two sessions, the ILO facilitators presented and discussed with the participants the changes and additions made on the KAB programme in its new 2013 version, namely the concepts of green enterprises.

The second part of the workshop started on Saturday February 2, 2013 with 22 participants divided as follows:

• 10 “new” KAB facilitators and 2 KAB supervisors trained under the current ILO/UNESCO project (5 from MoHE and Scientific Research and 7 from the MoE).
• 10 “old” KAB facilitators trained under a previous ILO project during the period from 2008 to 2011 (5 from MoHE and Scientific Research and 5 from the MoE)

The opening session was attended by the ILO Enterprise Development Specialist, Mr. Ryo Justin Ragland, the Programme Coordinator at UNESCO/Amman and Mr. Khalid Khoshnaw, UNESCO National Programme Officer in Erbil. TheEnterprise DevelopmentSpecialist seized the opportunity to distribute the long due KAB ‘National Facilitator’ certificates to the “old” KAB teachers who completed the certification requirements as National Facilitators under a previous ILO project but were never provided with certificates.

The main activities of the workshop included the following:

• KAB teachers and supervisors presented their KAB teaching experiences. They highlighted successes, difficulties, challenges faced and how they dealt with them. A discussion was initiated after each presentation to exchange lessons learned and good practices. The presentations served as a good platform for KAB experience sharing and knowledge dissemination among the participants.
• Participants selected a number of KAB topics to be explained/reviewed in the refresher namely:
  • Decent work
  • Balance sheet
  • Cash flow plan
  • Business Game/Module 1

All above mentioned topics, including the Business Game, were presented by the participants on a voluntary basis with additions made by the KAB facilitators whenever needed.

The last session of the workshop was dedicated to collecting participants’ ideas and suggestions about the integration of the KAB programme in their teaching curricula based on its pilot implementation. Participants were divided in 2 groups one from the MoE and one from the MoHE and Scientific Research. Some of the recommendations made include:

• Developing a KAB nationalization strategy/work plan based on the chosen alternative which will include training of the required number of new KAB teachers and training/certification of a number of national key facilitators (NKFs) to ensure the sustainability of the programme in Kurdistan.
• Training an additional 30 KAB teachers (10 teachers for Erbil, 10 teachers for Dohuk and 10 teachers for Sulaymaniya) to ensure a good teaching capacity in Kurdistan.
• Liaising with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) to facilitate the financing of business plans developed by students of the MoE and MoEHE who successfully complete the KAB programme.

KAB Follow-Up Workshop

9-11 December 2012: Erbil-Kurdistan, Iraq

Under the framework of the recently launched ILO/UNESCO project entitled “Expansion of the KAB programme in Kurdistan targeting students enrolled in vocational education institutions and unemployed youth graduates of TVET”, a KAB follow-up workshop was held in Erbil by two KAB Regional Key Facilitators (RKFs).

The workshop was attended by 12 participants (4 teachers and 1 supervisor from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and 6 teachers and one supervisor form the Ministry of Education). During the workshop, participants shared their KAB teaching experiences and KAB supervisors reported the challenges they faced in implementing class visits outside Erbil due to administrative issues.

Training sessions were delivered by participants covering the new topics added to the KAB package, namely greening enterprises, Decent Work, Gender and people with disabilities. The suggested changes and sequence of topics proposed in the KAB 2013 version, (still in its draft form), were also presented to get the feedback and endorsement of the teachers before proceeding with translation and printing of the Kurdish KAB 2013 version. Finally, it was suggested to invite the old KAB facilitators trained under an earlier ILO project from both Ministries to participate in the second follow- workshop that will be held in February 2013 to increase the pool of teachers and equip the Ministries with a sufficient number of teachers to deliver the programme to the largest number of classes.

12-20 November 2012: Sana’a, Yemen

KAB NKF Workshop 12-17 November 2012

Under the framework of the ILO/KAB project in Yemen and the decision of the MTEVT to nationalize the KAB programme in Yemen, a KAB National Key Facilitators’ Workshop was held in Sana’a from 12 to 17 November 2012. The KAB NKF was facilitator by two KAB Regional Key Facilitators (RKFs). Throughout the workshop, the RKFs thoroughly observed the performance of KAB teachers to assess their competencies as potential NKFs. As part of their certification, the participants were given a written KAB exam covering the KAB Games and a written KAB exam covering the content and training techniques of the KAB programme.

Following the potential NKFs performance during the workshop and in the KAB exam:

• 6 participants were recommended as potential KAB NKFs (5 from the Ministry of TVET and 1 from SMEPS). These potential KAB NKFs can also perform the duties of the KAB supervisors.
• 13 KAB teachers from the Ministry of TVET were deemed able to perform KAB supervisory duties in addition to teaching KAB to students.
• 7 KAB teachers were not recommended to perform KAB supervisory duties. These teachers will continue teaching KAB to students.

KAB Follow-Up Workshop on new KAB topics 18-20 November 2012

A three days training workshop on the new KAB topics namely Green Enterprises, Social Security, Decent Work, Gender and People with Disabilities was held from 18 to 20 November 2012. The workshop was opened by H.E Abdel Hafez Thabet Neeman Minister of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) who stressed on the need for entrepreneurship education in Yemen and inaugurated the national roll-out of the KAB programme and the new KAB 2013 version of the package which has been customized to fit the Yemeni socio-economic background. H.E also met with the ILO Enterprise Development Specialist to discuss the nationalization plan for the KAB programme. He also suggested ways to support enterprise development in Yemen such as the establishment of a bank that specifically caters for the needs of SMEs. The event was extensively covered by the media which documented the keynote speeches and the workshop proceedings[1].

During the workshop, small groups of participants (2-3 participants in each group) delivered the new topics added to the KAB programme; additionally, group discussions were held and further explanations of the topics were provided by the RKFs. The facilitators presented examples of how the topics of Gender and People with Disabilities are fully integrated in the KAB topics. The participants also discussed all the suggested changes to the Yemeni KAB version to finalize the package. The latest KAB 2013 Arabic version will be provided to SMEPS and to the Ministry of TVET to be used in the upcoming KAB TOF workshops. One session was allocated to discuss the suggested scenarios for the implementation of KAB in technical education and vocational training institutions.

[1] Articles in Arabic covering the event can be accessed through the following links:

http://www.sabanews.net/ar/news287375.htm

http://www.sabanews.net/ar/news287532.htm

http://almasdaronline.com/article/37983

http://www.newsyemen.net/subject.asp?sub_no=News/2012/1211/8338.asp&sub_ano=1&sub_gno=6

http://marebpress.net/news_details.php?sid=48962&lng=arabic

http://alahale.net/article/6975

http://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/arabic/subjects/102/2012/11/12/24331.htm

Under the framework of the ILO-DEF-VTC Project, in Jordan, KAB Selection Interviews were held with the coordinators, trainers and supervisors selected by the Development and Employment Fund (DEF) and the Vocational Training Corporation (VTC).

The purpose of the interviews was to assess the coordinators’, trainers’ and supervisors’ readiness and ability to participate in the KAB pilot which will entail but is not limited to participating in the Training of Facilitators’ Workshop (TOF), subsequent KAB follow-up workshops and delivering/supervising the KAB course in selected vocational training classes. Selected trainers are expected to meet ILO KAB criteria which requires them to be dynamic, ready to learn and implement participatory training techniques and receive and give constructive feedback.

31 interviews were held with coordinators, supervisors and trainers to enquire about the following main points:

1. Their attitude towards entrepreneurship education and the KAB programme
2. Their motivation level
3. Their business and teaching skills
4. Whether they previously opened a business

In general, all interviewed participants showed a high level of interest in the KAB programme and its piloting at the selected vocational training centres due to what they heard of the programme during the KAB Awareness Workshop and their previous exposure to various trainings on soft skills and participatory training techniques. The KAB Coordinators and Supervisors specifically expressed high enthusiasm and readiness to dedicate their full time for the successful implementation of the KAB project.

After conducting the interviews and following the interviewer's recommendations, 4 trainers were replaced due to either a lack of interest in the KAB programme or severe time/financial constraints they will be facing that will prevent them from providing the programme the adequate time for a successful implementation.

The KAB Training of Facilitators' Workshop is expected to be held in the first quarter of 2013.

A KAB Follow-up Worshop for men was held at the Riyadh College of Telecommunication and Information from 13 to 15 October 2012. The workshop was attended by 20 participants (17 KAB teachers, the KAB National Coordinator from RIYADAH and 2 KAB supervisors).

From the initial 25 teachers trained at the ToF in November 2011, only 9 teachers implemented the entire KAB programme as an elective in the colleges of Abha, Tabuk, Arar, Najran, Al Baha, Medina, Al Majmaa, Jeddah and Taef (on class in each college with the exception of Al Baha where 2 classes were taught). Of the 16 teachers who attended the follow-up workshop only 7 implemented the entire KAB programme.

The main reasons provided for not implementing the programme are mainly related to the difficulty in attracting the required number of students to enroll in the programme and to sustain them until the end of the course.

However, it is important to note that teachers who implemented the programme did so in a very professional and organized manner presenting very detailed and well prepared reports at the refresher workshop. Some teachers taught the course during evening sessions from 19:00 to 23:00 and exerted lots of efforts in the marketing of the course (using sms and holding awareness meetings) and the selection of the students to ensure their commitment and limit the dropout rate.

A total of 220 students were reached, one opened his vegetables shop while some of them went to RIYADAH requesting loans. The five finalists in each class who  successfully completed their business plans were given financial rewards ranging from SR2,000 to SR500.

Under the framework of the ILO-DEF/KAB project in Jordan, a KAB Awareness Workshop was held for the staff of the Development and Employment Fund (DEF) and the Vocational Training Corporation (VTC). The workshop took place on Tuesday 23 October at the Kempinski Hotel in the presence of 55 participants mainly Heads of VTC Directorates, DEF employees, the General Manager of the E-TVET Fund, directors of vocational trainings institutes that have been nominated to participate in the KAB pilot phase, trainers initially nominated by VTC, International Youth Foundation representatives and the media.

The workshop was opened by Mr. Omar Al Omari from DEF and Mr. Hani Khleifat on behalf of the Director General of the VTC, Mr. Majed Al Habashneh. Both opening speeches stressed on the need to promote entrepreneurship education among Jordanian youth, especially those enrolled in vocational institutes, in order to reduce the culture of dependency on public sector employment and contribute to the reduction of unemployment among youth.

Both VTC and DEF expressed their commitment to the project and their readiness to fully engage with the ILO to ensure the success of the KAB pilot phase hoping that the programme could be nationalized at a later stage and taken on board by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

A detailed presentation was made by Mr. Samih Jaber, ILO KAB Regional Key Facilitator, on the KAB programme content and implementation modality and experiences/lessons learned from the implementation of the programme in other Arab countries were shared. The afternoon session was dedicated to Q&As and to draw the workplan of the KAB Jordan project.