Programme to equip university students with employability skills

AMMAN — University students will have the chance to take part in an innovative training programme that will boost their skills and prepare them to penetrate the labour market as part of a memorandum signed Wednesday.

Under the memo, signed between the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) and the USAID Jordan Competitiveness Programme (JCP), a series of new programmes and training courses will be provided to university students through KAFD’s 25 career guidance offices at universities.

As part of the memo, the JCP will work on enhancing the skills of staff at these offices that in return will benefit university students and help them master the skills required to join the labour market.

The memo stipulates areas of collaboration between KAFD and
USAID JCP in building the capacity of selected KAFD career guidance offices at universities and the KAFD unit responsible for career guidance, as well as introducing entrepreneurship programmes into universities’ curricula, developing an internship programme with partner universities, and supporting KAFD in developing the ForUS network for employment and entrepreneurship, KAFD said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

“KAFD, in coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education and the Higher Education Accreditation Commission, has established 25 career guidance offices responsible for providing career counselling and guidance services in the areas of human and political development, in addition to empowering university students to have access to better job opportunities,” the statement quoted Qais Qatamin of KAFD as saying.

“The offices also support and sponsor innovation and excellence by providing students with opportunities through the creation of linkages between the private sector and relevant organisations,” he noted. 

In addition to the memo signing, a graduation ceremony also took place for 11 students who participated in
USAID JCP’s pilot internship programme that was held during between August and October.

The programme lasted three months for graduates and two months for undergraduates and enabled participants to gain relevant knowledge and skills to enter a particular career field.