New commission formed to organise vocational training

AMMAN — The Vocational and Technical Skills Development Commission is a new entity affiliated with the Ministry of Labour, which aims to enhance the labour market through organising the vocational training sector.

The new commission is intended to be the legal and technical body for the vocational education sector, under a law that gives it authority to replace all other vocational education institutions to rehabilitate vocational schools and institutes, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour Mohammad Khatib told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

 The commission is the result of merging the Employment Technical and Vocational Education and Training Fund (ETVET Fund) with the Accreditation and Quality Control Centre, to supervise the implementation of vocational education programmes and develop the sector’s skills, Khatib said.

The establishment of the new commission reflects the idea of sustaining the effective role of government institutions through maintaining the services that the ETVET Fund and the centre provided, such as the supervision of vocational exams and the preparation of admission criteria for the sector’s programmes, Khatib added.

According to the ministry spokesperson, the commission also organises vocational work at all levels in accordance with the National Qualifications Framework, develops work plans and partnerships with the private sector and sets the standards and licence conditions for vocational training providers.

Khatib said the commission bears the obligations of vocational secondary education, technical education, continuous training and other renewed vocational programmes.

“A Vocational and Technical Skills Development Council is being formed as a part of the commission, headed by the minister of labour, and with the membership of the minister of education, the minister of higher education and scientific research and the secretary general for the Labour Ministry  among others to adopt policies and strategies in developing the sector on a national level,” Khatib said.

“The commission’s headquarters will be near the 8th Circle.”