‘National Service’ non-mandatory, offers alternative careers for youth

AMMAN — The new “National Service” programme, announced as part of the government’s priorities for 2019-2020, is a non-mandatory course that will offer youth an career opportunities in targeted sectors in cooperation with the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, the Labour Ministry announced on Sunday.

Minister of Labour Samir Murad said that “National Service” is intended for those who were “unlucky academically” and would wish to enrol in the programme to get training and join the workforce in the fields of industry, construction and tourism. 

The programme aims to train some 20,000 participants per year over three cycles, the minister said, cited in a Labour Ministry statement explaining the details of the course.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz outlined the government’s priorities for the coming two years last week, among them the National Service, which was envisioned to be an updated version of the suspended mandatory military service for youth known as “Banner Service” that would include vocational training and aims to instill in young men and women “values of discipline and seriousness and job skills”.

Murad added that the programme will begin recruitment during the first months of 2019, stressing that the plan seeks to support the national economy through supplying qualified young cadres to the job market, as well as the alignment of educational outcomes, be it vocational or technical, with the needs of the country’s labour market.

In alignment with the National Strategy for Human Resources Development’s objectives to stimulate participation in vocational and technical fields, the programme’s objectives also encourage free entrepreneurship and supports the business environment, the minister said.

More so, the programme provides interns with a JD100 allowance, a daily meal, medical insurance in cases of work-related injuries and covers transportation fees, the costs of a uniform and the issuance of a professional licence by the Centre of Accreditation and Quality Control.

The 476-training-hours programme has two stages: One month of military training, to include fitness activities, morale guidance and values of discipline, followed by three months practical and theoretical training in workshops and laboratories.

Overall, the programme should equip trainees with a range of life skills, reinforced by courses on entrepreneurship and occupational health and safety.