Libia

On-line, part-time Master in Lifelong Career Guidance specifically for the MENA region

 

Career guidance (or ‘vocational guidance’) has been adopted in several countries in the world because it:

• helps young people and adults choose their educational and employment pathways more wisely;
• leads to appropriate choices that ensure more motivated students and more productive and satisfied workers;
• facilitates a better match between the demand and supply of skills.

 

Career guidance services are greatly needed in the MENA region. They can be part of the strategy to address the twin challenge of high youth and adult unemployment on the one hand, and skills gaps on the other. They can also foster social inclusion through giving access to a livelihood.

 

The University of Malta – with the expert support of the European Training Foundation (ETF), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the UNESCO-UNITWIN Network – has issued a Call for the Expression of Interest for those who would like to receive professional training in career guidance.

 

The Master course is designed in such a way as to

• take into account the economic, labour market, educational and cultural realities of the MENA region;
• provide participants with the interdisciplinary theoretical background and practical experience needed in order to design, deliver, and evaluate lifelong career guidance services;
• promote regional expertise in policy development, systems-building, and practitioner competence. 

 

Individuals as well as public and private entities interested in the Masters can

• access the relevant information about the course here: https://www.um.edu.mt/study/mastercareerguidance

 

• email the course coordinators for further information. Professor Ronald G. Sultana (sultana@um.edu.mt) and Dr Manwel Debono (manwel.debono@um.edu.mt) will be happy to respond to questions.

 

Scholarships, in the form of partial fee waivers, are being offered by the University of Malta to deserving applicants.

The two studies presented in this publication are based on empirical field research work and were prepared as part of the Education and Labour Market project.

The strategies used in preparation of the studies include surveying the opinions and attitudes of various social groups (schoolboys and schoolgirls themselves, their parents, the staff of general schools, vocational schools and universities, and employers and employees in various sectors of the economy). This made it possible to analyse the close links between education, employment and the labour market from a variety of stakeholder perspectives.

One of the studies explored the job expectations of girls and boys in grades 9 and 12, and boys and girls attending vocational schools, bearing in mind that in the Libyan education system pupils specialise from grade 10 upward. These expectations were then compared with the actual employment situation. The second study focused on labour market study and a comparison of supply and demand. It explored the self-assessment of key competencies that young people had acquired in various educational and training institutions. These were compared with the competencies in demand among businesses and institutions in economic growth sectors in Libya.

Both studies are the result of interdisciplinary teamwork involving close and daily cooperation between international experts and a considerable number of Libyan experts.

In its cooperation with partner countries outside the European Union, the European Commission has long been concerned with the development of human resources. Since 1995, the European Union has supported much needed reforms in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in most Mediterranean partner countries through multiple projects.

The report focuses on nine Mediterranean countries which, while differing in many ways, also share characteristics. They all made major efforts in broadening access to education and training, but the gains thereof in terms of widespread income improvements are yet to materialize. Most countries have severe problems in balancing labour supply and demand. Their labour force participation rates are lower and their unemployment rates are higher than those of most countries outside the region. They all have significant and growing informal economies in which currently between 30 and 60 per cent of the labour force try and make a living without being covered by formal arrangements such as foreseen in regulation and legislation.

The report reviews what the countries in MENA region do to overcome informality at work and skill deficits. It provides policy recommendations for boosting skills of the working poor and integrating these measures into broader human development strategies.