Call for Expression of Interest in professional training in Career Guidance
Call for Expression of Interest in professional training in Career Guidance
English
Academic institutions
Research papers, synthesis reports, country and programme studies are collected from many academic institutions and national, regional and international professional associations.
Career guidance and employment services
Career guidance and counselling, career education and lifelong development of skills for employability are key for success in learning activities, effective career transitions, livelihood planning, entrepreneurship and in increasing labour market participation. They are instrumental in promoting skills utilization, recognition (RPL), as well as in improving enterprise human resource management.
Career development activities encompass a wide variety of support activities including career information and advice, counselling, work exposure (e.g. job shadowing, work experience periods), assessment, coaching, mentoring, professional networking, advocacy, basic and employability skills training (curricular and non-curricular) and entrepreneurship training. It is often an area which is fragmented across different ministries (e.g. education, TVET, employment, youth) requiring an effort to achieve the necessary coordination to provide adequate support to individuals during learning, employment and unemployment/inactivity periods.
Core skills and literacy
Core employability skills build upon and strengthen the skills developed through basic education; the technical skills needed for specific occupations or to perform specific tasks or duties (such as nursing, accounting, using technology or driving a forklift); and professional/personal attributes such as honesty, reliability, punctuality and loyalty.
Core work skills enable individuals to constantly acquire and apply new knowledge and skills; they are also critical to lifelong learning. Various agencies and organizations have given different labels to these skills, ranging from “key competencies” to “soft skills”, “transferable skills” or “essential skills”.
Youth employability
Globally, nearly 68 million young women and men are looking for and available for work, and an estimated 123 million young people are working but living in poverty. The number who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) stands at 267 million, a majority of whom are young women. Significantly, young people are three times as likely as adults (25 years and older) to be unemployed.
Skills development is a primary means of enabling young people to make a smooth transition to work. A comprehensive approach is required to integrate young women and men in the labour market, including relevant and quality skills training, labour market information, career guidance and employment services, recognition of prior learning, incorporating entrepreneurship with training and effective skills forecasting. Improved basic education and core work skills are particularly important to enable youth to engage in lifelong learning as well as transition to the labour market.
Other topic
Promotional material
Presentations, discussion papers, meeting reports, promotional materials, videos, fact sheets, brochures and newsletters on skills development for employment.
A Master in Lifelong Career Guidance and Development for countries in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, will be offered by the University of Malta with the expert support of the European Training Foundation, the International Labour Organization, and the UNESCO-UNITWIN network.
The Master will be offered online on a part-time basis, starting October 2022.
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 ([email protected]) and Dr Manwel Debono ([email protected]) 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.
Career guidance
Employability
School-to-work transition
Youth employment
Africa
Arab States
