Why Palestinians Need to Seize the Opportunity and Capitalize on the Potential of TVET?

What Exactly is TVET?

Technical and Vocational Education and Training-otherwise known as TVET-refers to a wide variety of skill sets that meets the needs of local markets and industry. From electrical engineering to information and communication technology, fashion design and garment making to food preparation and the culinary arts, these are just a few of what the world of TVET has to offer.

Youth Unemployment - a Global Overview

Before delving into the world of TVET and entrepreneurship, it is important to reflect upon the unprecedented rates of unemployment faced by youth on a global scale. According to Plan International, within the upcoming decade, over a billion young people will enter the labor market, yet many will fail to secure formal employment and will be forced to contend with informal employment options under untenable conditions. Of the estimated 621 million young people without a job, quality education or training, women are the most afflicted.

And developing countries are hit the hardest as the World Bank reports that a staggering 90% of young people are affected by crippling unemployment rates and general economic downturn. The Middle East and North Africa fare much worse, as the region contends with the highest rates of youth unemployment in the world at 25%, while women make up more than half of that with numbers that exceed 44%.  Overall, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has estimated that global youth unemployment is steadily on the rise. In 2015, rates reached as high as 12.9%, which have plateaued over the years. And despite a change in policies and infusion of capital into various sectors and industries, rates remained somewhat unchanged, case in point in 2018 unemployment in the region was reported at 13%.  

TVET and Entrepreneurship

But apart from offering workers employable skills, how does TVET foster entrepreneurship and spur economic growth? The answer is by turning to demand-driven TVET, which can help address the mismatch between traditional education and the practical needs of the economy.

Demand-driven TVET requires the active engagement of key-players within both the public and private sectors to identify and meet the needs of a developing labor market. As TVET education provides students with the skills to find gainful employment, demand-driven TVET ensures that students gain skills to meet labor market needs. Therefore, a demand-driven TVET education can help young people access the labor market and become active participants in its growth and development.

While the concept of entrepreneurship has been debated and defined by academics extensively over the years, the core precepts of the term revolve around a person who starts a business to bring something new to the table while at the same time assuming the risks and reaping the rewards. However, UNESCO takes this concept a step further and explains that entrepreneurship extends beyond business creation but refers to a set of skills and competencies that helps young people achieve their maximum potential in the labor market.

In this respect, TVET and entrepreneurship adhere to similar outcomes in that they both meet market economy needs while creating jobs and spurring growth. Infusing the entrepreneurial mindset and skills into a TVET education helps students acquire in-demand skills, while at the same time gaining the acumen and motivation needed to translate their skills into economically viable businesses. In effect, TVET students become job creators rather than potentially unemployed seekers.

TVET Challenges in Palestine

Ensuring young people receive a practical TVET education that infuses entrepreneurial skills and addresses gaps in local markets is key. However, for developing countries, this is far from easy. Policy remains a glaring oversight by many governments that fail to capitalize on the potential of a robust TVET industry. In fact, policy and strategic coordination between the private and public sector. As such, preexisting challenges in the coordination and implementation of strategic TVET curriculums and mindsets may negatively affect the impact of these respective institutions.  

• Many TVET institutions are out of touch with the labor market.
• Disconnect between the public and private sector, affecting strategic policy placement.
• Lack of awareness into alternative educational institutions like TVET.
• Lack of support for teachers and trainers.

Overall, the current state of TVET institutions in Palestine needs a dire update as there remains a lack of strategic coordination. With strategic policies in play that provides a road map for TVET learning in terms of funding, curriculum, and awareness campaigns to change mindsets.

Unfortunately, in Palestine, there has been little effort to employ successful economic models for raising investment funds generating employment in this sector. Further, the lack of coordination between the private and public sector, outdated curriculums that do not emphasize the importance of entrepreneurial skills, and the general lack of awareness into the economic opportunities posed by a TVET education, Palestinians are not seizing the opportunity to capitalize on the potential of TVET.

Why TVET is the answer?

In Palestine, unemployment is hitting unprecedented rates at 31%, with 52% in Gaza, and 19% in the West Bank. And for the youth of Palestine, unemployment is at an all-time high at 45%, thats 36% amongst males and 70% amongst females. To make matters worse poverty is fast becoming a rising concern with nearly 29% of Palestinians struggling to make ends meet while suffering under the poverty line. As Palestine struggles to contend with severe economic downturn and poverty, it is important to promote policies that support market-driven entrepreneurship.

In effect, fostering entrepreneurship within the TVET sector while tapping into the resilience and industry of the Palestinian people will generate jobs that meet local market needs while creating export worthy services or goods. This will ultimately lead to improved living standards for thousands as they enjoy the effects of a reinvigorated economy and a dent in unemployment rates.

Bridging the gap between entrepreneurship and TVET skills to meet external market or industry demands, and a collaborative cross-sector effort to lobby international market players to consider Palestine as an ideal outsourcing destination is a positive step forward. To illustrate this point, through TVET Palestinian youth can acquire skills within market-relevant labor-intensive industries such as coding, machine, and AI learning, ICT, and even animation, and then translate these skills into viable entrepreneurial enterprises that are in demand around the world.

The point is, TVET and entrepreneurship are not mutually exclusive. Through TVET, youth can acquire the human capital, skills, and experiences that are demanded in markets both within and outside of Palestine. And by infusing entrepreneurial learning to updated TVET curriculums, a new generation of self-starters will have the tools, mindsets, and strategic support to create their own opportunities, generate new jobs, and contribute to the growth of the Palestinian economy. 

As such, MENACatalyst (MC) is working to foster entrepreneurship amongst the youth of Palestine towards creating a vibrant ecosystem built on a foundation of innovation and industry. This is why MC has set its sights on the TVET sector. Understanding the massive potential TVET has to offer, MC is looking to enhance the collaborative capacity of the private and public sector to support demand-driven TVET and create economic opportunities for the most marginalized social groups, particularly women. 

Persevering under the harshest conditions while overcoming boundaries has demonstrated to the world the resilience of the Palestinian people. By changing mindsets and bringing key players to the table to work towards a shared goal of a more equitable Palestine, reinforcing TVET with the practical entrepreneurial skills to match will breathe new life into this untapped sector.