The TVET system copes better with the labour market needs, by providing high quality learning programmes.
2.1 Develop National Occupational Standards (NOS)
Occupational standards are units of competences which describe the skills, knowledge and what needs to be achieved in the workplace and they are specifically related to employment. The primary purpose of occupational standards is to set a benchmark of competence, skills, and knowledge by which Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers can measure their qualifications and training courses to demonstrate that they are producing individuals with the correct minimum competence to enter or succeed in the labour market. Jordan has a very limited number of NOSs which does not match its 21 economic sectors and subsectors.
This Programme contains all projects and activities related to the development of national occupational standards in different sectors and at different levels and in accordance with Jordan National Qualifications Framework.
2.2 Curricula Development
In today’s knowledge economy, curriculum development plays a vital role in improving the economy of a country. Curriculum development is the multi-step process of creating and improving a course taught at a learning institution. While the exact process will vary from one institution to another, the broad framework includes stages of analysis, building, implementation, and evaluation. A curriculum is an organized programme of both theoretical and practical studies, the successful completion of which is considered necessary to achieve specified educational goals corresponding to different levels of knowledge and qualification. It is the inventory of activities implemented to design, organise, and plan an education or training action, including the definition of learning objectives, content, methods (including assessment) and material, as well as arrangements for training teachers and trainers.
This Programme contains all projects and activities related to the development of any curriculum in any learning field in the TVET sector. It also covers all activities linked to the upgrade or modifications to the existing curricula.
2.3 Capacity Building and ToT
Capacity-building is defined as the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes, and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in a fast-changing world. Whether face-to-face, online, or blended, capacity building enables organizations and their personnel to develop competencies and skills that can make them more effective and sustainable.
Trainers are an asset to the company, so trainers must be trained with care and attention to lead teams to produce practical work. Train of the Trainer is a concept to empower the potential of the trainers in several fields. The “trainer” is the master of the learning process. It empowers systematic and proper qualities of leadership and enhances the skills within a potential individual.
All key stakeholders of the TVET sector in Jordan needs a continuous capacity building to upskill their competencies to be able to carry out their roles and responsibilities. TVET trainers in all TVET providers need to upgrade their skills and competencies on a regular basis to be able to transfer their knowledge to learners in the most appropriate way.
This Programme contains all projects and activities related to the delivery of any kind of capacity building and ToT programmes including conducting training need assessment, engage stakeholders on capacity development, assess capacity needs, formulate, and implement capacity development response, and evaluate capacity development Framework.
2.4 Develop and Implement an Accreditation and Certification System for TVET sector
Certification is a comprehensive evaluation of a process, system, product, event, or skill, typically measured against some existing norm or standard, while Accreditation is the formal declaration by a neutral third party that the certification program is administered in a way that meets the relevant norms or standards of certification program. One of the foremost and greatest challenges confronting the accreditation and certification processes in TVET sector in Jordan is the existence of a relatively large number of public and private training providers, each reporting to different and sometimes multiple ministries simultaneously. To complicate matters further, the various institutions have their own unique systems. For instance, the MoE has its own quality assurance requirements, while TVSDC has its own system, and Balqa Applied University has its own one as well. On the other hand, Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission for Higher Education Institutes (AQACHEI) has its own system for higher education and managing the newly established Jordan National Qualifications Framework (JNQF).
This programme contains all projects and activities related to support the establishment of a national accreditation and certification system that includes all relevant stakeholders. Arrange their efforts and ensure a smooth implementation among different parties. This also covers any support regarding obtaining any international recognitions and any interventions related to the implementation of the JNQF and apply permeability among different educational paths including listing all TVET providers and placing all TVET qualifications on JNQF.
2.5 Assessment of TVET Learning Providers
Assessment refers to all methods used to appraise performance by gathering evidence to determine whether learners, trainers, training methodologies, programmes and institutions have achieved the required standards. It is a quality assurance procedure which monitors the quality of teaching and learning and results in a graded judgment about the quality of a VET provider or programme.
There is quite a considerable number of TVET centres in Jordan. The 214+ centres in vocational stream of secondary schools (grades 11 and 12), the 40+ training centres run by the Vocational Training Corporation (VTC), and 50+ community colleges, and the 17 centres of the National Employment Training Company (NET), and other private centres and colleges. Some of these centres are very good and others need a lot of rehabilitation at all levels. Despite some excellent pilots, Lacking a national assessment framework for TVET providers, makes it almost impossible for anyone to identify the overall capacity of all TVET providers in Jordan, where they are, what kind of programmes are provided and whether those centres and course are of good quality or not.
This Programme contains projects and activities related to the assessment of all TVET institutions (technical schools, TVET centres, community colleges, etc…). It aims at having a clearer picture on the current status of TVET institutions and identify the gaps and the way forward to close them and to improve the overall performance of the TVET learning providers. It also includes the creation of internal and external verifiers and assessors (A verifier confirms that a learner can consistently perform specified tasks in the workplace to organisational requirements. This evidence is then passed on to the assessor who carries out the actual assessment by reviewing all evidence.)
2.6 Develop Excellence Criteria and Establish Centres of Excellence (Light houses)
Vocational excellence usually refers to a high quality of training and education, but also to relevance to the world of work and to the attractiveness of the educational offer to learners and to employers. The Excellence criteria provide the framework and an assessment tool for understanding TVET providers strengths and opportunities for improvement. It refers to an integrated approach to organizational performance management that results in delivering real value to students and stakeholders, improvement of overall organizational effectiveness and capabilities, and organizational and personal learning.
A Centre of Excellence (CoE) is an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support, and training towards attaining and sustaining world-class performance and value. They provide demand-driven, future-oriented skills in various types of economic activities for a competitive and innovative economy as per national and international standards. They are light houses that set the benchmark for other TVET providers to look up to. They are established with the aim at scaling them up to the national level.
This programme contains all projects and activities related to adopting detailed standards and evaluation and qualification requirements to raise the level of TVET institutions and centres within the foundations and references of excellence in accordance with the best local, regional, and international practices and by adopting participatory development methods with the concerned authorities in the public and private sectors. It also includes the establishment of Centres of Excellence in any field including all activities from situational analysis and conceptual design to the construction, technical and financial support, and capacity building for CoE staff and management. As a starting point, excellence criteria should be developed and adopted by all stakeholders.
2.7 Develop Monitoring and Evaluation System
Monitoring is the systematic and routine collection of information from TVET projects and programmes for four main purposes: a) To learn from experiences to improve practices and activities in the future; b) To have internal and external accountability of the resources used and the results obtained; c) To take informed decisions on the future of the initiative; and d) To promote empowerment of beneficiaries of the initiative.
Monitoring is a periodically recurring task already beginning in the planning stage of a TVET project or programme. It allows results, processes, and experiences to be documented and used as a basis to steer decision-making and learning processes. Monitoring is checking progress against plans. The data acquired through monitoring is used for evaluation.
As mentioned earlier in the document, one of the foremost and greatest challenges confronting the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) processes of Jordan TVET system is the existence of a relatively large number of public and private training providers, each reporting to different and sometimes multiple ministries simultaneously. That makes developing an effective comprehensive model for M&E is a challenge that must be met instantly.
The Monitoring and Evaluation system will provide hands-on developmental support to TVET providers to build their capacity in internal audit techniques and in the preparation of self-evaluation reports.
This programme contains all projects and activities related to developing an agreed-upon effective M&E system for TVET provisions to be used among all stakeholders.
2.8 Enhance the infrastructure of the TVET sector
The TVET institutions suffer from a lack infrastructure and information systems, and limited financial resources to invest in or improve services. Although the community colleges are in a better position in this, the share of resources allocated for the development of infrastructure and for purchasing equipment is too small and can, in no way, contribute to the improvement of the performance of vocational schools and training centres. Furthermore, almost 62% of current expenditure is accounted for by salaries; this explains the low ratio of trainer to trainee that varies between 1:15 and 1:18. Reducing the share of current expenditure in the total budget by increasing the share allocated to investments is an urgent task.
This programme contains all projects and activities related to the establishment of the minimum specifications and basic funding for equipment and facilities for TVET providers (mainly schools and centres). This includes providing in-service training for teachers, and support technicians to use and maintain equipment effectively.
