BEIRUT (ILO News) - In partnership with the International Labour Organization, Lebanon’s Safadi Foundation launched four new competency-based vocational training programmes. Delivered under Skill-Up Lebanon (Phase 2) project – a joint effort of the ILO and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation – the new training programmes aim to improve the acquisition of market-relevant skills and increase employability of Syrian refugees and Lebanese youth.

A total of 64 young women and men have started training in agri-food processing, advanced welding, and elderly home caregiving, including post-COVID-19 care, and 16 more will be enrolled in advanced plumbing. They were selected based on pre-enrollment career orientation using SkillLab – a mobile app which allows to capture and express skills gained through various learning and work experiences – to ensure that training topics match their skills sets and professional goals and aspirations.

The training programmes follow the ILO-developed guidelines for non-formal market-based skills training in Lebanon, which aim to ensure the effectiveness and responsiveness of training to the actual needs and challenges the communities in the country are facing. The training topics were selected based on assessment of specific skills and jobs in demand in Lebanon, to ensure better alignment of skills supply with labour market demand.

All training programmes include 100 hours of in-class learning delivered in northern Lebanon by the Safadi Accelerated Vocational Training Centre (SAVOTEC) in the city of Tripoli and the Safadi Rural Development Centre in the city of Akkar, as well as 50 hours of paid on-the-job training delivered in partnership with private sector companies in relevant fields. They combine vocational training with topics on entrepreneurship and self-employment, alongside sessions on rights and responsibilities as workers and other relevant provisions of the Lebanese labour law.

After the successful completion of the training and assessment, graduates will receive certificates to increase their bargaining power in the labour market and access better jobs, in addition to receiving individual kits – a set of basic tools to enable them to generate their own income. Graduates will also be provided with extensive post-training support to facilitate their journey through future learning and employment; this will include career guidance to help them build their career pathways as well as linking them with employment opportunities in line with the acquired skills.

Providing competency-based skills training, coupled with pre-enrolment career orientation and post-training support services, is an important step for improving ways in which non-formal skills training is provided in Lebanon. As such, it will improve knowledge, skills and professional readiness of graduates to facilitate their integration in the labour market and provide with much needed incomes.