مجلس التعليم » مجلس التعليم يعقد حلقة عمل حول دور مؤسسات التعليم في تطوير مهارات المتعلمين التي يحتاجها سوق العمل

27-04-2016

A workshop was organized at Al Wahat Club in Al Uthiba titled “The results of researches and experiences in the field of development of skills related to productive jobs and the design of labor markets”. The workshop was organized by experts of the World Bank in cooperation with the Secretariat General of the Education Council and the office of the Advisor of Studies and Researches of HE the Minister of the Diwan of the Royal Court. The workshop was attended by a number of representatives of government units and private establishments concerned with education, planning and business sectors.

The workshop aimed at reviewing results of researches and experiences in the field of development of skills related to productive jobs. It also covered the design of labor markets at international and GCC levels as well as the extent to which the Sultanate of Oman is benefiting from such expertise in the field of strategic planning, identifying priorities, specifying and handling challenges. It is also intended that these experiences are to be used to set educational policies which lead to connecting education to the needs of the labor market and to help learners to acquire required skills of productive jobs.

At the beginning of the session, a brief account was given on the role of the World Bank and the services provided in this field. Then, the four themes of the workshop were presented.

The first theme covered the challenges facing development of skills, jobs and labor markets. The studies carried out by the World Bank showed that the major challenge that faces employment in the GCC countries is the high numbers of job seekers among citizens. Another important challenge is the increasing numbers of expatriate workers in the private sector. In addition, national job seekers have high expectations with regard to privileges and incentives and thus they prefer to work in the public sector. These challenges are due to many reasons such as the gap between education and the needs of the labor market and the lack of skills required by employers.

The second theme dealt with adapting skills to join productive jobs. This theme covered the most important skills of the twenty first century which enable human resources of having good qualifications to join labor markets. These skills are represented in cognitive, personal, life and technical skills. This theme also dealt with skills required by labor markets at the international level such as high rates of efficiency in using computers, years of schooling, basic cognitive skills, social skills and work skills. The theme also showed the importance of acquiring these skills at early stages of life, especially during years of school education. The tutor emphasized the importance of technical and vocational training programs as well as in-service gained experiences. The experience of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was presented during this session regarding partnership between public and private sectors to develop and improve technical education, combining work with training programs and e-learning.

The third theme of the workshop covered the design of labor markets. This concept is based on three main elements. They are: priorities, work policies and basics. The experiences in this field of the Sultanate of Oman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates were presented.

The fourth theme of this workshop was dedicated to discuss skills and jobs which support the vision of the Sultanate of Oman through lessons gained from researches and experiences in the field of development of skills related to productive jobs and design of labor markets at regional and international levels.