Around 1,000 aspiring IT professionals are expected to get a golden chance to benefit from a training initiative, as the labor ministry's Training and Employment Support Project (TESP) and the Information Technology Association of Jordan (INT@J) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding on training job seekers in the IT sector.
The memorandum comes in line with the TESP goals of training and employing Jordanians in skills required in today’s labor market. The memorandum stipulates mechanisms to coordinate between TESP and INT@J which, according to the document, is expected to play a major role in supporting and developing the private sector, especially in IT.
Consequently, INT@J will be responsible for carrying out an awareness campaign among IT companies and job seekers about training programs, financing schemes and employment opportunities.
Application procedures and training will also be supervised by INT@J, submitting periodical reports to the TESP that will allocate up to 1,000 Jordanian dinars (JD) cost of training for each job seeker/trainee. Ten percent of this training subsidy will revert to INT@J.
TESP will sign training and employment contracts with IT companies that obtain the project's approval. One thousand job seekers are expected to benefit from the one-year training and employment memorandum.
TESP, which was launched by the ministry this year and is funded by the World Bank, has already provided over 5,000 jobs to individuals from around the Kingdom. Sewing, healthcare, jewelry making and cosmetology are among some of the vocational skills offered by the three-year project.
“We take pride in the project which has realized even more than the aspired goals,” minister of labor, Eid Fayez, who was present at the signing ceremony, said. “The ultimate goal of the project is to secure 7,000 job opportunities in three years, while it has secured 5,000 [already] in less than a year,” he added.
Fayez said the IT field is the new thrust of the project in line with King Abdullah's directives that visualize Jordan as the IT hub of the region.
INT@J is an association established earlier this year in the framework of the REACH initiative — Jordan's national strategy to develop software and IT services industries. — ( Jordan Times )
By Oula Al Farawati
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
