The British Council Jordan has conducted a second National Education Employer Dialogue workshop “Developing Curricular Activities for Graduate Employability Readiness”, in partnership with the Plymouth University and the German Jordanian University on 20 December 2017. This workshop was co-delivered by local experts from the German Jordanian University (GJU), the Higher Education Accreditation Commission and UK experts from Plymouth University, and was opened by GJU president Prof. Manar Fayyad.

The overarching objectives of this workshop were to develop employability skills in higher education curricula in Jordan, and in turn, to enhance the employability readiness of Jordanian higher education graduates. To achieve these objectives, the workshop has focused on the capacity building of academic and professional services staff in Jordan’s HEIs. Successful entrepreneurship models embedded within GJU curricula was shared with the participants to showcase the impact of employability developed curricula

Dr. Haya Al-Dajani the Associate Professor (Reader) in Entrepreneurship at Plymouth University declared that, “National Education Employer Dialogue (NEED) series emerged from the Jordanian Entrepreneurial University Programme sponsored by the British Council in Jordan.  She added that I am delighted that the German Jordanian University is hosting and leading this workshop which is the second in the NEED series.  This workshop is designed to address the capacity building of higher education academic and professional services staff, and in doing so, contributes to the enhancement of the impact and effectiveness of Jordan’s higher education sector.  It focuses on developing employability rich higher education curricula to enhance the employability readiness of Jordanian higher education graduates, and follows on from the first NEED workshop hosted by Luminus Education in Amman, in March 2017”.

The NEED series are part of British Council Project (Internationalising of Higher Education) and reflects British Council’s higher education strategies, which encourage local and international discussion and debate around higher education issues and challenges and support government policies for increased growth in employment through skills-based qualifications.

GJU delivered a special session on “Engaging Industry for Graduate Employability Readiness” in which as best practice the different units at GJU who are responsible for enhancing the collaboration with industrial partners, promoting entrepreneurship and providing job and internship opportunities for GJU graduates and students were introduced, namely the Industrial Relations Committee (IRC), the Office for Industrial Links (OIL), the Program Innovation and Entrepreneurship (PIE), and the Dual Studies Program. In addition, Mr. Hakam Abu Feilat, GM of Aqaba Logistics Village (ALV), emphasized on the benefit for both – the private sector and the university – when cooperating in applied programs like the Dual Studies.

The workshop ended with the introduction of practical tools on how in-curricula employability skills can be mapped across study programs.

 

For more information about the British Council , please visit: www.britishcouncil.org/Jordan

For GJU Industrial Cooperation visit: http://www.gju.edu.jo/ (“Industrial”)