Quarter 1 Report: USAID/Egypt Workforce Improvement and Skill Enhancement Project: Year 5

The project supports and collaborates with various public and private sector entities to provide training and capacity building for stakeholders and counterparts. Three result areas are the focus of the project: Result A, which upgrades technical secondary education to meet market needs in selected governorates and sectors; Result B, which improves skills and productivity within the workforce and private sector in selected sectors and governorates; and Result C, which supports an enabling environment for improved labor market efficiency. The WISE project has established strong working relationships with a wide range of partners, including the Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MoETE), the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD), and the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) at the national and governorate levels. Other partners include the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council (ENCC), the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), the Ministry of Trade and Industry's Productivity and Vocational Training Department (PVTD), the Textile Consolidation Fund (TCF), private sector companies, and 63 technical schools across 11 governorates. Collaborating with these partners is critical to connecting Egypt's businesses and technical schools, as well as remaining current with labor market trends and the types of skills that employers are looking for in potential trainees and employees. Result A focuses on upgrading technical secondary education to meet market needs in selected governorates and sectors. Objective A.1 aims to improve schools' capacity to provide students with technical, practical, entrepreneurial, innovation, and soft skills needed by the market to enhance employability. Objective A.2 involves developing and implementing curricula that meet international standards and address market needs. Objective A.5 focuses on developing and piloting innovative and student-centered approaches to technical education. Result B aims to improve skills and productivity within the workforce and private sector in selected sectors and governorates. Objective B.2 involves upgrading the technical, practical, and soft skills of selected job seekers and linking them to the private sector for employment. Objective B.3 focuses on improving the productivity of the existing labor force. Objective B.4 aims to enable firms to better recruit, retrain, and retain their staff. Result C focuses on supporting an enabling environment for improved labor market efficiency. Objective C.2 involves assisting selected organizations in developing strategies to advocate for reforms related to labor market efficiency. Objective C.3 supports stakeholders at the governorate level in addressing identified challenges to labor market efficiency. The WISE project has made significant progress in its first quarter of Year 5, with a focus on implementing activities and achieving results in all three result areas. The project continues to build capacity and promote local ownership for sustainable change with entities that will remain active in workforce development in Egypt after the project has ended.