Vocational training for productivity

The Egyptian Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources" Productivity and Vocational Training Department (PVTD) will implement the project, with the assistance of a U.S. contractor. Beginning in two pilot regions (Alexandria and the Middle Delta), the project will focus on upgrading the skills of currently employed workers. This will entail improving the training offered by the PVTD both on the job and through special regional training center programs; training directors and supervisors to themselves be trainers; and assisting individual companies to solve their own training problems and to develop training programs. Special attention will be given to assisting the private sector and increasing skilled employment opportunities for women. To provide new workers with relevent entry level skills, PVTD Regional Training Centers will be strengthened. Curricula will be modified, instructional materials produced, an instructional methodology developed, and instructors trained in light of an analysis of the skill requirements of Egypt"s major industrial occupations. To upgrade PVTD management, the contractor will evaluate the department"s organizational structure, functions, procedures, staffing patterns, internal staff development, follow-up system, and relationships with other policymaking agencies. Emphasis will be on strengthening the PVTD"s ability to manage a decentralized, user-oriented, innovative vocational training system. Also, the PVTD will be assisted in developing illustrative skills standards and trade tests at the regional level for each of the trades for which a curriculum has been developed. These tests and standards will be drawn up by expert committees and will be linked to a training certification system. Finally, the project will include a small component to study several vocational training issues broader in thrust than this specific project.