Dana is 16 and lives in the Middle East. One day she hopes to be financially independent and earn enough to support her family. Many young people where she lives are unemployed. This is why she wants to learn a profession in demand on the job market.
And this is where the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – the SDC – comes in. Through an SDC project, Dana already gained some experience as a schoolgirl in the varied world of IT. Her dream since then has been to complete vocational training in IT. With a good basic education, she already has a solid foundation. Now the SDC is helping Dana move on to the next stage: a vocational training course.
With the SDC's help, public vocational schools have teamed up with the private sector to launch a new training course for programmers. What's special about this course is that participants spend three days a week with a company and two days at a vocational school. This model is quite innovative as in many countries vocational education tends to be theory based, with no link to the labour market. This makes it difficult for participants to find work afterwards.
Switzerland has a long tradition of strong partnership between the state and the private sector in vocational education and training. The SDC makes use of the Swiss experience to promote a change of system in its partner countries and to align their training systems more closely with the labour market. For example, by placing greater emphasis on practical training and by involving the private sector in curriculum development. The SDC enables fair access to vocational education and training for all, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This now also includes Dana. During her training, for example, she has developed an app that lets the herders in her region coordinate the sale of wool and thus obtain a higher price. Her instructor was so pleased with the app that he offered her a job.
Dana's story shows that everyone wins through the SDC's commitment to vocational education and training. It gives young people better job prospects, more self-confidence and a chance to earn a higher income. At the same time, the local economy gets new skilled workers and a chance for better development.
The SDC – Switzerland taking action.
