During March, 2023, USAID’s Community Support Program (CSP) conducted an orientation session at Al Abir Technical Institute in Minieh, north Lebanon, to launch the last cohort of its homebased healthcare (HHC) vocational training course. The session was attended by 58 of 94 accepted students, while an additional 22 of the 94 enrolled prior the course start date on March 13. Consequently, this final cohort includes 80 students who are each benefiting from CSP’s Job’s Education and Training (JET) scholarship which covers tuition and provides a monthly stipend for transportation and medical insurance for the duration of the 24-day course, followed by a 22-day internship. In turn, students are expected to complete their studies and mandatory internship, in addition to attending soft skills training modules to enhance their chances at finding quality employment. Since its inception in 2019, CSP’s workforce development component has sponsored 17 vocational training courses in promising employment sectors – HHC, repair and maintenance of industrial machinery, and IT – attended by 444 scholarship recipients so far.

“I am hoping that this course will increase my knowledge and further develop my skills in the healthcare sector, which will allow me to provide better care for my patients and improve my own living conditions,” said Abir Abdallah, JET scholarship recipient who is undertaking the HHC vocational course at Al Abir Technical Institute.