USAID Celebrates Efforts to Improve Perception towards the Technical and Vocational Education Sector in Lebanon

Improving Curricula, Providing Scholarship and Internship Opportunities, Facilitating Employment, and Implementing Intensive Media Campaign

On June 29, 2022, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Community Support Program (CSP), held a closing ceremony for its three-month media campaign focusing on public perceptions of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector in Lebanon. The ceremony was held at Padova Hotel in the presence of USAID Supervisory Program Officer Nicholas Vivio, and representatives from 13 private TVET partner institutions and 48 partner businesses. During the event, USAID’s CSP also reflected on the achievements of its Workforce Development program that aims to enhance the skills and employment opportunities for at least 1,000 Lebanese residents.

In his remarks, USAID Supervisory Program Officer Nicholas Vivio stated, “Our support to the education sector is not new. For years, we have been partnering with the Lebanese people to improve the quality of learning and build the skills of Lebanon’s future leaders. In 2019, we went a step further and started supporting and improving access to quality technical and vocational education and training (TVET)….Our main objective was, and still is, to transform partner TVETs into successful independent, demand-driven business models, and improve the skills of, and employment opportunities for at least 1,000 unemployed or underemployed Lebanese from vulnerable communities….I am confident that this campaign was able to make a difference in people’s perceptions that vocational and technical education is a pathway for Lebanese youth to achieve promising economic opportunities and a better future.”

The media campaign builds on a survey conducted by CSP to assess public perceptions of the TVET sector in Lebanon. The survey indicated that despite significant upgrades to the curricula and training in TVETs, there continues to be a general lack of awareness of the sector’s beneficial contributions to employability of graduates. To ameliorate this, an intensive informative media campaign was implemented to raise awareness on the benefits of TVET education through a series of televised interviews, radio shows, and social media messaging, which reached more than 1.5 million viewers.

Since 2019, USAID has invested $7.3 million to enhance workforce development in Lebanon to ensure access to quality TVET education, raise awareness on employment opportunities that TVET offers, and cultivate sustainable connections to practical training opportunities and jobs within the private sector. USAID’s CSP has developed and adapted market-based curricula for vocational courses in three sectors with growing employment opportunities: home-based health care, industrial repair and maintenance, and information & communication technology (ICT). The courses are available across CSP’s thirteen partner TVET institutes, where CSP is also providing scholarships to job seekers aspiring to work in these sectors and partnering with private sector businesses to facilitate graduates’ access to employment opportunities. USAID’s efforts to strengthen an enabling environment for TVETs in Lebanon is being complemented by multiple stakeholders including other donors, TVET institutes, the private sector, local authority, and other implementers, who coordinate and collaborate to develop a national action plan to reform the TVET sector.

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USAID’s CSP is a seven-year, $100 million program that is carrying out a range of rapid response and community development projects in partnership with municipalities, civil society organizations, and the private sector. CSP supports Lebanese residents through activities that improve basic services and enhance economic opportunities for underserved communities in the North, South, and Beqaa Valley. Since launching in October 2018, CSP has served more than 380,000 Lebanese residents.