A restructured, modernised and responsive vocational education system is essential for Iraq to revitalise its economy and meet skills needs.

The Vocational Partnerships team and British Council Iraq, in conjunction with the Association of Colleges, are leading UK education providers in a collaborative project with the Foundations of Technical Education in Iraq; known as 'Rawabit' – the Arabic word for 'partnership'.

Key areas identified for development include:

			re-building, stocking up on equipment as well as repairing the infrastructure of buildings and labs
			modernising the curriculum
			upgrading teachers' and technicians' skills
			providing professional development and training

An initial visit from representatives of the Iraqi vocational training sector to the UK led to the twinning of eight UK Further Education colleges with 14 Iraqi institutions. 13 Iraqi managers spent three weeks in the UK at their twinned college to learn how UK colleges are managed and took away ideas which could be used in Iraq.

In follow up to this, UK and Iraqi partners came together at a bilateral education conference, Rebuild Iraq, in Jordan in April 2005 to discuss the development needs of Iraqi institutions and to examine which practices in the UK system could be of benefit to Iraqi partners.

The conference attracted 200 Iraqi partners, with UK college representatives leading the workshops. Generally the feedback from this event was very positive.

British Council colleagues and staff at the AoC are now focussing on what's next for the programme. At the moment this is still very much at a planning stage but it is likely to incorporate visits from Iraqis, an event in the Middle East, and support for UK engagement with Iraqi education reform. Both UK and Iraqi partners are keen to build on the relationships which have already been established.

For more information, please contact us at iraq@britishcouncil.org