What is Skills for Employability?

Skills for Employability is a British Council programme that addresses the demand for skills in a global economy so that national educational and training systems are better able to respond to labour market demands and learner needs.

The programme focuses on building strong relationships with industry and employers, governments and training providers, using the UK’s expertise on standards, innovation and creativity in the field of skills training

The programme does not deliver skills training directly but delivers activity in the following areas:

Policy dialogue: We bring together international agencies, governments and educational institutions to explore how to improve skills and employability.

Professional networks: We build links between leading experts in the UK and the region to share best practice in the vocational education and training sector.

Skills development partnerships: We cultivate partnerships between UK and the region’s Further and Higher Education institutions to boost employability and entrepreneurship skills

Enterprise and technology awards: We organise international competitions for young people that highlight excellence in enterprise, innovation and technology. Further information about "The Enterprise Award 2011"

To achieve the programme’s aims, we are engaging in a series of activities and conferences throughout the year that highlight the main themes and areas of delivery. These include:

Advisory Forums

The advisory forums are made up of professionals and decision-makers from the vocational education training sector. They will get together to discuss and debate the development of the vocational training programme in Jordan and make sure that it adheres to the needs of the region and the country. The decisions coming out of the forum will help ensure that the programme takes appropriate consideration of related Vocational Education Training initiatives. The forum will also enable the developments of the Skills for Employability programme to be better informed by expertise in the region and will revolve around discussions of policy, institutional partnerships and professional networking. The Advisory Forum took place on 30th September 2009.

Institutional Partnerships

Throughout the year, we will be fostering institutional partnerships between six UK colleges and six countries in Near East and North Africa region.

For more information visit Skills for Employability site or contact us at skillsforemployability@britishcouncil.org.