On 22-24 March 2009, the British Council Egypt proudly hosted a prestigious international ’Skills Framework Conference’ in Cairo to explore approaches to skills frameworks across the Near East and North Africa region and beyond; highlight good practice in the UK, Europe and the region; and identify future areas of collaboration.

Held in partnership with the European Training Foundation (ETF), the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), the Egyptian Industrial Training Council (ITC) (site under construction), the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the conference was attended by over 150 leading policy-makers, employers, practitioners and representatives of industry federations from all nine countries in the region as well as from the UK.

The conference combined cutting-edge presentations from key experts with focused international discussion sessions exploring a series of themes including the ways in which demand-led technical and vocational education and training programmes can be developed and supported through creating stronger ties between education and industry; how countries might best learn from international experience in designing occupational standards; and how effective qualifications frameworks can best be developed and applied to support employability of graduates and continuing workforce development.

solutions to their own country's challenges in developing robust skills frameworks.

The conference produced a number of recommendations for future international collaboration, which the British Council in the region is now working with others to help deliver.

For more information telephone the Skills for Employability team on +44 (0)161 957 7821 or e-mail SkillsforEmployability@britishcouncil.org.