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Contributions from
the Column
InWEnt Forum
Only reforms will
safeguard supply
Iraq needs support
for reconstructing human capital
Gates serve
German campaign for the Millennium Goals
8-9/2005 |
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[ Vocational training ]
Iraq needs support
for reconstructing human capital
An effective system of vocational training is required to rebuild the economy of Iraq. The government in Baghdad therefore wants to raise the level of competency of teachers and other multipliers of vocational training and bring them into line with today’s standards. InWEnt, on behalf of the German government, is supporting this efforts by training teachers, instructors, coordinators and managers.
[ Joachim Hagemann ]
Progress on the reconstruction of Iraq’s civil infrastructure continues to be slow. The war waged by the US and its allies has destroyed large sections of essential services. In many places, the supply of drinking water and electricity has broken down, as have telecommunications and the health system. Two years after the war officially ended, many Iraqis still cannot access adequate essential public services. The economic situation has certainly improved since in the past two years, but it is still far from functioning normally. According to estimates by the Iraqi Ministry of Education, 80 % of the buildings, machines, tools and appliances have been either destroyed or stolen. Approximately 70 % of the work force is un- or under-employed. Experts consider that the reconstruction of Iraq will take at least ten years and cost ¤ 200 billion.
Iraq’s reconstruction depends on aid from the international community. Until the oil production and industrial facilities have been re-established, the country will be unable to generate its own income. The unchanged dominance of the oil sector can be seen in the fact that oil exports still account for 97 % of the state’s income. With a current output of 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, Iraq is approaching its pre-war level of production, although industry is working at only twelve per cent of capacity. Approximately every tenth Iraqi works in agriculture.
Iraq has enormous growth potential in the medium term. Once political stability has been restored, its economic capability is considered to be greater than that of any other country in the region. With oil reserves of 112 billion barrels, Iraq has eleven per cent of the known reserves worldwide. Further positive growth factors include a well educated middle class and a traditionally active private sector, as well as sufficient sources of water.
Back in the 1970s, Iraq was considered the most advanced country in the region. Since then things have gone steadily downhill. UN sanctions had cut off Iraq’s economy and its vocational training systems from international developments. The country has met with closed doors as far as technical developments and modern methods of teaching are concerned. There is a huge lack of trained and skilled labour in many sectors. Moreover, there are far too few training courses available which might enable people to become better qualified.
As a United Nations and World Bank study has confirmed, Iraq’s infrastructure has been shattered and the education system is no longer functional. Planning experts and those responsible for vocational training must be brought up to date, and educational facilities must be re-equipped for improvement to be possible.
Today, the lives of many Iraqis are overshadowed by hunger, misery and a lack of prospects. The figure of seven million people without work includes a million demobilised soldiers. As there are no unemployment benefits, many people try to survive by illegal trading or on donated food from the United Nations’ “Oil for Food” programme. The estimated cost of living for a family is ¤ 500 per month. The Iraqi Government, in an effort to alleviate this difficult situation, wants to set up an efficient, employment-oriented vocational training system. A new InWEnt programme has been developed to assist it.
Germany’s contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq is concentrated on educating wide groups of the population, alleviating poverty and supporting economic development. The main aim of the InWEnt programme is to teach multipliers, but the true beneficiaries of the German involvement will be its end users: the unemployed, discharged soldiers and young people. The programme is designed to qualify these disadvantaged groups and help them find long-term employment or support themselves in the future.
The Iraqi Ministry of Labour is establishing “Skill Development Centres” as part of the vocational training programme. It will ensure that the content offered is relevant to the most important sectors of the economy. Participants attend short training courses of six-weeks, where they learn the practical skills they need to lay water pipes or electric cable, or to build houses. In this way, the government in Baghdad wants to help participants to gain a qualification which they can then put into practice. The regional training centres, as part of a national network, will maintain direct links to the employment market.
The regional office of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Beirut is cooperating closely with InWEnt on this three-year initiative. The outstanding feature of the project is its all-inclusive approach; all levels of Iraq’s education system have become involved. The ILO and InWEnt share the costs for planning, dialogue and training. Some seminars aimed at managers and decision-makers at the Ministry of Labour, directors of the regional training centres, training coordinators and managers have already taken place, as have seminars for Iraqi instructors.
Course participants learn how to develop and run training systems as well as how to plan and administer a substantial range of courses. “Training the trainers”, teaching instructors how to deliver technical knowledge, plays an important role in the seminars.
The still-unsafe situation in Iraq means that for the time being, retraining is taking place outside the country, in Germany, Amman and Cairo. But contact was made with the Iraqi decision-makers beforehand, to identify the country’s most immediate needs. The first multipliers have already been trained in the fields of modern welding technology and industrial electronics. Participants of the welding courses, who are already familiar with electric arc welding, learn about new technologies such as gas-shielded welding and international safety standards. After all, problems affecting pipelines are an everyday occurrence in Iraq.
Vocational training “Made in Germany” has a good reputation among Iraqi partner institutes and ministries – another reason for the popularity of the training measures which have been offered thus far. InWEnt would therefore like to extend the programme to 2008 and expand the range of courses offered to include subjects such as measurement and control technology, computer maintenance and household electronics, as well as refrigeration and air conditioning. According to the experts at the Ministry of Labour, what Iraq most urgently needs today is stability. Putting these measures into practice could be an important step in the right direction.
Joachim Hagemann
is project leader at InWEnt’s Department of Technology Cooperation, System Development and Management of Vocational Training.
joachim.hagemann@inwent.org
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