The Vocational Education and Training Programme for OIC Member Countries (OIC-VET) has been officially launched by H.E. Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey and Chairman of the COMCEC, at the COMCEC Economic Summit on 9 November 2009. The launch event, which included an introductory cinevision about the OIC-VET Programme, was one of the most spectacular events that took place during the 25th Session of the COMCEC and the COMCEC Economic Summit.

On the launching occasion, H.E. Abdullah Gül expressed his gratitude from launching such a significant programme developed by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) for the benefit of OIC member countries. H.E. Gül, underlined the importance of vocational education and training in the formation of high skilled labour force coping with global competitiveness and rapid changes in technology. Emphasising the need to establish strong cooperation and collaboration among member countries for enhancing vocational education and training systems, H.E. Gül, articulated his belief towards the vision of this programme to improve the quality of human capital resources and realise socio-economic development in OIC Member Countries.

In his address to the heads of states and governments, Dr. Savaş Alpay, the Director General of SESRIC, outlined the overall aspirations and objectives of the Programme, and underlined the significance of the vocational education and training as an important developmental tool in today’s information age when the high global competitiveness, rapid changes in technology and new modes of work organisation have led to skills intensifications and an increase in the demand for higher skilled labour force against the global challenges. He also briefed the august gathering about the recent activities and undertakings realised by the SESRIC in its capacity as the Executive Organ of the Programme since the endorsement of the OIC-VET Programme at the 24th Session of the COMCEC in 2008, including the OIC-VET Portal and OIC-VET Partners Database.

The OIC-VET is a programme originally prepared by SESRIC in order to improve the quality of vocational education and training (VET) in the public and private sectors with the aim of supporting and enhancing the opportunities for individuals in the member countries to develop their knowledge and skills and thus to contribute to the development and competitiveness of the economies. It aims at improving the competencies and skills of the people according to the needs and priorities of labour markets through intra-OIC partnerships at institutional level. The Programme focuses on increasing accessibility and raising the quality of VET, and provides an opportunity for organizations involved in VET to build OIC partnerships, exchange best practices, increase the expertise of their staff and develop the skills and competencies of the participants.

H.E. Abdullah Gül further stressed that the programme requires the support and active participation of member countries in order to generate tangible outcomes and to produce long run impacts. In this regard he called upon the relatively advanced member countries to provide financial assistance for low income countries, and urged Islamic Development Bank to provide technical and financial assistance for the projects prepared under the framework of the programme.

The OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action to Meet the Challenges Facing the Muslim Ummah in the 21st Century, which was adopted by the Third Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit Conference held in Makkah Al Mukarramah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in December 2005, emphasizes the need to make optimal use of the human, natural and economic resources of the Muslim world in order to promote the existing cooperation. Inspired by the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action the idea of initiating the OIC-VET Programme was first proposed by SESRIC and welcomed by the 23rd Session of COMCEC in 2007. Later, the 24th Session of the COMCEC held in Istanbul on 20-24 October 2008 approved the proposed implementation mechanism of OIC-VET Programme prepared by the SESRIC and called upon the member states to incorporate their vocational training programs into the OIC-VET Programme, thereby, generating a common OIC platform for the benefits of the OIC Member Countries in this area.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.oicvet.org

OIC-VET Programme Summary

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