Youth Pursue Their Futures One Step at a Time
Read All PostsAt 10 o’clock on a wet, gray morning, 19 young men, ages 18 to 24, sit stoically behind long tables in a classroom at the LG Academy in Khalda, Jordan. The Academy, run by the consumer electronics giant LG, has partnered with Youth:Work Jordan to strengthen employment training and job opportunities for youth.
Youth:Work Jordan (YWJ) is a five-year initiative of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Youth Foundation (IYF), and the Jordanian Ministry of Social Development. YWJ enhances the prospects for disadvantaged young people by increasing their employability and entrepreneurship skills, improving local services for young people by making them more youth friendly, and engaging them in activities that benefit themselves and develop their communities.
“These are the conditions that create high pressure and can lead to freezer leaks,” says the Academy instructor, pointing to an elaborate diagram sketched in black marker on a white board.
Nearly done with their three-month classroom training, these youth will soon take part in two weeks of field training before seeking jobs in the heating and cooling industry.
“As a child, I was always fixing things,” recalls 20-year-old trainee Mohammed, who came close to receiving his secondary school diploma; yet failed the Tawjihi. He’s not alone: nearly half of Jordanian high school seniors failing to pass the rigorous certification exam.
With his father working in the water transportation business, Mohammed didn’t have the money to continue his education. Over the last several years, he’s held more than a dozen part-time jobs, including working as a cashier and selling dental insurance. With the LG training, he’s now looking to pursue a better paying, more secure career path. In addition to the technical training he’s received, Mohammed is developing valuable workplace skills, such as how to respect other’s opinions and communicate with customers.
“I needed a profession and found I really like this work,” says Mohammed, who hopes to one day leverage his skills and experience to start his own company. “To walk a million miles you need to start with a single step,” he adds.
Eighteen-year-old Basil will also soon finish the course and is poised to accept a job through LG. “It’s an opportunity to learn new things, says Basil, who also failed the Tawjihi, but hopes to retake the exam and eventually go to college.
“As a kid I used to take apart computers and electrical cars,” says Basil.
While he confesses to having bigger dreams over the long term, Basil sees the LG training and placement opportunities as an important step toward his goal of one day becoming a pilot.
With a passion for reading and politics, Basil attributes his ambition to being exposed to life outside East Amman, where he says youth have few positive role models and tend to be passive about their futures.
Asked about his own role models, Basil cites the trainer from the Jordan Career Education Foundation (JCEF), a Youth:Work Jordan coordinating NGO, who led he and the others through a three-week workplace success program.
“The training allowed me to see my strengths and weaknesses,” he says, adding that he has a newfound appreciation of his people skills and ability to work in teams.