An American Delegation visited the Hijjawi College of Technology. The delegation consisted of four different organizations visiting the West Bank and Gaza to learn more about the nature of vocational education in Palestine.
The delegates were representatives of the International Youth Foundation (IYF), Management and Training Corporation (MTC), Conflict Management Mitigation, Reconstruction International Development Group (RTI) and the United Palestinian Appeal. The four American organizations which are working in developing projects in educational and youth issues, are visiting Palestine to collect data, before writing a proposal for a project aiming to develop the vocational and technical education in five Palestinian Institutes from which the Hisham Hijjawi College of Technology is one. The project will be implemented for a three year duration and will focus on developing curricula and updating facilities.
Prof. Sulaiman Khalil, Coordinator of the Scientific Centers at An-Najah National University, accompanied the delegation and welcomed them at the college. He opened the discussion with a brief about the college and the difficulties it faces regarding the security situation in Palestine. The delegates posed several questions related to the facilities at the College and the support it got from different sources such as from Germany. Mr. Saher Kamal, of GTZ, answered, explaining the nature of the establishment itself and the German assistance which helped in providing the college with high quality machinery and apparatuses.
Mr. Ashraf Kureish, Dean of the College, talked about the current curricula used at the college. He pointed out that five majors are now based on German curriculum. He assured the delegation that the College is seeking to update the rest of its curriculum following approval from the Ministry of Higher Education.
The representatives of IYF spoke about the projects they have already conducted in some Palestinian areas like the Intel Club House in Em Al-Sharayet area in Ramallah city and the Computer Club in Silet Al-Thaher town in Jenin City. They also spoke about planned future projects in high level computer technology. The other delegates brought up several topics they wish to cover in the proposal. They assured the Palestinian representatives that they will be in direct contact with the different Palestinian institutes which will be part of the project proposal.