The Abu Dhabi Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, ACTVET, will organise the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Innovation Week from 10th to 16th January under the patronage of H.H. Shaikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council.
Launched to celebrate the achievements of TVET, the Innovation Week is the first event of its kind in the UAE. It aims to engage and inform prospective students about the benefits and advancements ushered in by TVET, and also endeavours to become a national platform for experts, industry and government leaders, policymakers, researchers and educators for exchanging ideas and expertise regarding future TVET trends.
Mubarak Al Shamsi, Director-General of ACTVET, said that the 2017 edition of TVET Innovation Week will be held under the theme “TVET – Leading the Way to a Sustainable Post-Oil Economy.”
According to ACTVET, the UAE government is actively developing a holistic, national post-oil strategy that aims to set up a sustainable economy for the future generations. It has been continuously highlighted that investment in education, and especially in TVET, is at the forefront of national priorities in order to help national talents build capabilities, which will enable them to lead the economy in a sustainable and balanced manner.
The five-day event includes the TVET Leaders Forum and TVET Discovery Experience, featuring mini expos, campus open day, workshops and seminars in different locations across the seven emirates of the UAE.
TVET Innovation Week will help students discover more about various career opportunities available in technical and vocational sectors. The event will also update employers about the technical developments taking place within the education system, leading to enhanced capabilities of their future employees.
The TVET Leaders Forum will bring together a group of leading experts from the global TVET sector for increasing awareness, fostering understanding, and sharing current practices, innovative ideas and co-operation between TVET institutions and the corporate sector to nurture youth employability.
A skilled and qualified workforce is needed for further economic and social development within the UAE, as per the UAE Vision 2021. TVET, therefore, has an important role to play in the context of establishing a robust labour market and addressing Emirati skill development, human capital and employability by 2021.
The TVET Discovery Experience will feature campus open day, mini expos, workshops and seminars across ACTVET entities within the UAE. Each venue will become an ideal meeting point for learners and industry partners, demonstrating to students and their parents existing job opportunities in various sectors connected to the TVET programmes and highlighting the qualifications on offer in the UAE.—WAM