An Erbil Polytechnic University delegation participated in the learning strategic plan workshop to develop Physical Rehabilitation Science in Iraq that was managed by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRS) from the 14th to 17th of August 2022 in the Canyon-Erbil Hotel.
During the workshop, the attendees discussed the Physical Rehabilitation standards draft and the study program. The workshop aimed to enhance and develop Physical Rehabilitation services in Iraq to reach familiar world standards.
The Head of the Physiotherapy Department, Dr. Mahdi Khalid Qader, and the Head of the Prosthetics and Orthotics Department, Dr. Thikra Ali Aziz at the Erbil Technical Health and Medical College, were the Erbil Polytechnic University representatives in the workshop.
Erbil Polytechnic University held the workshop in collaboration with the Iraqi and Kurdistan Region Higher Education and Scientific Research Ministry, the Erbil Medicine College, the Middle Technical University, the Baghdad Technical Institute, and several Physiotherapists in different Iraqi cities.
On Wednesday, the 16th of August 2022, the Rector Assistant for Scientific Affairs participated in a joint meeting between the Higher Education and Scientific Research of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, the Health Ministry of Federal Iraq, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Canyon Hotel-Erbil.
In the meeting, the attendees discussed the mechanism of student admission, providing academic staff, the Orthotics and Prosthetics Department needs of the Technical Health and Medical College of the University and opening the postgraduate Study for this department collaboratively by the named parties.
It is worth mentioning that the Orthotics and Prosthetics Department is the only scientific department all over Iraq established in the Erbil Polytechnic University in the 2019-2020 academic year by the parties mentioned above collaboration, and ICRS financially funds it.
On Wednesday, the 16th of August 2022, the University Rector Assistant for Scientific Affairs, Dr.Nageb Toma Bato, received Mark Vanstingist, the Senior Expert at Technical and Vocational Education and Training at the Quarter Company.
In a meeting where the Rector Assistant for Students Affairs and the Curriculum Program Development Director was available, they talked about the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) project that provides new techniques for training lecturers, the study program, and skillful tests of TVET for agriculture center and the value of the necessary service series for an agricultural product in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
The project aims to take care of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region Youth through which they receive job opportunities and enhance their experience in the labour market in the agriculture sector.
During his visit, the Canadian Quarter Company Representative will visit Shaqlawa Technical College and Khabat Technical Institute to prepare a report for the European Union regarding the project implementation for agricultural departments and the quality of developing and designing of the studying program according to the labour market needs.
It is worth mentioning that the project will be implemented for the 2022-2023 study year in both Shaqlawa Technical Colleges And Khabat Technical Institute.
Aiming to connect the University Study Program and the Kurdistan Region Institutes to the Labour Market and familiarize students in Higher Education with labour law and social security retirement, the Scientific Research and the Labour Ministries Signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement.
Today Tuesday, the 8th of 2022, under the supervision of the Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Dr. Aram Muhamad Qadir and the Minister of Labour, Ms. Kwestan Muhamad, the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was done. In this session, the deputy of both ministries, the Erbil Polytechnic University Rector Asst. Prof. Dr. Edrees Muhamad Tahir Harki and the consultants and General Directors of the mentioned ministries were present. In a ceremony, both ministries signed an MOU agreement to develop talented people and the employment process.
In the beginning, the Labour Minister talked about the importance of signing the MOU and said: “the main aim of this MOU is to build scientific collaboration and get benefit from the human and financial capacity of both ministries and knowledge exchange concerning labour market needs and matching them with the study programme and training of universities.” She also said “there will be a collaboration between the employment departments of the Labour Directorates of the Labour Ministry with Career Development Centers of the Kurdistan universities to register university alumni to get trained and find job opportunities in the private sectors.
From his side, the Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister mentioned the effective points of the MOU. He said: that widening the vocational and technical program scope and further jointing the Technical Programme process with the labour market needs, and reviewing vocational and technical studying program strategy in the Kurdistan Region is one of our ministry priorities in the current Kurdistan Region Government Cabinet. This is why; signing such MOU agreements will motivate us to take a great of vocational and technical study.
Dr. Aram Muhamad Qadir also said that the MOU’s essential points are doing joint works to determine necessary skills and skills space and toning them with labour market needs and the Kurdistan Development Direction. Furthermore, we should also plan to search for university alumni to collect information about the opportunity rate of finding jobs, and evaluating their job relationship with their specialties and talents.
It is worth mentioning that another part of the signed MOU between the two ministries is to motivate the Kurdistan universities researchers to do scientific research regarding the influence of implementation (labour law, retirement, and social security law for the workers) on the labour market and the Kurdistan Region economy development, and arranging job opportunity training for the polytechnic universities to benefit from the vocational training sports of the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry, encouraging the Kurdistan Region universities alumni to participate in the vocational training and strengthening capacity training courses to prepare youth to have their projects when they step towards labour market.
