AUF project to streamline the skills of university graduates with the labor market

L’Orient Le Jour newspaper highlighted the Distant Learning and Pedagogical Innovation (ADIP) project which will become accessible to Masters students at Saint Joseph University (USJ) and the Open Arab University (OAU) particularly those majoring in bank management, IT engineering, and hotel and hospital management, starting the current month of February. The project which is run by the Middle East Office of the Agency of Francophone Universities (AUF) aims to transform traditional curricula to match the needs of the labor market and to develop a communication network between universities and companies. On this subject, Nathalie Bitar, the regional project coordinator, told L’Orient Le Jour that the project idea emerged from the fact that university education does not always equip graduates in their search for jobs, particularly that employers and business owners require particular skilled and qualified personnel. This, Bitar explained is often not available because of the out-dated university curricula that have not been updates to meet the needs of the current labor market. According to Bitar, ADIP will seek to assess students skills by developing a chart for each student that will allows him/her to record the particular know-how and knowledge gained during her/his years of study, like for example, training. She underlined the importance of strong direct communication between students and instructors and urgently called for the passing of a national legislation that promotes distance learning. 

L’Orient Le Jour, January 29, 2016