50K trained in Iraq’s Kurdistan to boost private sector – Shafaq News

Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah

Nearly 50,000 people in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region have
received vocational training over the past two decades, according to a field
study by the Vision (Roya) Foundation for Strategic Studies, linking the
programs to expanded employment opportunities beyond the shrinking Kurdish
public sector.

The study, presented on Wednesday during a workshop in
Al-Sulaymaniyah, examined the work of vocational training directorates
affiliated with the Kurdish Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, reviewing the
range of programs they have provided in recent years.

“Trainings covered areas including vehicle driving,
barbering, mobile phone maintenance, electronic repairs, and artificial
intelligence technologies,” Behrouz Faridoun, the Institute’s media head, told
Shafaq News, adding that the programs helped participants develop practical
skills and improve their ability to compete in the labor market.

Calling for vocational training programs to be designed
around market demand and for opportunities in the field to be expanded, he
pointed to the growing importance of private sector employment for young
people, graduates, and job seekers. Such efforts, he added, could eventually
help reduce unemployment across the Kurdistan Region.

Read more: New path to jobs: Iraq’s shift toward vocational education