The Impact of the Mubarak Kohl InitiativeDual System for Technical Education on Egyptian Textile and Clothing Exports (Field Study)

Abstract

Human capital is a key component of any process which aims to improve the business climate. It affects it in two ways: directly, through its function as a factor of production and, indirectly, through the influence it exercises over all other domains of human activity such as basing strategic frameworks in accordance with the requirements of the labor market through improving the human education, health and so on. Egypt is characterized by the size of its population and its density distribution. With a population exceeding 80 million, it is the most populous country in the Arab world. More than half of the population is younger than 24 years old . These demographic characteristics reinforce the role of human capital as an entry point for improving the business climate, while also highlighting the inherent challenges posed by human capital development as such. In a context characterized by strong demand for a better educational system, labor market and other basic social services (e.g. health, housing, transportation), Egypt needs to further develop and implement its policies on investment in human capital. The concept of human capital can be interpreted in many ways. One of these is Professor Gary S. Becker’s definition for human development as "the knowledge, skills, experience and accumulated education in the human element that can be converted to value". This is why societies should be characterized by the need to create educational systems and models that allows meeting the needs of an ever increasingly international and competitive labor market. The Egyptian educational system distinguishes between general and technical education: general education provides the individual with knowledge in social, cultural, economic areas, etc. while technical education prepares learners for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and totally related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation through providing them with the practical skills, competencies, and know-how knowledge required to perform the job. On one hand, the importance of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) lies in its principle mission of grooming and/or preparing young people for entry into the labor market by providing them with professional training matched to the practice of a chosen profession. On the other hand, it is widely accepted that we live in a world where knowledge and technologies are renewed at an accelerating pace. Consequently, globalization and the new emerging economic and social order demand new policies and strategies to educational processes. Unfortunately, the technical and vocational education system in Egypt fails at providing its services in terms of meeting the labor market needs and equipping the graduates with the adequate set of skills and competencies required; with a 43.3% of unemployment among technical graduates and 13% general unemployment rate (CAPMAS,2012). Many initiatives have been adopted and undertaken by the responsible authorities as a means to improving and maximizing the effectiveness of the technical education system’s performance and outcomes. The Mubarak kohl Initiative-Dual System which is the scope of this study is one of those initiatives undertaken by the government. The MKI-DS is a Germany adopted system of apprenticeship that has been adapted to fit the Egyptian context. It’s a system that merges theoretical learning with practical leaning through allowing the students to attend two days at school for the theatrical part and four days in a real workplace (factory) learning the practical skills. The MKI-DS is an application of how public private partnerships can be used and implemented. This study is concerned with exploring this project in terms of the reasons that led to its existence, the privileges it had over the traditional technical system, the challenges it faced, the adaptation process it had, its importance as a public-private partnership application, the challenges i