Int J Educ Vocat Guidance DOI 10.1007/s10775-007-9133-5
Career guidance in the Middle East and North Africa Ronald G. Sultana Æ A. G. Watts
Received: 16 February 2007 / Accepted: 13 May 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008
Abstract The results are presented of a policy-focused review of career guidance services in 10 Middle East and North African countries. A range of economic, political, socio-cultural and educational factors which seem likely to have constrained the development of such services, and to have influenced the forms they have taken, are discussed. A number of drivers for change are outlined, the nature of the main current services is described, and a number of common issues are explored. Six broad themes are identified for the future development of career guidance services within the region. Re´sume´ Conseil d’orientation de carrie`re au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique du Nord. On pre´sente les re´sultats d’une revue centre´e sur la politique des services d’orientation de carrie`re dans dix pays du Moyen-Orient et d’Afrique du Nord. Un ensemble de facteurs e´conomiques, politiques, socio-culturels et e´ducatifs qui semblent probablement avoir contraint le de´veloppement de tels services et avoir influence´ les formes qu’ils ont prises est soumis a` la discussion. On donne un aperc¸u d’un certain nombre de moteurs de changement, on de´crit la nature des principaux services existants et on explore un certain nombre de proble`mes habituellement rencontre´s. Six grands the`mes sont identifie´s concernant le futur de´veloppement des services d’orientation de carrie`re dans la re´gion. Zusammenfassung Berufsberatung im Nahen Osten und Nordafrika. Die Ergebnisse einer Untersuchung werden pra¨sentiert, die die Politik hinsichtlich der Berufsberatungsdienste in zehn naho¨stlichen und nordafrikanischen La¨ndern R. G. Sultana (&) Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Educational Research, University of Malta, Msida MSD 06, Malta e-mail:
[email protected] A. G. Watts Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby, Derby, UK
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
u¨berpru¨fte. Eine Reihe von o¨konomischen, politischen, soziokulturellen und bildungsma¨ßigen Faktoren werden diskutiert, welche die Formen von deren Entwicklung beeinflusst und die Entwicklung selbst eher gehemmt haben. Dabei werden die aktuellen Strukturen der Dienste beschrieben, die treibenden Kra¨fte fu¨r deren Vera¨nderung benannt und eine Anzahl von gemeinsamen Problemen ero¨rtert. Sechs u¨bergreifende Themen werden fu¨r die zuku¨nftige Weiterentwicklung der Berufsberatungsdienste in dieser Region identifiziert. ´ frica del Norte. Resumen Orientacio´n para la Carrera en Oriente Medio y A Se presentan los resultados de una revisio´n desde la perspectiva de las polı´ticas de ´ frica del Norte. Se los servicios de orientacio´n en diez paı´ses de Oriente Medio y A analizan una serie de factores econo´micos, polı´ticos, socio-culturales y educativos que parecen haber frenado el desarrollo de dichos servicios. Se sugieren un nu´mero de factores motivadores para el cambio, se describe la naturaleza de los servicios actuales, y se exploran una serie de aspectos comunes. Se han identificado seis tema´ticas amplias para el desarrollo futuro de los servicios de orientacio´n dentro de la regio´n. Keywords
Career guidance Policy issues Middle East North Africa
The Middle East and North Africa is an area which in recent years has been characterised by political turbulence and conflict, with potential implications across the globe. It is accordingly an area in which many other countries have an interest in supporting moves designed to encourage stability and prosperity through economic and social development. Career guidance services can be part of such development. This paper is based on a review of career guidance in a number of Middle East and North African countries recently carried out for the European Training Foundation (ETF), updating and extending some of the scant work previously available on the topic (e.g. Day, 1983; Soliman, 1991). The Barcelona Process, launched in 1995, established a broad framework of political, economic and social relations between the EU Member-States and partner-countries in the Southern Mediterranean. This includes the MEDA region, which comprises Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS). The MEDA Education and Training for Employment (ETE) project, managed by ETF, is designed to increase employment in the region by improving the quality of education and training, through exchanges of good practices and other forms of co-operation. This work includes comparative analyses, of which the work reported here was one. The review used a survey instrument developed in a series of reviews of career guidance policies and practices conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2004), the European Commission (Sultana, 2003, 2004) and the World Bank (Watts & Fretwell, 2004). These covered 37 countries; the key conclusions were summarised in a mega-synthesis (Watts & Sultana, 2004). Subsequently, an adapted version of the survey instrument was used in a review conducted by the ETF in the West Balkans (Sweet, 2007). Some further
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
modifications were made to the instrument for the present study, in collaboration with national experts in each of the ten participating countries: A. M. Abdul Ghani (Lebanon); Khayri Abushowayb (WBGS); Fusun Akko¨k (Turkey); Aboubakr Badawi (Egypt); Benny Benjamin (Israel); Abdassalem Bouaich (Morocco); Ame´ziane Djenkal (Algeria); Issa Maldaoun (Syria); Nader Mryyan (Jordan); and Saı¨d Ben Sedrine (Tunisia). These experts were then commissioned to prepare country reports based on the instrument. The present article is based substantially on the synthesis of their reports (Sultana & Watts, 2007), and is likewise guided by a concern to respect the specificity of context. This is in sympathy with the growing movement in the field toward gaining cultural relevance in career theory and practice (Hartung, 2002), and towards avoiding intervention programmes that could ultimately not only be culturally irrelevant but also inadvertently carry a neo-colonialist bias.
The nature of the region The extent to which the MEDA countries constitute a ‘‘region’’, in a more than geographical sense, is questionable. Israel, for instance, differs greatly from neighbouring countries in the structure of its economy and labour market, its educational indices, its capacity for research and development, its political affiliations, and its connectedness with world markets. Eight of the 10 countries can be referred to as ‘‘Arab’’ states (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Syria) and territories (WBGS). These can, from certain perspectives, be considered to form a discrete bloc in the Mediterranean region. Among their key unifying factors are the Arabic language, the history of the Islamic Empire, the Muslim religion and (often but not always and not to the same extent) economic under-development. However, most of these countries have been too preoccupied with distinct domestic or sub-regional security and economic issues to attempt nurturing a strong network of relations with all the other Arab states in the region. Indeed, centrifugal forces have often superseded centripetal forces, encouraging further splintering of resources, despite the attempts at co-operation between Arab states in areas such as security and energy. The Maghreb countries (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia), for instance, tend to see their future in securing market access to Western Europe rather more than in having strong economic ties with the other Arab states (see Hudson, 1998). Furthermore, distinct colonial and post-colonial experiences have left different traditions and models implanted in the different Arab states. This affects many aspects of state administration and institutions, including education. In the field of career guidance, for instance, it is clear that while Egypt and Jordan tend to have been influenced by Anglo-Saxon approaches to guidance, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and to a lesser extent Lebanon have been more influenced by French models as well as French-Canadian ones. While Turkey shares some of the realities of the Arab states in the region—partly for historical reasons and partly because the majority of its population are Muslim— it is a secular state, with its own specificities. One is that it is the only MEDA
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
country which is a candidate for membership in the European Union. This means that it has been more subject to direct EU policy influence.
Contextual factors The region is characterised by a number of economic, political, socio-cultural and educational factors which seem likely to have constrained the development of career guidance services, and to have influenced the forms which existing services have taken. Many also represent factors that need to be taken into account in any future development of these services, to ensure that they are embedded in their context and not merely imported from elsewhere.
Economic and political factors One important economic factor is rural poverty. The economies of several countries in the MEDA region—such as Morocco, Syria and Turkey—are marked by a heavy reliance on agriculture, with sizeable percentages of the population living in rural regions. This raises important questions regarding the value of career guidance to poor, rural communities, where access to education is still limited, where the range of occupations available to choose from may be effectively restricted to agriculture and related jobs, transmitted largely through families, and where work is focused on economic survival rather than self-development and identity construction. A second, linked factor is the extent of the informal sector. This is commonly defined to cover unregistered or unincorporated enterprises below a certain size (usually five employees or less), including individuals who may employ family members or others on an occasional basis; it covers occupations in traditional arts and crafts, auto-mechanical repairs, and street vending, but excludes agricultural activities (Bardak, Huitfeldt, & Wahba, 2006). ILO estimates suggest that informalsector employment as a percentage of non-agricultural employment accounts for 35–50% in most MEDA countries (Bardak, 2005). The sector is not highly regulated or formalised, with few if any job descriptions, qualification requirements, or occupational structures. Many of the jobs are low-skilled or even unskilled, with proficiency being acquired on the job, through informal apprenticeship with more experienced workers, or by trial-and-error. Such work tends not to feature in formal career information resources or career education programmes, even though for many students it represents their most realistic and likely future. Third, even within the formal economy most of the formal activity outside the public sector is carried out in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A lot of these are family-owned micro-enterprises, employing less than 10 workers, most of whom may be members of the family. Young family members are commonly expected to commit themselves to the family business. The scope of career guidance in such situations is restricted, since the notion of ‘‘choice’’ is effectively circumscribed and foreclosed by family needs and expectations.
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
Fourth, because most of the MEDA countries have little if any unemployment protection, employment in the public sector—both in administration and in stateowned enterprises—is very attractive because of the job security and social protection it offers. The share of public-sector employment ranges from more than 30% in Tunisia and Egypt, and 50% in Jordan, to close to 60% in Algeria. The share of ‘‘civilian government employment’’ worldwide is on average 11% of total employment, but in the MEDA region as a whole it goes up to 17.5% (Bardak, 2005). Many workers in the public sector also supplement their incomes with moonlighting in the informal sector: this second employment may provide more occupational satisfaction than their formal job. Such complexities may be difficult to address within formal career guidance systems. Fifth, only three countries in the region (Algeria, Israel and Turkey) have unemployment insurance for eligible citizens who end up without a job. Accordingly, the unemployed in the other countries have little if any incentive to go to the Public Employment Services (PES) except where, as in Morocco, the mediation with the labour market has been strengthened through the introduction of a range of services that support client access to the labour market. In many instances across the region, however, this is still not the case. In Egypt, for example, PES perform primarily a rubber-stamping function once people have obtained a job, for tax-registration purposes. In such situations, career guidance services are unlikely to be given much priority in the PES. Sixth, a strong feature of the region has been the exporting of labour to neighbouring countries (especially the Gulf States), as well as to Europe and North America. This is partly related to the high birth rate: the region has the largest proportion of young people in the world, with more than half of the population under the age of 25, and almost 38% under the age of 14 (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2002). The flow of migrant labour has mitigated the problem of unemployment, and is a significant source of national income (Ozden & Schiff, 2005). It nevertheless represents a haemorrhage that further exacerbates the weak economic position of the south (Sabour, 1993). It raises the issues of the extent to which career guidance services should give attention to study and work opportunities abroad. Finally, political factors can limit the range of opportunities. In WBGS, the West Bank is under military occupation and the Gaza Strip is closed and under siege, which makes any kind of mobility very difficult. Lebanon, for its part, has closed off opportunities for employment to Palestinians in sixty occupations (International Federation for Human Rights, 2003). Such restrictions in geographical and occupational mobility naturally have dramatic implications for any notion of choice, and can limit the scope and even the relevance of career guidance. Political turbulence can also affect the scope for career guidance services in other ways. In Lebanon, for example, the civil war, political instability and the recent war with Israel have all caused economic stagnation and halted all development activities. In Israel, the sustained period of violence has reduced foreign investments, and the recent conflict with Lebanon has resulted in the collapse of small businesses and loss of jobs. At the same time, the Israeli employment service
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
has been given responsibility for the labour integration of the evacuees from the Gaza Strip, many of whom are experiencing extreme life-style changes and trauma.
Socio-cultural factors Alongside these economic and political factors are a number of socio-cultural factors. One is the importance of family influences. The family is often an extended one, more akin to the notion of clan, around which several aspects of social relations come together. Clans demarcate and regulate several boundaries, including potential partners for marriage and for business alliances. They are also the main form of economic and social support: the cohesive system of social responsibility under which members of families support one another in hard times is one of the reasons why absolute poverty is the lowest among all the developing regions of the world (Bardak, 2005). The converse of this is that families often have a very significant influence on what occupations are pursued by members of that family or clan. Indeed, the Western notion of individual career guidance might be seen as inappropriate and/or irrelevant by some groups, since traditional notions of respect towards elders often induce young people to follow pathways decided for them by parents, older siblings, close relatives, and leaders in the clan. The latter may very well be the key social institution defining identity. In relation to this, Hofstede’s (2001) work on national and regional cultural groupings which seem to be remarkably persistent over time, and which affect behaviour of both individuals and organisations, is particularly relevant. Hofstede draws a distinction between those cultures that have an individualist orientation and those that are, in contrast, collectivist. Most Mediterranean and Arab societies reflect the latter orientation, with people being expected to act not autonomously but rather as members of a group or organisation. The implications of collectivist worldviews on orientations to career guidance, and the impact of an interdependent view of the self, have been explored by Flum and Cinamon (2006) among others. Such views might very well clash with one of the major underlying assumptions about guidance in western societies, where this ultimately social practice can best be seen in terms of the notion of ‘‘care of the self’’, with guidance being one of the ‘‘technologies of self’’ through which individuals constitute themselves as subjects (Foucault, 1986). Second, traditional gender roles are very important, and often legitimised not just by tradition but also by particular (sometimes contested) interpretations of religious dogma. Occupations are highly gender-typified, and it is often considered unseemly and even shameful for a person to transgress gender roles when exploring career futures, or for women to work in a predominantly male environment. The dilemma for career guidance here is that, given the importance of the patriarchal family (Nasser & Abouchedid, 2006), practitioners have to involve parents in the process of choice; but in doing so they may have to combat the prejudices that parents bring with them and which limit aspirations, particularly for girls—whose futures tend to be narrowly tied to the roles of wife, mother, and carer of elderly relatives, including
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
in-laws. Both allegiance to the clan and attitudes towards gendered identities are closely linked to the notion of honour and shame: core values in Mediterranean societies that serve to pressure individuals into submitting to the expectations and norms of the community (Peristiany, 1965). Third, the role of the family in Arab societies includes the exercise of influence, patronage and clientalism—features that are typical of Mediterranean societies (see e.g. Boissevain, 1974). The standing of a particular family or clan in a community determines its wasta (influence), and can play a major part in providing access to opportunities for employment, particularly in the public sector. Informal networks of influence take precedence over impersonal and formalised recruitment procedures (Nasser & Abouchedid, 2006), to the detriment of developing a meritocratic society. This can severely restrict the scope for career guidance. Many young people do not show much interest in enhancing their ability to choose because they believe that their career chances depend entirely upon their family connections. Such orientations are fed by other related dimensions of culture. The research by Hofstede (2001) suggests that Arab societies, like Latin American ones, score highest when it comes to what is referred to as ‘‘power distance’’, i.e. the degree to which the less powerful members of society expect there to be differences in the levels of power. In most contexts in the MEDA region, the overwhelming expectation is that some individuals wield larger amounts of power than do others. Needless to say, such expectations feed into several aspects of the career decisionmaking process—including, for instance, acceptance of one’s position in the social structure, views on what constitutes appropriate aspirations, as well as on the channels and strategies that facilitate social mobility. Fourth, directiveness is strongly embedded in the culture of many MEDA countries. This is evident not only within the family, but also within the school system, where the curricula are often perceived to encourage submission, obedience, subordination and compliance, rather than free critical thinking (Bardak, 2005). The state too has, in many parts of the MEDA region, tended to adopt an approach to the economy that is both centralist and command-driven. Several of the countries in the region have developed a succession of medium-term plans for their economies, projecting the labour requirements to implement these plans, and exerting strong policy influence to direct young people into these tracks. This can pre-empt notions of choice as this is normally understood in career guidance. In such circumstances, it is likely that the concept of choice and the scope for formal career guidance services will be restricted, as also will be the expectations of, and the styles and methods adopted by, such formal career guidance services as may exist. Fifth, linked to family socialisation and its impact on career orientations is a deeply embedded life orientation that has been identified in many Mediterranean societies, based on fatalism. An important distinction made in attribution theory refers to the difference between individuals and communities in attributing success or failure in life, as well as achievement more generally, to external or internal factors. People from the Mediterranean as well as Arab states tend to exhibit a high degree of external attribution, i.e. they tend to attribute success and failure to such external factors as luck, God, destiny, and so on (Cohen-Mor, 2001). It could also be said that Islam—which means ‘‘submission to God’s will’’—reinforces and gives a
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
religious dimension to notions of quasi-fatalistic acceptance of personal destinies defined by others. For ultra-orthodox (haredi) Jews, too, self-actualisation is attainable only by religious study, so it cannot be viewed as an overt goal of career choice. Here it must be emphasised that in many of the MEDA societies, religion is not just a private matter, but one that strongly shapes the daily public life of individuals and groups. These deeply embedded life orientations have important implications for career guidance, inasmuch as the latter is predicated on the notion that individuals are largely in control of their own destinies, and that the future is subject to rational planning rather than to forces over which they have little if any control. In the light of these factors, it is significant that there is no single Arabic word that comprehensively reflects the word career or the term career guidance. The words counselling and guidance are easily translated into irshad and tawjeeh respectively, but career is more problematic. Some possibilities have been suggested within the project. This indicates that the concept still has some fluidity within the region.
Educational factors Finally, the educational system in many Arab states can be characterised by a number of difficulties that have a direct or indirect impact on the field of career guidance. These include (see e.g. UNDP, 2003): •
•
•
•
•
A culture of elitism that prevails among system administrators, teachers and parents alike, where the legacy of historically meritocratic systems aiming at excellence for a few has led to a preoccupation with selectivity. This can lead to the ‘‘cooling out’’ of large numbers of disaffected students who, for reasons that are often social in origin, do not initially perform well at school, are accordingly labelled negatively by teachers, and then give up on formal learning. Curricula and teaching methods which emphasise memorising and rote learning rather than critical thinking, which stress coverage rather than mastery, and which place an emphasis on ‘‘knowing that’’ and to some extent on ‘‘knowing how’’ rather than on ‘‘knowing why’’ and on competencies generally. Pedagogical practices that do not take sufficiently into account the different learning needs and styles of pupils, and do not encourage or facilitate the development of autonomous learning. Assessment strategies which are summative in nature, with formal examinations—such as the Tawjihi rite of passage at the end of high school— determining much of the school curriculum and pedagogy, and where the primary purpose seems to be selection and channelling into different educational (and consequently occupational) pathways, rather than the formative processes of diagnosis, remediation and support that nurture and sustain individual choices and aspirations. Centralised administrative structures which are inimical to innovation and to flexible responses to challenges.
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
•
•
Lack of sufficiently trained teaching staff, with weak—and sometimes nonexistent—initial and continuing teacher education structures, particularly for the secondary cycle. Problems with equity, with major imbalances along urban-rural and coastalinterior axes, which manifest themselves through such indicators as learning achievement, repetition of levels, and drop-out rates.
The status hierarchy in terms of post-school opportunities tends to be very rigid, with those with top marks entering medicine, science and engineering degree courses, the next group entering the humanities, and the rump going into technical and vocational education. It is largely this hierarchy that determines futures, not individual choice or aspirations. Drivers for change At the same time, it is important to stress the diversity of the region—exceptions can be found to most of the generalisations that have been made—and the extent to which it is changing. As Bardak et al. (2006, p. 2) points out, most countries in the region ‘‘can be defined as economies in transition’’. In particular, they are changing towards open market economies. The aim is to create, within each country, a more efficient public sector and a more dynamic private sector. This is linked to the aim of establishing a Euro-Mediterranean free-trade area by 2010, in the context of the Barcelona process. An important issue is how this transition can be carried out without negative social consequences and with benefit to the entire national community. Reforms to education and training systems are seen as playing a fundamental role in this connection (Chakroun, 2003). Such reforms have received support from a wide variety of international donor organisations, which has varied in its effectiveness (Bardak, 2005). They have included stronger but also more flexible articulation both within the education and training system and in relation to the labour market. This in turn opens up more scope for individuals to make choices within the system. Arguably, however, it is not enough simply to increase the scope for choices; it is also important, if these reforms are to be effective, to take steps to ensure that support is available to help individuals to make these choices in a wellinformed and well-thought-through way. This is where career guidance can play an important role. A case in point is the steps being made to transform the status of technical and vocational education and training (TVET). In the recent past, the main role of this sector has been as an educational alternative for those who fail academically and for those who cannot be accommodated in higher education. It has been of low status and low quality, promoting specialisation in narrowly defined fields, often leading to employment dead-ends. Only a few students in the region have opted voluntarily for TVET as an alternative to general education (ETF & World Bank, 2005). Now, however, efforts are being made to reform TVET as an instrument for developing a knowledge-based economy. This requires elevating its quality and status, and encouraging more students to choose it rather than accept it by default.
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
At the same time, work has started in a number of MEDA countries on developing qualification frameworks designed to relate qualifications in different sectors to one another, developing linkages and pathways with portable credits that enable students to move more flexibly from one sector of education and training to another. This is linked to moving away from detailed job profiles as the basis for TVET to more fluid descriptions of competences. This, it is hoped, will enable individuals to respond more flexibly to the changing needs of the labour market. All of these changes increase the opportunities and indeed requirements for students to make choices. They accordingly enhance the need for career guidance to be available not just on exit from the education and training system, but within this system and as an integral part of it. Enhanced attention to career guidance is also linked to the move towards more active and student-centred forms of learning, based on dialoguing with students rather than just lecturing to them. It is further linked with efforts to encourage more motivated students, with goals that go beyond passing of examinations as ends in themselves. In addition to its links to education and training reforms, career guidance can also be linked to restructuring of the labour market. This includes attempts to encourage stronger market mechanisms by reducing the size of the public sector. Markets work most effectively when the actors within them have access to good information. Career guidance can accordingly be seen as a means of making labour markets work. There is also in some countries a realisation that elements of career guidance can be helpful in encouraging entrepreneurship.
Current provision Career guidance services in the MEDA region have a long history. It was, for example, in 1944 that the Vocational Guidance Bureau of Hadassah was established in Israel, while the first documentation and guidance centres opened their doors in the major cities of Morocco in 1946. This was followed in the 1950s by initiatives in several other countries in the region. Some of these initiatives have survived or evolved; others have been discontinued or replaced. The history of services in several MEDA countries has been an uneven one, with some initiatives growing organically, and others proceeding on a ‘‘stop-start’’ basis as situations and policy priorities have fluctuated. In most of the MEDA countries, as in many other middle-income and developing countries across the world (Watts & Fretwell, 2004), such formal career guidance as is provided in schools is carried out by guidance counsellors (under various titles). Their numbers are considerable: for example, over 11,000 in Turkey; around 4,000 in Israel; almost 1,600 in Algeria; over 1,300 in Jordan; 680 in Morocco. Their role is usually a wider one, often encompassing personal and social as well as educational guidance; the attention given to longer-term career issues tends to be limited or (in some cases) non-existent. A few countries have introduced some limited career education into the curriculum. In general, career guidance programmes tend to be stronger in some private schools than in the government schools, partly because they tend to have smaller class sizes and more resources at
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
their disposal: this is particularly the case in Lebanon. Within vocational schools, career guidance provision tends to be restricted to the informal help which may or may not be offered by individual teachers/trainers, though there are some examples of more formal provision. In a number of MEDA countries, some universities have careers services for their students. This is the case, for example, in Egypt, Israel and Turkey; in Jordan, a development fund has established career counselling centres in 20 public and private universities. Elsewhere, career guidance activities are limited (to occasional careers fairs, for example) or are non-existent. Public employment services are, as noted earlier, poorly developed in many MEDA countries, partly because only a few have unemployment insurance schemes, and partly because the services have limited funding and limited credibility with employers. Not surprisingly, therefore, their career guidance functions tend to be restricted too. The main exceptions are in Israel, where the National Employment Service includes a National Career Counselling Centre (though its future has recently been in question) and which also has 12 occupational information centres across the country; in Turkey, where 18 of the 81 employment offices offer employment and career counselling services (including testing) and a further 43 have career information centres; and in Tunisia, where each PES office has a team offering career guidance. Morocco’s Agence Nationale pour la Promotion de l’Emploi et des Compe´tences (ANAPEC—National agency for the promotion of employment and competencies) has also made important strides forward, particularly since the establishment of the Centres d’Informations et d’Orientations Pour l’Emploi (Centres for employment information and guidance) in 1991, triggered by the shift to liberalisation and the opening up of the economy. More limited developments are evident in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In some cases, employment services are offered to particular groups by other government bodies: for example, in Israel by the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption; and in WBGS by the Ministry for Released Political Prisoners. In a number of MEDA countries, some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been active in the provision of career guidance services. In countries like Egypt and Lebanon, for example, a range of faith-based and other organisations have offered services including career guidance components, chiefly to young people and disadvantaged groups. Such provision also includes entrepreneurship programmes, some of them addressed to young people and others to women. Career guidance services offered by employers are very limited in the MEDA region. Such services are offered by a few multinational companies operating in the area. In addition, some larger employers in Israel and Turkey in particular offer career guidance as part of outplacement services for discontinued employees, usually purchasing these services from the private sector. In the private sector, a number of MEDA countries have private employment services, and in Morocco ANAPEC is increasingly outsourcing some of its services to the Agences de Recrutements Prive´s. But the only MEDA country where there is significant private-sector provision of career guidance services to individuals is Israel. Other private-sector activities include careers fairs (e.g. Lebanon) and careers magazines (e.g. Syria).
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
Issues Staffing In many MEDA countries, little formal training exists in the field of career guidance. Accordingly, services are offered by individuals trained in cognate fields (e.g. psychology or personal counselling), or trained in career guidance abroad, or trained on short courses lasting a few days or a couple of weeks (often unaccredited), or without any formal relevant training at all. Diplomas and degrees in counselling are offered by universities in a number of MEDA countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Turkey (in Turkey, they are offered by 16 universities). Some of them include career guidance courses, but they are usually optional rather than compulsory, thereby reinforcing the low priority of career guidance within the role. In Morocco, an extensive 2-year training for teachers and inspectors is offered by the Centre for Guidance and Planning; while in Tunisia, teachers are only eligible to be part of the body of school and university advisers created by the Ministry of Education if they follow specialised training, which is currently pegged at level 3 of university education. In Turkey, one university offers a master’s degree in human resource management and career counselling. Few MEDA countries have professional associations for career guidance professionals. The main example in the region is the Israel Association for Vocational and Career Counselling, which has around 70–80 members, and has twice organised international events in collaboration with the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance. It has developed competency standards and an ethical code. It has also made some attempts to establish a certification process for career counsellors in Israel, based on international models; but so far these efforts have been unsuccessful, largely because the association values the heterogeneity of its membership. In Turkey, there is a Turkish Psychological and Guidance Association, which is addressed mainly to guidance counsellors in schools and pays some attention to career guidance as part of this. Morocco too has an Association of Counsellors, and also an Association for Inspectors of Counselling Services.
Career information In some MEDA countries, the career information available is very restricted. In Egypt, for example, information is available on post-compulsory education and training, but information on occupations is currently limited to some information sheets. In Lebanon, the only regular career publication has been the annual universities guide produced by the Ministry of Education. In WBGS, the information available is limited to a few leaflets and brochures. More strongly developed career information systems exist in Israel, and also in Turkey, where an Occupational Standards Commission (MEDAK) has been established to ensure the reliability, validity and standardisation of career information; over 600 career information files have been approved and are openly
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
available on the Internet. Progress is also being made in other countries, including Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia; in some countries (including Egypt, Jordan and Syria), particular work is under way on developing improved labour market information, often with donor support. In Morocco, plans are afoot to establish a National Employment Observatory in order to improve the quality and transparency of labour market information, which could be used both for macro-economic planning, and to facilitate a better match between supply and demand of skills. Computerised and web-based services are particularly strongly developed in Israel, Jordan and Turkey.
Quality Quality assurance is an issue that has received increasing attention in OECD and EU countries (Plant, 2005). So far, however, attention to this issue in the MEDA region has been limited. In Israel, the tendency has been to manage quality assurance through assuring the credentials of the professionals delivering services; more recently, there has been a growing emphasis on outcome performance measures for public services, including career guidance services. In Turkey, the public _ ¸ KUR) has made some use of generic Total Quality employment service (IS Management (TQM) standards; in addition, the Ministry of National Education has plans to address the issue of more specific career guidance quality standards in the context of a Secondary Education Project to be carried out in 2006–2010. In the Francophone countries, the tendency is to rely on inspection in order to ensure quality. This is especially true of Morocco, where inspectors of guidance services are specifically trained to fulfil this role.
Evidence base In general, the level of scientific research and generation of knowledge in the region is poor (Bardak, 2005). This applies to the field of career guidance, as to others. Moreover, collection even of throughput data is weak. This means that the evidence base for policy-building in the field is limited. The main exceptions are in Israel, where the Ministry of Education carries out a decennial survey of school counselling services, based on both quantitative and qualitative data; and in _ ¸ KUR collects very detailed throughput data, and the Ministry of Turkey, where IS National Education has carried out a study of the opinions of teachers, pupils and parents on guidance services in basic education (which inter alia demonstrated that career guidance services were not performed in a sufficiently systematic way).
Strategic leadership Most MEDA countries currently have weak policy frameworks for career guidance. Some have relevant legislation, though sometimes it is purely definitional (e.g. Egypt) or general (e.g. Jordan, Syria) in nature; even where it is more specific, it is
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
sometimes ignored in practice (e.g. Israel, Lebanon and Tunisia). Such services as there are tend to be fragmented and lacking a coherent support structure. The two exceptions are in Morocco, where co-ordination between different Ministries is regulated by a Ministerial Note, though the process tends to be top-heavy and bureaucratic; and in Turkey, where in the National Development Plan guidance services are viewed as a strategy for increasing the quality of education, developing human resources, and increasing employment, and where a formal co-operation protocol has been agreed between the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, and a range of other organisations including those representing employers and trade unions. In Lebanon, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education has recently developed a national education strategy, in which career guidance is a priority. Similarly, in Tunisia, the education reform of 2002 highlighted the role of guidance, and the 11th National Development Plan promoted the value of guidance in the attainment of the overall objective of restructuring the economy and developing a knowledge-based society. A number of other countries (Jordan, Lebanon, and WBGS) have established divisions of career guidance within a relevant ministry, which provide a focal point for policy support. The OECD and related reviews argued the need for stronger co-ordination and leadership mechanisms in order to articulate a vision and develop a strategy for delivering lifelong access to career guidance services. In some MEDA countries there are embryonic developments which could provide a basis for leadership structures of this kind. In Jordan, for example, the Al-Manar Project at the National Centre for Human Resources Development has assumed a catalytic role in developing and promoting career guidance in schools, universities and the labour market. In Turkey, a series of policy workshops with a broad-based representation have been held to discuss ways of improving career guidance services on a lifelong basis. International donor organisations have played a significant role in a number of the major developments in the region. Examples include the role of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in Egypt and Jordan, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Syria, and of the World Bank in Lebanon, Tunisia and Turkey. Not all such efforts have been effective: for example, a World Bank project in Lebanon on vocational and technical education which included substantial career guidance elements was cancelled in 2004. A further important influence in Turkey has been the process of harmonisation with EU standards as part of the candidacy process for admission. This was significant, for example, in establishing lifelong guidance and learning among the priorities for the new national plan.
Conclusion The 10 MEDA countries are at different levels of development in relation to career guidance services, and have different needs. Each of the 10 country reports in the
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance
study includes detailed recommendations relevant to the country in question. Six broad themes emerge from these recommendations: • • •
• • •
Improving the comprehensiveness and quality of career information. Establishing career education more strongly within the school curriculum. Extending career guidance services more generally, within the context of lifelong career development for all, where possible building on existing provision in an organic way. Ensuring that such provision takes full account of, and is strongly grounded in, the socio-cultural context. Developing the competences of career guidance staff. Identifying a focal point for strategic leadership across the career guidance field, on a lifelong basis.
It is also recommended that steps should be taken to sustain the networking across the MEDA region which has been a feature of the project reported here. There is much which the countries in the region can learn from each other, and there may be some areas in which collaboration and selective policy borrowing may enable maximum use to be made of scarce resources.
References Bardak, U. (2005). An overview of educational systems and labour markets in the Mediterranean region. Turin: European Training Foundation. Bardak, U., Huitfeldt, H., & Wahba, J. (2006). The functioning of labour markets in the MEDA region. Turin: European Training Foundation. Boissevain, J. (1974). Friends of friends: Networks, manipulations and coalitions. Oxford: Blackwell. Chakroun, B. (2003). Innovative practices in teacher and trainer training in the Mediterranean region. Turin: European Training Foundation. Cohen-Mor, D. (2001). A matter of fate: The concept of fate in the Arab world as reflected in modern Arabic literature. New York: Oxford University Press. Day, R. C. (1983). Attitudes towards counselling in the Middle East. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 6(2), 143–152. European Training Foundation & World Bank (2005). Reforming technical vocational education and training in the Middle East and North Africa: Experiences and challenges. Luxembourg: Office of the Official Publications of the European Communities. Foucault, M. (1986). The history of sexuality, volume 3: Care of the self. New York: Random House. Flum, H., & Cinamon, R. G. (2006). Socio-cultural differences between Jewish and Arab teachers’ attitudes toward career education in Israel. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 6, 123–140. Hartung, P. J. (2002). Cultural context in career development theory and practice: Role salience and values. Career Development Quarterly, 51, 12–25. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Hudson M. (Ed.) (1998). Middle East dilemma: The politics and economics of Arab integration. New York: Columbia University Press. International Federation for Human Rights. (2003). Palestinian refugees: Systematic discrimination and complete lack of interest on the part of the international community. Report No. 356/2. Paris: International Federation for Human Rights. Nasser, R. N., & Abouchedid, K. (2006). Job-seeking behaviour and job outcomes among Lebanese university graduates in private and public universities. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 6, 167–180.
123
Int J Educ Vocat Guidance Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2004). Career guidance and public policy: Bridging the gap. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Ozden C. & Schiff M. (Eds.) (2005). International migration, remittances and the brain drain. Washington, DC: World Bank & Palgrave Macmillan. Peristiany J. G. (Ed.) (1965). Honour and shame: The values of Mediterranean society. London: Wiedenfeld & Nicolson. Plant, P. (2005). Quality in career guidance: Issues and methods. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 4(2–3), 105–122. Sabour, M. (1993). La diaspora intellectuelle et scientifique marocaine en Europe [The Moroccan intellectual and scientific diaspora in Europe]. Joensuu: Department of Sociology, University of Joensuu. Soliman, A. M. (1991). The role of counselling in developing countries. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 14(1), 3–14. Sultana, R. G. (2003). Review of career guidance policies in 11 acceding and candidate countries: A synthesis report. Turin: European Training Foundation. Sultana, R. G. (2004). Guidance policies in the knowledge society: Trends, challenges and responses across Europe. Thessaloniki: CEDEFOP. Sultana, R. G., & Watts, A. G. (2007). Career guidance in the MEDA region. Turin: European Training Foundation. Sweet, R. (2007). Career guidance in the Western Balkans region. Turin: European Training Foundation. United Nations Development Programme. (2002). Arab human development report: Creating opportunities for future generations. New York: United Nations Development Programme. United Nations Development Programme. (2003). Arab human development report: Building a knowledge society. New York: United Nations Development Programme. Watts, A. G., & Fretwell, D. (2004). Public policies for career development: Policy strategies for designing career information and guidance systems in middle-income and transition economies. Washington, DC: World Bank. Watts, A. G., & Sultana, R. G. (2004). Career guidance policies in 37 countries: Contrasts and common themes. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 4(2–3), 105–122.
123
