Racha is 33 years old, and mother of two daughters. She currently follows a training in beauty at the Polytechnic College Al Mustaqbal in Gaza City. She is no exception. Most of her classmates have her age and succeeded the tawjih exam a long time ago. Some even have bachelor degrees in different subjects. Still they choose to follow an extra formation. Some do so because they cannot find a job, others because they want to change profession.

“I am very happy to be able to gain work experience in a beauty salon close to my home. This allows me to combine my education with my private life.”

The training will take six months. During the first months they will learn the basic skills in the training centre, afterwards they will pursue their training in beauty salons in the region.

Racha has high hopes. She came to the college because of its good reputation and because of the Work Based Learning scheme that gives her the opportunity  to do an internship in the private sector. She is very pleased to be able to gain work experience in a beauty salon close to her home. This allows her to combine her education with her private life. After she will finish the training course, she hopes to be able to open her own beauty salon.