On Monday, May 30th 2016, the first scientific conference on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the Gaza strip took place. This conference, jointly organised by the Belgian Development Agency (BTC) and the Gaza Community College for Tourism and Applied Studies was titled ‘TVET in Gaza between Present and Future’.

After the opening session, 14 different studies and scientific papers were presented. Thanks to an in-depth discussion between the conference members, 23 different recommendations have been formulated concerning the future of TVET in Gaza.

The first group of recommendations focusses on the need to improve the society’s perception of TVET, especially among female students. Other suggestions stress the importance of more private-public partnerships, in order to maximise the relevance of TVET training for the local labour market. Another group of recommendations call for a national policy for the TVET sector. A fourth group of suggestions focusses on the need to modernize the curricula and the equipment as to keep track of the rapid developments in the field of technical and vocational education and training.

Thanks to this first scientific conference on TVET and the above mentioned recommendations, the first stepping stone has been set for a more in depth debate about the future of TVET in the Palestinian Territory, and more specifically in the Gaza strip.