Wisam is teaching carpentry at the Vocational and Technical College (VTC) of Halhul near the city of Hebron. Currently he has 30 students and all of them are part of the Work Based Learning (WBL) initiative of the Belgian Development Agency (BTC). The students are working in 25 different companies, which they chose based on their personal interests and the location. So, the students are both motivated and don't have to commute too long each day.

"The companies are very satisfied with the work of the students." 

They offer them a basic salary between 600 and 800 NIS per month and most students already have an offer to stay in the company after their graduation. The companies are so happy with their trainees that they wish that the school should extend the existing Work Based Learning programme to other vocations such as painting and designing.

The partnership between the school and the companies is a win-win situation: the companies are able to find skilled and motivated employees, and the students learn a lot of different practical skills they could not acquire in the school. Inside the VTC they have a limited amount of materials and tools, whereas in the company they can practice on making a whole range of furniture. In the current training programme they spend a total of 10 months in the company. During this period their time is equally divided between the school and the workplace.

After graduation, most students are offered a place in the company where they have done their training. A lot of them are even asked to stay before their actual graduation. Some bigger companies request up to six students as trainees, so the Work Based Learning scheme can be considered a big success.

Mohamed currently studies carpentry in the VTC in Halhul. The study programme takes one year, so in June he will graduate. Although he studies at the VTC, he goes to work in a company every day of the week to gain practical experience. Three days a week he works there full-time; the other two days he first goes to school and continues in the afternoon in the company. 

What Mohamed enjoys most about his internship in the company is the variety of the tasks. He chose the company because he liked it, and because of the limited commuting time. At the company he has a weekly plan with a specific project.

"This week I will construct a bedroom, next week it will be another kind of furniture."

He is a big supporter of the WBL programme, as it allows him to learn at the same time the theoretical knowledge of carpentry at the VTC, and the practical knowledge which he mostly acquires inside the company. Moreover, all practical issues are taken care of: in case of a work accident, he is covered by an insurance, and the safety and security rules are taken very seriously. Furthermore, the company pays him a monthly salary of 800 NIS, a plus for somebody who is after all still a student.

Once he will graduate, he will keep on working in this firm until he has acquired enough knowledge and finds a good opportunity to open his own business.

Lukman has also studied carpentry in the same VTC in Halhul. He has graduated in 2014, after following a Work Based Learning (WBL) programme that allowed him to work in a company for 4 months. He was very satisfied with the programme, as he gained theoretical knowledge in the school, and could directly apply it in the company where he learned most of his practical skills. 

"Thanks to the different experiences gained in the WBL programme, I was able to open my own business just three months after graduation."

The internship in the company has helped him a lot, as he has benefited a great deal from the work experience of his supervisor in the company. At the end he decided to become an independent carpenter what he managed to do with great success.