The Applied Future Polytechnic College in the Gaza Strip has completed two Work Based Learning initiatives and celebrated the graduation of 30 students in air conditioning and hairdressing in a high profile event attended by both Jehad Draidi and Said El-Haq, the director generals responsible for TVET and Vocational Education at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Palestine.

Under the Work-Based Learning scheme funded by the Belgian Development Agency, the students were able to combine college training with practical experience in the private sector for air conditioning and hairdressing respectively. Moreover, through the WBL programme, special funds as well as new tools and equipment could be provided for the students to support them during their studies and prepare them for the labor market.

Both the air conditioning and hairdressing initiatives were highly successful, with several graduates already owning their own businesses or working in the sector. Hairdressing, as the newly added vocation in the college, was particularly successful, with already 5 graduates being employed in the private sector.

Suzan Al Helo, one of the graduates and mother of 6 children, had a dream to be an active woman and help her husband to improve their living conditions. “I was suffering from a difficult economic situation. After I had children I decided to go to this college. Now I am working in my own hairdressing salon in my home.”