Introduction:
As many countries over the world have improved the size of investment in human resources since such investment is more profitable, more achievable for returns, and more sustainable than any other types of investment. More or less, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), like other countries, has given since its establishment the sector of Education generally and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) particularly a lot of attention. This attention has been expressed through adopting a national strategy to develop the sector of TVET in the sense that it should provide training that corresponds to the needs of labor market based on the following main axis:

• Developing the human resources.
• Developing the material resources.
• Developing the curricula.
• Developing the regulations.

Bearing in mind, the most important issue of the quality of preparing, teaching, and training manpower aims at the trainer and his/her qualification. As a result, the achievement of the strategy goals depends mainly on the competencies and qualifications of the employees of the TVET system in general, and on the competencies and qualifications of the trainers in particular. The concerned parties in Palestine are working together to achieve the following:

1. To draw up training standards for the employees of the TVET system. These standards include:
• Job description for each job.
• Standards of passing tests and exams.
• Requirement for joining training programs.
• The curriculum.
• Methods and means of teaching and training.
• Qualifications of the educational/training staff members.


2. To use the above mentioned training standards in designing and implementing programs for training of the TVET staff, whether they are pre-service training programs or in-service programs, to raise the competency of the system employees. However, the preparation of the job description or the table of vocational competencies of the trainer is the first step in preparing and adapting the standards of training trainers. These can be used in several areas including:
• Training: The table of competencies can be used to develop training units, to evaluate previous teaching and to develop teaching plans and standards of evaluating performance and other applications.
• In-service development of Human Resources: It can be used in developing in-service training programs, measuring the performance and readiness for promotion, defining the training needs, planning vocational growth, preparing job description, and other application.
• Developing Curricula: Competencies in an educational/training system based on outputs or applications of knowledge are necessary.
• Vocational Planning: It can form a good basis for vocational training.
• Life Long Education: Successful long life learning requires the learner to define a number of clear goals and means to measure achievement and development.
• Granting Certificates: It can be used as the basis for granting certificates to students and trainees on the basis of their competencies.

The required vocational competencies can be divided into two types:

• Educational and administrative competencies which are common among trainers of all specializations.
• Vocational or technical competencies which differ from one trainer to another according to the field of specializations.

Competencies of the Vocational and Technical Trainer:

• The domain of classroom administration and organizational and administrative issues.
• The domain of planning for teaching.
• The domain of teaching methods.
• The domain of theories and models learning.
• The domain of vocational roles and vocational development.
• The domain of counseling and guidance.
• The domain of relations with the society and local industries.
• The domain of resources and technology of education.
• The domain of measurement and evaluation.
• The domain of using computers.
• The domain of process administration.

Human Resources Development of the TVET System:
The goal of HRD of the TVET system is to provide the manpower for the required instruction volume and range. This includes teachers, administrators, and support staff, teacher trainers, and system developers, as well as the underlying development and administration structure. A market driven human resources development system in the TVET is institutionalized and tested, a process that entails the following:

• Drafting a legislation for HRD.
• Establishing a network of existing institutions.
• Setting up and validating qualification standards for TVET personnel.
• Developing training programs for HRD personnel.
• Qualifying key HRD personnel.

Development of the Pedagogical Training Program
The following are the first comprehensive training modules in the area in TVET were developed by group of education experts, which will constitute the pedagogical in-service training of trainers program:

• Vocational development & progress.
• Relationship with the industry & the community.
• Socialization of teaching/learning (class management & discipline).
• Managerial skills, facilities & equipment and occupational safety.
• Communication skills.
• Guidance & counseling.
• Measurement and evaluation of performance and learning.
• Education technology.
• Education patterns & methods.
• Planning & preparation for learning.
• Objectives, training, teaching, education.
• Psychological fundamentals-learning, differences.
• Development of training programs & curricula.

Problem Analysis
The following main sets of serious challenges combined lead to poor performance of vocational education in general and cause it to be unable to sustain its development in order to join the new national TVET strategy:

1. Lack of relevance of training programs; this could be attributed to the followings:
• Lack of participation in community development.
• Absence of entrepreneurship programs.
• Lack of business participation in technical education process.
• Inadequate vocational guidance and counseling.
• Absence of information about graduate employability.
2. Low effectiveness of training offerings; This could be attributed to the followings:
• Limited instructional skills & knowledge of trainers.
• Limited technical skills & knowledge of trainers.
• Inadequate curricula.
3. Low efficiency of operation; this could be attributed to the followings:
• Lack of public awareness regarding TVET strategy.
• Inadequate management information system.
• Unclear vision of TVET development.
• Limited management skills of TVET staff.

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