The complaint is all too common among Egyptians. Young men and women go about sullenly complaining of the scarcity of jobs and, indeed, official reports cite high unemployment figures. On the other end, employers bitterly bemoan the scarcity of adequate labour. Finding a skilled worker, many say, is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack. So the gap between jobs and those who are capable of filling them is the dilemma the job and labour markets must seek to overcome.
Technical training
The answer, the experts say, is in better technical or specialised education. A good technical diploma is worth a hundred Thanawiya Amma, the general secondary school certificate which qualifies students to enrol in university. In some cases a technical diploma may even open doors which would remain closed before university graduates.
One of the major technical education centres in Egypt is the Salesian Don Bosco Institute. Its dual headquarters, in Cairo and Alexandria provide language courses side by side with a technical programme and anybody, regardless of age, can access of the institute’s open education programme.
Watani toured Don Bosco’s to learn about its history, activities and contribution to the education field. We met Renzo Leonarduzzi, headmaster of the Cairo branch of the institution. Leonarduzzi, who has spent more than 30 years in Egypt, said that the Italian community in Egypt had stood behind the establishment of the institute, which was founded in 1896 in Alexandria to serve what was then a large Italian community. It was named after Don Giovanni Bosco, a 19th century Italian priest —‘don’ being an Italian title for a priest—who was dismayed at the miserable working conditions of Italians since there were then no rules to guarantee workers’ rights, and set a list of regulations governing relations between workers and employers. Don Bosco was the founder of the Salesian Society, who established several technical schools to train boys as skilled craftsmen and leaders.
Excellent job opportunities
In 1926 a Cairo branch of the institute opened. For many decades Don Bosco’s remained exclusive to Italians, but in 1967 it began accepting Egyptian students.
The system of study is similar in Cairo and Alexandria. Students learn Italian in addition to the technical courses. Three programmes are available: a three-year programme following preparatory school, according to which the graduate gets a secondary technical school certificate; a five-year programme following preparatory school with students graduating as assistant engineers; and open courses lasting two to six months that are open to anyone over 16.
The institute provides courses in washing machine maintenance, auto mechanics, electric installation, welding, electronics, metalwork and computer software programmes including Microsoft Word, Excel and AutoCad.
After Egyptian nationals were included in the Don Bosco programme, they were also given a chance of going on to Italian universities after graduation. Mr Leonarduzzi emphasised the accord between the institute and the Egyptian government whereby students received joint degrees from both countries. “Graduates can take language courses so as to work in Italy, which indeed many successfully do,” he said.
“Our graduates stand excellent opportunities to land good jobs,” Mr Leonarduzzi said. “It is very rare for any of our graduates to be unemployed.”
For street children
Watani spoke to some of the institute’s supervisors. Ra’fat Sobhy, who is in charge of the metalwork department, demonstrated the use of copper, aluminium and iron. Besides the main programme he gives evening courses lasting three-months. “The applicant here could be 60 years old. One of my students was a dentist who wanted to learn skills to give him extra skill in making dentures,” he said.
Peter George, who works in the auto mechanics department, said students were trained on Iveco Diesel motors produced by Fiat. “Graduates often manage to find job opportunities at the Iveco factory,” he said.
Marco Crompara, who coordinates the educational process, said Don Bosco’s would shortly have a website to acquaint foreign and local corporations with the services it offers and the skills enjoyed by its graduates. “We are keen to help the graduates find good job opportunities,” he said.
However, Mr Leonarduzzi voiced grave concern over the continuance of contract subsidies provided by the Italian government and corporations. “I am afraid that one day the institute might not be able to survive a crisis,” he said. He would like the institute to provide courses for the poor, particularly street children who have no support.