Enhancing Teaching, Learning and Graduate Employability through University-Enterprise Cooperation

This project aims to enhance university enterprise cooperation in JO and LB in order to improve teaching and learning experience of students and enhance the employability of graduate. The project responds to the widely recognised problem that university graduates often lack the employability skills needed by employers and, in addition, their knowledge in the field of ICT is behind the state of the art and below that of companies they want to work in. The project aims to alleviate this problem by bringing Universities and enterprises closer together by establishing University-Enterprise Cooperation Networks. Through a range of activities (such as arranging internships for students at partner companies and involving qualified staff of companies in giving lectures at the universities and mentoring students who want to complete their projects and theses in companies) arranged by their newly established Liaison Offices, universities aim at building a programme of cooperation and developing student’s knowledge of the world of work.The project involves upgrading and updating of the capacities of University staff and improve the curricula of at least ten subjects in each university. Study periods to EU universities will be arranged to provide the updating and upgrading opportunities for Jordanian and Lebanese academic and technical staff during which they can improve their own knowledge of the latest development in their subjects and also upgrade the curricula of their subjects. The upgrading of the curricula consists of enhancing both scientific and technical skills of students as well as their employability skills. EU universities have been engaged in serious discussion about graduate employability and partner country staff can learn a great deal from this experience and take steps to produce ‘work ready’ graduates. EU staff will support the upgrading of curricula and engage in teaching in JO and LB institutions and help the internationalisation agenda.