Mr. Sarhan is returning to USF for a short visit, from October 10 through mid November as part of the Palestinian Faculty Development Program (PFDP). The PFDP is an initiative that aims to increase capacity within the Palestinian higher education sector and address long-term issues of reform in teaching and learning practices at colleges and universities in the West Bank and Gaza. Funded by USAID and the Open Society Institute, the program promotes the professional development of promising young academics who are teaching in the social sciences and humanities; seeks to revitalize and reform teaching in these areas; and promote an institutional culture of teaching and learning to ensure that the PFDP’s impact will continue beyond its seven-year lifespan. The program is administered by the America-Mideat Educational and Training Services (MIDEAST). The purpose of his visit is to learn about competency-based education at the 2-year college level as the basis for conceptualizing a research study to determine the alignment of engineering courses and actual competencies needed in the field of engineering in Palestine.
Upon graduating with his master's degree, Mr. Sarhan joined the the United Nation's Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to work in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). The agency provides free education for palestinian refugees in many areas of vocational education such as Paramedical, Information Technology, Commercial, Social Work, Engineering (Technical education), Hairdressing, Fashion Design, Ceramics and Photography. Presently, his work with UNRWA concentrates on improving the student and instructor skills and competencies in different technical domains. In this regard, he promotes professional development with training courses in managing TVET program, pedagogical principles, curriculum development, and training of trainers.
We welcome Mr. Tareq Sarhan and hope that his short visit is productive regarding the documentation of competency-based education in the context of 2-year colleges and the development of a research proposal to study related issues in the Ramallah Women’s Training Center (RWTC).
