Business and Technology Incubator (BTI) in Community Service and Continuing Education Deanship (CSCED) at Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) has inaugurated Distance Working Centre as part of project “Reinforcing Access to Cross Border Employability at Palestinian Higher Education Institutions – REACH”. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Prof. Naser Farhat, IUG President, Dr. Aladdin Aljomasi, CSCED Dean, Dr. Sadiq Abdelal, REACH Project Director, Eng. Basil Qandeel, BTI Director, project team, and a number of academic and administrative staff at IUG.
Prof. Farhat explained that distance working has been an old ambitious idea, referring to the significant achievements BTI has introduced to the community represented in training courses and couching in various fields that emulate the requirements of domestic and international markets. He added that persistence and determination are key elements for success and attaining goals of all sorts of projects.
Dr. Aljomasi pointed out that the inauguration of the centre was carried out in partnership with Vice President for Administrative Affairs Office, the Engineering Office, the Procurement Department, and some other departments in the University. He hoped to see more rooms to be prepared and equipped with the latest advancements to support graduates.
Dr. Aljomasi also noted that CSCED have graduated around 69 thousand students since establishment, either through training courses and integration services for persons with disabilities, or through temporary or permanent employment opportunities for graduates.
Dr. Abdelal said that the current trend is to work from a distance. For that, the centre targets three faculties: Faculty of Information Technology, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Engineering. He added that three rooms have been prepared for distance working: one for training activities, one for computer devices with best specifications for editing and programming, and a workroom for students and graduates. He pointed out that the Distance Working Centre links trainers and employers with BTI graduates who are targeted via publishing their experience on the centre’s website for convenient reach.
It should be noted that the project of “Reinforcing Access to Cross Border Employability at Palestinian Higher Education Institutions – REACH” is funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus + program, Capacity-Building dimension. It aims to strengthen the capacities of higher education institutions in Palestine to remotely recruit graduates and provide them with necessary capacity to develop their abilities as well as actively participate in sustainable economic development in Palestine.