Jordan Times
Monday, September 20, 2004
Second plumbing course
for women opens
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — The second training course in plumbing for women opened on Sunday at the
Vocational Training Cooperation (VTC) Centre in Ain Al Basha.
The course, which teaches trainees how to repair
sanitary equipment and other related skills, is being held in cooperation with
the Businesswomen's Forum and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation's Water
Efficiency and Public Information for Action (WEPIA) Programme, funded by the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
VTC Director General Ziad Matarneh said the course seeks to empower women to
practise this vocation, whether inside or outside their houses, by equipping
them with theoretical and practical skills.
Matarneh highlighted the corporation's readiness to hold any “unconventional”
courses for women such as repairing domestic electric appliances, noting that
participants in such training programmes are exempted from the training fees.
He said that such orientation comes in fulfillment of His Majesty King
Abdullah's vision for women, which stresses the need to engage women in the
country's labour market.
On the sidelines of the event, Matarneh met with WEPIA Director Mona Grieser to
discuss other prospects of cooperation between the VTC and the programme, which
has a mission to “deploy social marketing techniques to promote the use of water
saving devices on domestic water fixtures.”
Grieser, who during Sunday's ceremony presented graduates of the first plumbing
course with maintenance kits, pledged to supply the VTC with maintenance
equipment used to detect invisible water leakage and other devices. The new
supplies are expected to improve the training capabilities of the VTC in the
field of water network installation and maintenance.
The two officials also discussed a proposed partnership agreement between the
VTC and the US Educational Development Academy, which supports the WEPIA
project.