As part of a new collaboration between the Employment Service, Hura Council, Itworks, Qualitest, and with funding from the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation, a unique software testing (QA) training course was launched last week for young people from Hura. This joint initiative aims to open doors to Israel's high-tech industry for the Bedouin population in the south, which has so far been significantly underrepresented in this field.
Despite Israel being the "Startup Nation" with one of the world's leading high-tech industries, the participation rate of Arab citizens in this sector remains notably low. Research also points to a gap between the percentage of Arab students studying high-tech fields and those who actually succeed in integrating into the industry.
The course, delivered and funded by Itworks and the Israel Innovation Authority, offers an exceptional opportunity for twenty young men and women from Hura. It includes an intensive five-week training program, four days a week, and is provided free of charge to participants. The most significant innovation in the program is the guarantee of employment at Qualitest immediately upon completion of the training.
In addition to professional QA training, participants will receive career guidance from Employment Service career advisors, who will conduct workshops to develop essential skills for the modern job market. The goal of this support is to provide participants with the tools that will enable them to achieve employment mobility and professional growth in the future.
"Bringing high-tech to the Negev and the periphery is a national mission that we are proud to lead together with our partners. The Employment Service is committed to building bridges that connect the growth centers of the Israeli economy with communities and regions that have not yet benefited from the success of the high-tech industry," said Attorney Inbal Mashash, CEO of the Employment Service. She added, "We see this project as a model that can be expanded to additional towns in the Negev and across the periphery, thereby strengthening the local economy and reducing disparities."
Hura Council Chairman Habbas Al-Atawneh stated, "I am proud to announce the launch of the first-of-its-kind QA software testing course, a result of collaboration with leading partners. The course is open to all young people from the Bedouin community and will train twenty participants, all of whom are guaranteed employment at the high-tech company Qualitest upon completing the program. This initiative is designed to change the existing reality of low representation of young people in the high-tech world by ensuring true equal opportunities."
Shai Lieberman, CEO of Qualitest, said, "The project in Hura joins a long list of training and placement programs for high-tech in the periphery that Qualitest has promoted over the past four years. Our experience shows that such professional training programs are a key to social mobility and serve as a real game-changer for participants, with the potential to spark a real revolution in the local authority. In Sderot, after successful training cycles, we established a technology center employing dozens of local residents, and I hope that here, too, for the residents of Hura, this course is the first step in bringing high-tech to the periphery."
Ifat Baron, CEO and founder of Itworks, noted, "Especially in these challenging times, I am proud to lead a tri-sector collaboration of the utmost importance in the field of employment, and particularly in high-tech. Through a unique model we developed, we are enlisting many significant players in a reality-changing initiative. The collaboration includes philanthropy through the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation, the Employment Service, Hura Municipality, the business sector, and Qualitest, which trains candidates in employment-relevant content. Together, we are succeeding in empowering candidates, opening new doors for their success, and driving a transformation in the Negev."