Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)

Issued a special press release for the students who sit for  the General Secondary School Certification Examinations "Tawjihi" of the academic year 2012/2013 .

Areas of study and relationship to labor market of individuals aged 20-29 years in 2012.

The international classification of education divides study disciplines into the following programs:

Basic programs, literacy and numeracy programs, personal development, teacher training and education, arts, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, journalism and information programs, business and administration, law, life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and statistics, computing, engineering and engineering trade, manufacturing and processing, architecture and construction, agriculture, forestry and fishery programs, veterinary programs, health programs, social services, personal services, transportation, environmental protection and security services.

There are around 30 thousand graduates annually from Palestinian higher education institutions. In the 1012/2013 academic year, there were around 87 thousand applicants for the general matriculation exam.

The highest percentage of male graduates aged 20-29 years were in business and administration.

In 2012, around 79000 males aged 20-29 years obtained an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree. They were specialized in the following disciplines:

Business and administration (25.3%), health (12.3%), engineering and engineering trades (10.6%), computing (8.4%), humanities (7.6%), social and behavioral sciences (6.9%).

In 2011, there were 72 thousand male graduates aged 20-29 years. The majority of them majored in business and administration (27.4%).

The majority of female graduates aged 20-29 years specialized in humanities.

In 2012, there were 97 thousand female graduates aged 20-29 years with a bachelor’s degree or an intermediate diploma specialized in the following disciplines :

Humanities (20.2%), business and administration (18.3%), teacher training and education (15.6%), social and behavioral sciences (12.4%), health (7.8%)  and computing (5.0%).

In 2011, there were 86 thousand female graduates aged 20-29 years, the majority of them majoring in humanities (18.5%).

A rise in unemployment among graduates aged 20-29 years compared to the previous year.

In 2012 the unemployment rate rose to 50.6% among graduates aged 20-29 years with a bachelor’s degree or an intermediate diploma in Palestine (40.9% in the West Bank and 63.2% in the Gaza Strip). In 2011 the unemployment rate was 46.5%.

Unemployment rate of graduates aged 20-29 years.

In 2012 the highest rates of unemployment among graduates aged 20-29 years with a bachelor’s degree or an intermediate diploma in the Gaza Strip were in the following disciplines :

Teacher training and education (73.0%), social and behavioral sciences (71.7%), humanities (70.3%), life sciences (68.9%) and computing (60.8%).

The highest unemployment rates in the West Bank for the same age group by area of study were as follows:

Teacher training and education (54.8%), social and behavioral sciences (52.4%), mathematics and statistics (51.2%), humanities (45.9%) and journalism and information (44.7%).

Unemployment rate among male graduates aged 20-29 years.

In 2012 the highest unemployment rates among male graduates aged 20-29 years with an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree in Palestine were in the following areas of study:

Personal services (50%), mathematics and statistics (46.0%), social and behavioral sciences (40.7%), journalism and information (38.5%) and engineering and engineering trades (38.4%).

Unemployment of female graduates aged 20-29 years.

In 2012 the highest unemployment rates among female graduates aged 20-29 years with an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree were in the following areas of study:

Journalism and information (81.9%), humanities (71.3%), teacher training and education (71.2%), social and behavioral sciences (70.6%), business and administration (65.8%) and computing (59.6%).

Unemployment and period of unemployment in months for graduates (20-29 years) with an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree by discipline in 2012