Representative Engagements
Dr Tony Degazon has advised governments, regulators, awarding organisations, employers, and education providers across the Middle East, supporting large-scale workforce transformation, qualifications reform, quality assurance, employability, and education system development.
Selected engagements are anonymised where appropriate to protect client confidentiality, government sensitivities, and commercially sensitive project details. Descriptions focus on Dr Degazon’s role, project scope, technical contribution, and sector-level outcomes.
National TVET and Skills Reform
Awarding Organisation Readiness Diagnostic
Client type: National vocational education and training authority
Region: GCC
Period: Recent engagement
Role: Project Lead and Technical Advisor
Summary: A national TVET authority required an objective assessment of its readiness to operate as an independent awarding body. Dr Degazon led a structured diagnostic across governance, quality assurance, awarding lifecycle, and organisational capability, producing a regulator-grade roadmap identifying institutional priorities, key blockers, and recommended actions for transformation.
Future Skills Unit and Digital Curriculum Dashboard
Client type: Government-linked TVET organisation
Region: GCC
Period: Recent engagement
Role: Project Lead
Summary: A national TVET organisation required a mechanism to align curricula with current and emerging labour market needs. Dr Degazon designed a Future Skills Unit and developed specifications for a digital dashboard to provide real-time insight into curriculum coverage, skills relevance, and industry alignment, drawing on international benchmarking and best-practice models.
TVET Inspection Criteria and Regional Skills Strategy
Client type: Gulf-based education regulator
Region: UAE / GCC
Period: Multi-year engagement
Role: Technical Advisor
Summary: A regional education regulator required both an inspection framework for private training providers and a long-term strategic vision for the TVET sector. Dr Degazon contributed to the development of inspection criteria, sector quality expectations, and strategic recommendations to strengthen the region’s position as a high-skilling hub and attract specialist providers.
Donor-Funded TVET Reform — Hospitality and Tourism Standards
Client type: International donor-funded TVET reform programme
Region: MENA
Period: Multi-year engagement
Role: Project Lead
Summary: Under an international TVET reform programme, Dr Degazon led work on qualification standards, international accreditation pathways, and curriculum materials for the hospitality and tourism sector. The engagement supported competency-based education and training, master trainer development, teacher capacity building, and quality assurance strengthening across a national education system.
Qualifications, Standards and Assessment
National Qualifications Review and International Benchmarking
Client type: National vocational education and training authority
Region: GCC
Period: Recent engagement
Role: Project Lead and Technical Advisor
Summary: A national TVET authority required a comprehensive review and modernisation of vocational qualifications in priority sectors. Dr Degazon led the review, update, and international benchmarking process, aligning curriculum standards and assessment strategies with comparable Level 3 qualifications from established international systems.
Technical and Vocational Qualification Development — Energy Sector
Client type: National energy-sector training academy
Region: GCC
Period: Recent engagement
Role: Project Lead
Summary: A national training academy required a structured technical qualification to support workforce development in the energy sector. Dr Degazon led the qualification design process, coordinating industry input and international subject matter expertise to ensure technical rigour, occupational relevance, and alignment with recognised standards of vocational qualification development.
Aircraft Maintenance Certification — Assessment Development
Client type: Confidential aerospace and defence training organisation
Region: Middle East
Period: Recent engagement
Role: Project Lead
Summary: A specialist aerospace and defence training organisation required a robust certification assessment suite for technical personnel. Dr Degazon led the development of multiple assessment forms to strict instructional design and quality assurance standards, supporting certification-grade reliability, validity, and consistency across high-stakes technical assessment.
National TVET Assessment Development Programme
Client type: National TVET assessment authority
Region: GCC
Period: Multi-year engagement
Role: Technical Advisor
Summary: A national TVET assessment authority undertook a large-scale programme to strengthen assessment development, quality assurance, and digital assessment infrastructure. Dr Degazon supported the programme’s delivery, contributing to the creation of assessment banks, quality management systems, and localised assessment processes to improve workforce certification and skills recognition.
Occupational Standards — Trade Professions
Client type: Gulf-based quality and conformity authority
Region: UAE / GCC
Period: Multi-sector engagement
Role: Project Lead
Summary: A Gulf-based quality and conformity authority required occupational standards to support sector regulation and workforce recognition. Dr Degazon led the development of standards across key trade professions, applying national qualifications framework principles and structured industry consultation to support quality, consistency, and labour market relevance.
Workforce Readiness and Employability
Workforce Readiness — National Employment Initiative
Client type: National workforce development agency
Region: GCC
Period: Multi-year engagement
Role: Project Lead and Technical Advisor
Summary: A national workforce development agency sought to address youth unemployment through a structured work-readiness intervention. Dr Degazon led and advised on programmes supporting thousands of young people through employability skills development, while also contributing to apprenticeship pathways and trade mapping across priority technical sectors.
Education System Transformation
Graduate Competency Framework — National School System
Client type: Major education regulator
Region: UAE / GCC
Period: Multi-year engagement
Role: Project Lead
Summary: A major education regulator required a standardised competency framework to benchmark graduate outcomes across a diverse school landscape. Dr Degazon led the development of a graduate competency framework implemented across a large network of public and private schools, supporting system-wide benchmarking of graduate outcomes, future skills, and workforce readiness.
National Values and Character Education Curriculum
Client type: Senior government education authority
Region: UAE / GCC
Period: Multi-year engagement
Role: Project Lead and Technical Advisor
Summary: A senior government education authority commissioned the development of a national curriculum focused on values, character, citizenship, and social development. Dr Degazon led and advised on the programme, covering curriculum design, teacher education, assessment design, operational systems, and research into bilingual literacy and school efficacy.
Refugee Education Curriculum and International Credentialing
Client type: International humanitarian education initiative
Region: MENA
Period: Multi-year engagement
Role: Project Sponsor
Summary: An international humanitarian education initiative sought to improve learning continuity and international mobility for students affected by conflict and displacement. Dr Degazon served as Project Sponsor for work supporting schools serving conflict-affected communities, covering curriculum development, quality management, third-party recognition, and external auditing arrangements.