Caribbean (St. Kitts/Bahamas, Grenada)

This programme uses a suite of materials jointly developed by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and University of Technology, Jamaica (UTECH), to train technical/vocational instructors in pedagogical skills, to complement their technical/vocational knowledge for which they are most often hired. 

Bahamas and St. Kitts & Nevis have both taken up the program offered under license to COL by UTECH.  Sixty learners are currently enrolled in the program. Graduation is planned for winter 2004.

Grenada has signed the franchise agreement. An initial tutor training workshop took place in Mid August 2004. Course writers have started to develop the curricula to fit Grenada contents. Other Caribbean nations have expressed interest in obtaining the core curriculum.

 

Pacific

Technical and Vocational Education - Basic Trade Skills

A workshop to develop a model for delivering training in basic trade skills to local communities in the South Pacific was held in Suva 28 April - 2  May, 2003.  Delegates attended from Tuvalu, Nauru, Kiribati, Samoa and Niue. Consultants from Australia and New Zealand provided additional insight.  The meeting was very successful and the area targeted was 'working with timber" and 'working with concrete'- for both volcanic islands and for coral atolls. COL supported this initiative with funding and the first two courses:  "Working with Timber" and "Working with Concrete" have been developed.  Participants at the last PATVET meeting were given draft copies of the tutor and student handbooks for Working with Timber.  It is intended to have the "Working with Concrete" tutor and student handbooks available in draft by the end of September 2004.  Once these are finalised, printed and dispatched, the two completed courses are to be piloted in at least two countries i.e. Nauru, Tuvalu, Niue or Kiribati.  The next course "Working with Small Engines" is in the planning stages. 

Third Management Training Institute/PATVET

The First Pacific Islands Senior TVET Managers' Training Institute was held in Wellington, New Zealand, from October 15-19, 2001. Delegates from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu represented their countries at the meeting. The purpose of the Institute was to support senior TVET managers in the Pacific Islands nations to develop appropriate policy and infrastructure support to facilitate more flexible education delivery systems through their institutions. 

The Second TVET Senior Managers Leadership Institute was held in Wellington, New Zealand, from September 30, to October 4, 2004. The Institute was strongly supported by the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID). Delegates from the following countries were represented: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, PNG, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The theme of the Institute was implementation of Open and Distance Learning (ODL). Communalities between the Pacific Island nations and their TVET systems were addresses and worked out towards creating a common regional platform, so that key areas related to TVET and ODL in the Pacific region could be driven and managed by the region.

The Third TVET Management training Institute has taken place in Wellington, from June 29-July 2, 2004 prior to PCF3. The focus was on evaluation. The report is available.

A fourth Management Institute is being discussed for 2005 in the Pacific Islands.