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From the Desk of the CEO – August 2019 Newsletter Address

Indonesia’s President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo recently called for greater cooperation between Indonesia and Australia in vocational education. Jokowi said such a collaboration would be in line with Indonesia’s plan to focus on human resource development in the next five years.

In recent years Sustainable Skills has had a particular focus on Indonesia, largely because of the scale of the opportunity for Indonesian people. In our experience, there is no doubt whatsoever that a focus on vocational education and training is a fundamental plank in delivering to Indonesians a valuable outcome from improved relations with Australia.

President Joko Widodo has said repeatedly that skills development is a first order priority of his Government and that theme is evident in the policy views of leading policymakers such as Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. As the efforts to improve investment and performance on fundamentals such as infrastructure have proceeded, we have noticed a tangible shift in view among Indonesia’s Ministries and State Enterprises – an understanding that Indonesia’s progress and their performance relies on improved skills development. We have also noticed that the Government has looked to Australia – explicitly – as an ally in this effort.

Sustainable Skills has invested two years’ consistent effort in developing in Indonesia an understanding of how quality outcomes can be delivered. The emphasis has been on practical design, careful assessment and assurance and a strong relationship between training and workplace. Australia’s modular, competency-based vocational training system is coupled with strong employer engagement to allow flexibility and practical accessibility to people who often cannot afford a dedicated full time course of study. These principles are now well understood and accepted in both the key Ministry of Research, Technical and Higher Education and in other Ministries and agencies where active vocational reforms are either under way or in planning. Sustainable Skills has driven many of these activities as a partner with the Indonesian authorities and has been directly involved in the formulation of two new centres that will lead change in the Indonesian system. Sustainable Skills has also developed plans to establish an Australian led Indonesian managed training centre which has gained the support of Indonesia’s Government.

In our view Australia has a strategic opportunity to build a link directly with the Indonesian community through support for its vocational training reform. While improved capital flows, trade flows and related material events will go some way to building value in our relations, we believe that the fundamental need that Australia can help to meet is the need to raise broad levels of expertise and skills in that country. Realistically, any effective support will be altruistic in the short term. But the benefits to be gained from a greater level of confidence and capacity in Indonesian society will undoubtedly rebound to Australia’s benefit. Creation of a skills-based link will also inevitably improve the flow of Indonesian engagement with Australia’s broader education system and society. Ultimately, an Australian-designed vocational system in Indonesia is more likely to become by that means a default standard in the wider region, compounding mutual benefit.

We have observed at close range the two sides of a discussion around Australian engagement with Indonesia on education. In our view it often misses the point of the issue, which is a fundamental need. As President Widodo has said on numerous occasions, the skills issue is a system issue. The point being that it will not be fixed with incremental improvements. Yet in our view much of the discussion about education has focused on the introduction of an Australian college or university to Indonesia or something similar or the recruitment of Indonesian students to Australia or the delivery of online training from Australia which shows a lack of understanding of the challenges facing the Indonesian education sector and in any case it is the broad Indonesian fundamentals – starting at the technical high schools – that must be improved. In any case we do not see a great interest on the part of Australian education and training institutions to invest in Indonesia.

We recommend a focus in the Australian relationship on what President Widodo describes as “human capital”. Initially, this might be a focus of aid and other strategic support that aims to build broadly in Indonesian society a greater capacity to engage with economic and social opportunity. Today’s needs are basic: the skills required to build contemporary standards of infrastructure, operate modern equipment and execute processes to international standards; and the expertise to manage complex technical and conceptual issues in industry and in public sector tasks. Great value can be created if Australian expertise can be conveyed to Indonesians who then go about refocusing Indonesia’s vocational institutions. A simple, yet essential component of that is to demonstrate methods by which industry can be engaged directly to ensure that the value of skills is understood and the quality of education matches workplace demands. Critically, the system delivered must be an Indonesian system, suited to Indonesian needs and its realities.

In our view the development of Indonesia’s broad expertise and skills is a necessary pre-condition to the expansion of relations with Australia. One could see that reality as a handicap or a hurdle; either way it is an opportunity that in our view should be the first priority in Australia’s creative engagement with Indonesia.

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From the Desk of the CEO – June 2019 Newsletter Address

This week our TVET consultant, Bob Paton, travelled to Kenya to facilitate a workshop on TVET Systems, Competency Based Training, Governance, Monitoring and Evaluation organised by the Australian High Commission in Kenya and Sustainable Skills, which will take place in Nairobi from 24th-28th June and will be delivered to 20 local Government officers.

I am glad to introduce Clinton Glendinning who recently joined our team in Suva (Fiji) as Assessor Specialist for the ‘Head of School’ Skill Development Program awarded to Sustainable Skills in November 2018. Clinton has worked for over 36 years with the Department of Education Western Australia in a range of positions and has acted in the Fiji education sector for seven years. In the coming weeks, Clinton will provide additional value-add support to assist in the training and assessment of the selected Fijian Assessors who will be assessing all Modules that current and future Heads complete.

The Fiji project team recently ran an Implementation Facilitation workshop in Suva to ensure successful roll-out of the program. The two-day session involved all key project’s stakeholders including participants from Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts (MEHA) Learning & Development, IT, HR teams, Development Advisors and external guests from other local institutions. An update on this project can be accessed here.

Between 1 and 12 July 2019, UNESCO-UNEVOC  International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, which assists Member States develop policies and practices concerning education for the world of work and skills development for employability, will organise a virtual conference on ‘Inclusion in technical and vocational education and training’ to discuss and identify suitable measures to support inclusive TVET, focussing on inclusion of people with disabilities as well as of other groups who are vulnerable to exclusion.

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 4 on Quality Education aiming to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, UNESCO has made equity and inclusion one of the three priority areas of its Strategy for TVET (2016-2021). The insights and evidence gathered in this virtual conference will also contribute to the 2020 UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report.

The virtual conference will take place on the UNESCO-UNEVOC TVeT Forum and can be accessed by registering for a UNEVOC account.

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From the Desk of the CEO – May 2019 Newsletter Address

Sustainable Skills CEO, Nigel Carpenter, with William Sabandar and Eka Simanjuntak in Jakarta, June 2019.

May has been a busy month at Sustainable Skills with a number of trips and promising announcements for our team.

Early this month, I met with William Sabandar, Director of the newly opened Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Jakarta, who wanted to discuss how our organisation can help develop TVET programs for the first underground railway system in Indonesia. Eka Simanjuntak, Managing Director of Willi Toisuta & Associates, our Indonesian collaborator, also joined the discussion. During the meeting, we drew on our previous experience as partner of the Sydney Metro Northwest rail link project, which between 2014 and 2016 saw our organisation working closely with Transport for NSW and major contractor to map the skilling needs of the project and create a transferable pool of workers to support the civil infrastructure and construction sectors.

A new exciting project will be managed by Sustainable Skills as we  recently signed a contract with the Australian High Commission in Kenya to deliver a week long workshop in Nairobi on the attributes of a best practice national TVET system, with a focus on governance and monitoring and evaluation. The workshop will be delivered at the end of June to 20 local Government TVET officials by our vocational education expert, Bob Paton, who has over 40 years’ experience across multiple industry sectors and has managed projects in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Korea, PRC, ROC, Thailand, the Philippines, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico.

In Uganda, we had a change in the team who is delivering the Due Diligence and Technical Evaluation project, with Simon Elsy being appointed as the Team Leader of the project sponsored by the World Bank. Over the past  two years, this role has been effectively managed by Lisa Giammarco. We thank Lisa for her outstanding contribution to the project and welcome Simon in this new exciting role.

We are proud to announce that our ‘Head of School’ Skill Development Program is highlighted as one of the five key results achieved by DFAT as part of the Australia’s aid program to Fiji. Our team of education experts is currently designing a 10-module online course to upskill current and future principles of over 900 schools in the Country, with the first module having been successfully trialled and development of all the modules about half completed.

Over the past two years, we have worked hard to create new business opportunities worldwide, resulting in our teams of TVET experts currently delivering projects in Fiji, Kenya, and Uganda, as well as in promising opportunities in Indonesia which we hope to share in the coming weeks.

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From the Desk of the CEO – June 2018 Newsletter Address

This month, I was invited by the Australia Indonesia Business Council Victoria (AIBC) to speak at the Education Panel discussion about education in Indonesia. The conference aimed to unpick some of the key issues in a critical sector for Indonesia, and learn more about the country’s aspirations.

During the panel, AIBC provided some timely analysis of the key sectors and what it means for educational business and organisations in Australia.

The panel discussion, moderated by Helen Brown, Managing Director, Bisnis Asia, involved Professor Abid Khan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Vice-President, Global Engagement, Monash University, Elena Williams, Immediate past Resident Director, Australian Consortium for In-County Indonesian Studies (ACICIS), and Sigmund Fritschy, Senior Manager, Strategy and Policy – International Education, Victorian Government. The invitation to represent Sustainable Skills at the panel has been a privilege as well as a recognition of the work we have done over the past two years exploring VET market partnerships in Indonesia, and establishing relationships with Ministries and industry officials.

The panel discussed a number of opportunities which have been created by Indonesia’s desire and need to improve the education sector generally and the vocational education sector specifically. However to succeed in helping Indonesia develop an industry engaged vocational education sector
Australian institutions need to spend the time developing relationships and understanding the culture.

Sustainable Skills during the past 18 months has built strong relationships with a number of Indonesian ministries and government organisations and has developed a menu of very interesting opportunities that we will continue to explore and develop. Each requires a local focus and strong guidance from experienced Australian specialists. This will take time, but we are confident that strong results will emerge from the application of that Australian expertise. We’d welcome partners or supporters in any of these projects.

We are glad to announce that the team which is currently managing the consultancy contract sponsored by the World Bank to address skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda is now complete. Over the past two months, we have gone through a recruitment process to appoint new Team Leader and Senior Consultant. Lisa Giammarco has been appointed to the Team Leader position after her many months of service as the Acting Team Leader and Senior Consultant. Sarah Nalumansi has now joined the Kamapla based team, which comprises Mary Jo Kakinda and Simon Peter Nanagbo, stepping into Lisa’s former role as the new Senior Consultant. Sarah has significant depth and breadth of experience in projects similar to the due diligence activities we are undertaking for the Private Sector Foundation Uganda and will be a great asset to this project. Welcome on board Sarah!

 

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From the Desk of the CEO – April 2018 Newsletter Address

We have recently celebrated one year since the transition from SkillsDMC to Sustainable Skills was completed and we have come a long way from where we began. Over the past 12 moths, our new Sustainable Skills brand has evolved and our organisation is now recognised as a reputable TVET consultancy able to develop, support, and assist effective vocational education and training (TVET) systems worldwide.

I would like to take this opportunity to share our video – presentation which gives an overview of our mission and vision, and includes a very interesting testimonial given by Fidelis Cheelo, who took part in the Capacity Building program we managed in 2015-16 at TEVETA in Zambia.

During the first stage of the Sustainable Skills project, we focussed entirely on exploring and developing new business opportunities across different areas including Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Uganda, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar. Alongside, we worked to build a team of highly qualified TVET consultants and recruit board directors able to reflect the new scope of our business across a broad range of industrial sectors worldwide.

The second phase saw us concentrating our resources on regions where Sustainable Skills expertise and background can effectively assist to implement a successful reform of the national TVET system, like Indonesia.

Sustainable Skills has now developed a strong position in Indonesia where an important reform of the vocational education system to support the needs of a rapidly emerging economy by improving the quality and competitiveness of his country’s human resources is a priority on the government agenda.

As part of the national TVET reform Indonesia is establishing a new national TVET Centre of Excellence. Last month, I was invited to review the plans and deliver a lecture in Bandung on the challenges and opportunities of establishing the Centre. Development of the Centre of Excellence for TVET in Indonesia will address the fundamental mismatch between training outcomes and industry needs. The objective is to influence the broader Indonesian TVET ecosystem to support students in finding the ‘right training’ at the ‘right time’ for the ‘right job’. It’s about having the right people in the right places.

In July 2017 a significant milestone was achieved as we have been officially awarded a consultancy contract sponsored by the World Bank to address skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda. Client of the contract is the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) and this is the first non Australian government contract in the history of Sustainable Skills/SkillsDMC. The first quarter of the project has seen the Sustainable Skills team of TVET experts working on the due diligence and capacity assessment stages and conducting a number of site visits to ensure that applicants supposed to deliver the skills training are fully capable of executing their responsibilities, especially regarding their facility, experience, and expertise.  In February 2018,  I had the pleasure to visit our Kampala based team of exceptionally-qualified local consultants who are delivering the project. The team is currently formed by Mary Jo Kakinda and Simon Peter Nangabo and will increase to 3, based in Kampala, within the next few weeks.

In addition to Indonesia, Myanmar and East Africa, which are currently the most promising opportunities, we have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline. We believe we have built strong business foundation so far and we’ll continue to manage the organisation doing everything we possibly can to succeed and contribute to build effective TVET systems worldwide.

 

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From the desk of the CEO-March 2018 newsletter address

Our CEO, Nigel Carpenter, delivered a lecture on the challenges and opportunities in establishing a Centre of Excellence focused on industry-led and the Australian TVET experience at the proposed location in Bandung.

Indonesia is currently undergoing a transition phase as it develops to become a knowledge-based economy focused on increased competitiveness, growth and productivity. Skills are significant obstacles in this respect, and the country’s government is investing more in the development of the nation’s education and training system to close these gaps and to transform the Indonesian technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system into one that provides demand-driven programmes, aimed at improving employability and participation in lifelong learning.

To continue Indonesia’s economic expansion President Widodo started an infrastructure development program to help bring more of the population out of poverty. The program requires millions of skilled people that are not available in Indonesia. To address this issue President Widodo instructed his Ministries to make vocational education reform a priority to improve the quality and competitiveness of his country’s human resources. Currently there is a significant mismatch between skills development and industry skill needs.

The main challenges currently facing TVET in Indonesia come down to a lack of engagement with industry and understanding of the demands of the labour market. The skills of the Indonesian workforce do not meet the demands of the labour market. Addressing this skill mismatch supports higher productivity, competitiveness and growth.

National TVET Centre of Excellence

As part of the national TVET reform Indonesia is establishing a new national TVET Centre of Excellence. I was invited to review the plans and deliver a lecture in Bandung last week on the challenges and opportunities of establishing the Centre.
Development of the Centre of Excellence for TVET in Indonesia will address the fundamental mismatch between training outcomes and industry needs. The objective is to influence the broader Indonesian TVET ecosystem to support students in finding the ‘right training’ at the ‘right time’ for the ‘right job’. It’s about having the right people in the right places.

The Indonesian Government recognises that the TVET system must be competency-based with standards pertaining to industry. In effect it must be demand-driven.
Further objectives of the Centre of Excellence are to:

• Open and develop new training programs relevant to the job market
• Develop a research and development centre, which will serve as a reference centre and vocational education policy analysis centre
• Establish and develop a teacher certification program
• Establish and develop a qualified teacher training and education centre
• Work with policy makers to drive change to TVET systems
• Develop equal access to quality job opportunities for all
• Ensure people have the skills needed by the job market

The Centre of Excellence recognises the need to work with Industry to identify Industry’s skills needs and help people graduating from TVET colleges find a job and address the quality of Indonesian teachers and lecturers.
During my visit we discussed many aspects of a successful TVET ecosystem including the following six principles:

• Competency based
• Industry led, stakeholder friendly
• Flexible, scalable and customisable
• Integrated soft skills
• Data driven
• Focused on vocational outcomes

Whilst recognising outcomes are based on a shared responsibility between government, industry and training organisations, we also discussed the importance of Industry’s role:

• Industry involved at every step-in qualification development and implementation (training) and training regulation
• Ultimately, industry is the primary ‘client’ of any TVET system, central to increasing human capital development
• While industry may ‘know’ what it needs, only an effective TVET system can help translate those needs into actionable skills development for the nation’s workforce capability while supporting a growing economy
• Both industry and training providers, supported by the TVET ecosystem as a whole, have a ‘hand-in-glove’ relationship
• The basis of this relationship is an approach to curriculum design and teaching that can support the priorities of both and lead to quality outcomes for students

The Centre of Excellence is in the design phase of determining how it can influence better outcomes. Sustainable Skills is helping to explore how it can influence the broader Indonesian TVET ecosystem and develop the human resource skills and TVET systems needed to support students in finding the ‘right training’ at the ‘right time’ for the ‘right job’.

Sustainable Skills develops, supports and assists effective technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems worldwide.

 

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Technical Vocational Education and Training system in Uganda

Technical Vocational Education and Training system in Uganda

With a population of over 39 million, a youth population of 7.9 million (2015*), and a nominal GDP of 700 USD per capita (2017**),  Uganda has a 2.3% unemployment rate among the total labour force, according to World Bank Data.

Uganda’s TVET mission consists in ensuring that individuals and enterprises acquire the skills they need to raise productivity and income. The TVET system is under the authority of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), which is responsible for programme implementation and monitoring, including procedures for planning, budgeting and annual reviews.

The two major sources of TVET funding are the public budget and private households through training fees. The share of TVET in the MoES budget is relatively low, approximately 4% to 7%. Public unit spending is also low by African standards. Training for the informal sector is largely donor-financed.

Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) is Uganda’s apex body for the private sector. It is made up of over 200 business associations, corporate bodies and the major public sector agencies that support private sector growth. Since its founding in 1995, PSFU has served as a focal point for private sector advocacy as well as capacity building and continues to sustain a positive policy dialogue with Government on behalf of the private sector.

Formal TVET system

TVET in Uganda is an overlapping three-tier system comprising:

  • Craftsman level training offered by technical schools and institutes;
  • Technician level training offered by technical colleges; and
  • Graduate Engineer level training offered by universities.

Private TVET providers represent a strong segment of the sector, estimated at more than 1,000 institutions in 2011, representing approximately 81% of all TVET providers.

Non-formal and Informal Systems

The informal sector remains a stronghold of employment, accounting for 58% of non-agricultural employment in 2011. The TVET system has largely neglected the specific training needs of the informal sector. There is no systematic approach to skills development for people already in or seeking to enter the informal sector. Many of the training offers are supply driven, not based on market assessments and only duplicate formal sector training at very low levels. Some very effective programmes cannot be replicated due to lack of information exchange and resources.

Current reforms

In 2010, the Government of Uganda , with support from the World Bank and the Government of Belgium, commissioned a consultant team of national and international experts to conduct a sub-sector study and subsequently form the basis of the Strategic Plan 2011-2020 “Skilling Uganda”.

Four main interventions are considered critical for a successful TVET reform:

  • Building a comprehensive Public-Private Partnership (PPP);
  • Ensuring a strong and focused TVET management controlled by all major stakeholders;
  • Defining the requirements of the world of work as the benchmark for all TVET
    programmes and qualifications; and
  • Reforming the system of financing TVET in order to achieve long-term sustainability.

 

Source: Unesco-Unevoc World TVET Database

* Data Source: Unesco-Unevoc World TVET DatabaseAll statistics compiled from the United Nation’s Population Division’s World Population Prospects, the
2015 Revision (http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/DVD/)

**Data Source: International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 17 January 2017.

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From the desk of the CEO-February 2018 newsletter address

Sustainable Skills CEO, Nigel Carpenter, with Mary Jo Kakinda and Simon Peter Nangabo, Associate Consultants for the Uganda Project, Kampala, February 2018.

This is our first newsletter of 2018 and we hope you had a great Christmas and a fantastic celebration of the New Year. 2018 promises to be a big year for Sustainable Skills, with a number of strategic projects started in 2017 that we are confident will convert to business opportunities over the course of this year.

In late January, I travelled to Indonesia to visit the Ministry of Manpower’s BBPLK Polytechnic Bekasi, which is currently implementing a revitalisation plan with a strong focus on industry, and we hope Sustainable Skills will have the opportunity to help designing an efficient, industry-led vocational education system. During this trip I held a number of meetings with Indonesian government departments and organisations with the focus on developing TVET to improve skills outcomes and increase job opportunities. Indonesia wants to improve its TVET system. During March I will be visiting the site for a new TVET Centre of Excellence where we have been asked to advise on how the Centre of Excellence can improve TVET outcomes.

Between 5 and 8 February, I travelled to Cape Town to attend Mining Indaba, the World’s Largest Mining Investment Conference and the Largest Mining Event in Africa. For over 20 years, this event collected mining companies, investors and other stakeholders from around the world, and is dedicated to supporting education, career development, sustainable development, and other important causes in Africa.

Mining Indaba presented the opportunity to meet with international key stakeholders including governments, donors, organisations, mining companies, and delegations from Europe, America, Canada, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, Ghana as well as the Intergovernmental Forum.

The second part of my trip to Africa brought me to Kenya to meet with representatives of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, which is looking for support to build the capacity of 3000 local workforce.

In Nairobi I had the chance to meet with TVETA and discuss about the opportunity to help Kenya developing a world standard TVET education system based on industry engagement. Sustainable Skills is looking forward to helping the new Mining Institute’s Committee with the objective of developing TVET to ensure locals have the skills industry needs. This followed a meeting with the Director General of TVETA who is revitalising TVET which is based on Australia’s systems and frameworks.

I moved from Kenya to Ethiopia, where the growing population needs jobs and skills. I met with the Ministry of Education and TVET Institute and have helped develop plans to improve the knowledge of teachers and lecturers.
As for a number of countries in the area, Ethiopia’s TVET system is also based on Australia’s.

I took the opportunity of my trip to Africa to meet our Kampala based team of exceptionally-qualified local consultants who are delivering our Due Diligence and Technical Evaluation project for employer-led short term training to address prevailing skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda. We’re working with the Skills Development Facility and Private Sector Foundation Uganda with the project sponsored by the World Bank. Our local team is currently formed by Mary Jo Kakinda and Simon Peter Nangabo and will increase to 3, based in Kampala, within the next few weeks. In the “Meet the Team” section of this newsletter we are proud to introduce Mary Jo Kakinda, Associate Consultant for the project.

 

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From the desk of the CEO-December 2017 newsletter address

Nigel Carpenter, Sustainable Skills CEO, introducing our organisation during a seminar in Jakarta on 14 December.

This has been a remarkable year for our organisation, beginning with the launch of our new  Sustainable Skills brand which is now recognised as a reputable TVET consultancy in a number of countries.

During the first part of the year we focussed entirely on exploring and developing new business opportunities across different areas including Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Uganda, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar. Alongside, we worked to build a team of highly qualified TVET consultants and recruit board directors able to reflect the new scope of our business across a broad range of industrial sectors worldwide.

The second part of the year saw us concentrating our resources on regions where Sustainable Skills expertise and background can effectively assist to build TVET systems able to meet the nation’s needs, like Indonesia and Myanmar.

Sustainable Skills has developed a strong position in Indonesia where an important reform of the vocational education system to support the needs of a rapidly emerging economy by improving the quality and competitiveness of his country’s human resources is a priority on the government agenda. This month, I had the pleasure of being invited by the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology
and Higher Education to present Sustainable Skills to a 4-hour seminar on the benefits of an industry-led TVET system in Jakarta. Over 40 polytechnics were invited from throughout the archipelago. The seminar was well received and good outcomes were achieved. In fact we’ve been asked to deliver a longer workshop in the new year. Indonesia recognises there’s a need to work more closely with industry so that
students are more likely to have the skills industry wants and therefore gain work.

In Myanmar  the Government has recently launched a new National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) aiming to establish an accessible, equitable and effective national education system over the next five years. The ultimate goal of this plan is to equip local students with the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century and to enable them to fulfil their career and lifelong learning aspirations. Sustainable Skills can support the execution of the plan and assist with projects that increase the quality and supply of education and training places.

In July a significant milestone was achieved as we have been officially awarded a consultancy contract sponsored by the World Bank to address skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda. Client of the contract is the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) and this is the first non Australian government contract in the history of Sustainable Skills/SkillsDMC. The first quarter of the project has seen the Sustainable Skills team of TVET experts working on the due diligence and capacity assessment stages and conducting a number of site visits to ensure that applicants supposed to deliver the skills training are fully capable of executing their responsibilities, especially regarding their facility, experience, and expertise.

We are at an early stage of our path and we are aware of the important challenges Sustainable Skills will face next year to achieve our goals. We believe the foundation we built so far are strong and promising and we’ll continue to manage the organisation doing everything we possibly can to succeed and contribute to build effective TVET systems worldwide.

I would like to thank the Sustainable Skills team for the commitment to the organisation during this challenging year, all our Board Directors for their support and trust, our Chair of the Board who has been instrumental to develop our current strategy, and all our stakeholders and partners who followed and supported us over the course of this year.

Sustainable Skills will shutdown operations over the Christmas and New Year period. Our last day of work will be Thursday 21st December and returning to work on Monday 15th January. The Sustainable Skills team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018.

 

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Uganda project update

Last month Sustainable Skills has been officially awarded a consultancy contract sponsored by the World Bank to address skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda. Client of the contract is the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) and this is the first non Australian government contract in the history of Sustainable Skills/SkillsDMC.

The Government of Uganda received credit from the World Bank towards implementation of the Uganda Competitive Fund for employer-led short-term training which is part of the Uganda Skills Development Project (USDP) aimed to address prevailing skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda. An important element of the initiative is to facilitate collaboration between training providers and industry to promote demand driven skills development with special attention to innovative modes of training.

The grant component of USDP aims at:

  • supporting training activities that lead to improved productivity and competitiveness in the formal and informal sectors, hereby creating new income opportunities,
  • providing funding primarily for the improvement of the quality and relevance of existing skills systems,
  • prioritising innovative new approaches to skills development with special attention to micro and small enterprises.

The first stage of the project now officially commenced under the guidance of Peter Merckx as the leader of our TVET experts team. Originally from Belgium, Peter lives in Nairobi and has more than 30 years’ experience working as education expert and consultant, particularly in Kenya and Uganda. He was involved in long and short term assignment to strengthen teacher education and support systems in different African countries, and assisted Ministries of education in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Zambia and Botswana in building the capacity to develop frameworks for continuous professional development of teachers, trainers and education managers. Peter will be in Uganda next week to work with the Skills Development Facility and a representative from the World Bank.

The rest of the team comprises Lisa Giammarco, as the Senior Consultant, and Simon Nangabo and Mary Jo Kakinda as Associate Consultants. Between 31 July and 8 August, they travelled to Kampala to conduct the first of the site visits, start the activities, and work with the Skills Development Facility team on processes and documentation. The initial feedback has been really positive and the team is looking forward to getting into the routine of the project.

 

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