We have another guest blogger this month. Dr Paryono is the Deputy Director for Professional Affairs cum Research Specialist at the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Regional Centre For Vocational and Technical Education and Training (SEAMEO VOCTECH) based in Brunei. Its workshop on the Integration of Transferable Skills in TVET Curriculum, Teaching-Learning, and Assessment held in Bangkok on the 13-14 March 2014 was in collaboration with UNESCO Bangkok. Sponsorship for the workshop was provided by the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office, reflecting the UK’s strong interest in and support for the education sector in South East Asia, including the field of technical and vocational training. Dr Paryono writes:
My experience in Bangkok was very interesting as I learnt a lot from the two day workshop. This was a joint collaboration with UNESCO Bangkok. One of the components in the project is on ‘Enhancing research network through collaborative research transferable skills in six selected Southeast Asian countries.’ This workshop ties in with integrating transferable skills in Technical and Vocational Education and training, TVET curriculum, teaching- learning and assessment. We would like to thank the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office for sponsoring this workshop under the UK Southeast Asia Partnership Funding and the British High Commission in Brunei who has actively supported us in activities related to TVET.
I met up with 24 participants from the 6 SEA countries, namely, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. I was joined also by my colleague, Hj Ali Husaini Mohd Diah, who was there to deliver the welcoming remarks during the opening.
From the UK side, we were joined by two experts, Dr Stephen Vickers and Dr Nic Robinson, on life skills from Vocational and Technical Charitable Trust (VTCT), and one representative from British Council. UNESCO Bangkok, also invited representatives from various organisations and companies/industries such as Pearson, FTI, QLF, and RTI. A representative from SEAMEO Secretariat and from the Brunei Embassy in Thailand also attended the Opening Ceremony.
During the two-day workshop, the country researchers presented their countries’ report, followed by presentations from UNESCO Bangkok and VTCT UK. The workshop started with the integration of transferable skills in TVET curriculum, followed by the integration of transferable skills in teaching and learning, and finally on how to monitor and assess transferable skills.
Based on these presentations and workshop, SEAMEO VOCTECH will now produce a comparative study of transferable skills in TVET, including models of integration.