Bali - A two-day "International Conference on VTE Research and Networking" was successfully conducted at the Inna Grand Bali Beach Hotel, Bali Indonesia on July 7-8, 2008. The co-organiser was the Ministry of National Education of Indonesia (MONE) and had been represented by local educational institutions and departments.
Mohd Saiful Haji Omar, the Acting Director of the SEAMEO VOCTECH Regional Centre, and Co-Chairperson of the conference in his welcoming message said that the conference is an offshoot of the Centre`s The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs three-year (2007-2010) funded project known as Southeast Asian Vocational and Technical Education Research and Networking (SEAVERN). Acknowledging participation and expressing gratitude to all officials, speakers and participants present, he said that the conference did provide a dynamic forum for networking, information sharing, skill-building, and research sustaining and documenting best practices. Inviting all participants, he informed that the next SEAVERN Conference will be held in Brunei Darussalam in 2010.
Eight keynote speakers who tackled three Plenary Sessions, respectively presented their speeches that revolved around the general theme on "Nurturing Local VTE Research Efforts: A Response to Global Challenges". They were Dr Vilma L Labrador, Undersecretary of Education, Department of Education, Philippines; Dr Rupert Maclean, Director of UNESCO-UNEVOC, Germany; Dr. Harry Stolte, Head of Division, InWEnt, Germany; Dr Derek Elias, Director, UNESCO, Bangkok; Mrs. Francesca Beddie, Research Manager, NCVER, Australia; Prof Richard Bagnall, Professor, Vocational Institute of Hong Kong; Mr Ray Grannall, Regional Senior Skills Development Specialist for Asia and Pacific, ILO, Thailand; and Prof Dr Suyanto, the Director General for Management of Primary and Secondary Education, MONE, Indonesia.
The guest of honour at the opening ceremony was Dr Joko Sutrisno, the Director of Management of Secondary Vocational Education, MONE, Indonesia. In the Director-General`s speech, he highlighted that "the current policy of vocational education in Indonesia focuses on expanding vocational education, and improving its quality and image". Furthermore, on research, it was stressed that problems and issues are waiting to be addressed, yet acting on them at the current time will help contribute to the technological, economical, social and even political progress.
Dato Dr Ahamad Sipon, SEAMEO Secretariat Director of Bangkok, Thailand, also a keynote speaker, was the guest of honour at the closing programme. Thanking the fellow-speakers and delegates, he wished that the knowledge gained will be useful, applied to one`s practice, and be disseminated to as wide as possible to the workplace. He also anticipated the unity among Southeast Asian countries, whether researchers or other practitioners, to work together with one goal in improving VTET policies, and decision-making, sustaining networking and treading along the journey of providing 21st century skills in VTET systems and environment.
A salient feature of the conference was a Workshop conducted by SEAMEO VOCTECH to 22 SEAMEO Research Coordinators at the same venue on July 4-5, 2008. Among others, Dr Paryono, the Centre`s Research Manager and Co-Chairperson of the Conference Organising and Planning Committee and the researchers made group assessments of their year-round projects and finalised the plans for their next project that would include the other assigned researchers of each country. The utilisation and dissemination aspects of their research works benefiting their respective institutions/countries were also discussed. These researchers also presented their research findings during a designated schedule in the Parallel Sessions.
Noteworthy counsel, guidance and meaningful collaboration were extended from the Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam, and MONE, Indonesia through local educational institutions and departments, such as the Vocational and Technical Education, Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education, State University of Surabaya, State University of Malang, Vocational Education Development Centre, Malang, and Ganesha Education University. This conference held productive collaborations with UNESCO-UNEVOC and InWEnt, Germany. By Cora Sampang
Source: http://www.brunei-online.com (July 14, 2008)
