UNEVOC sub-regional conference-cum-seminar, Maputo, Mozambique, 15 -17 July 2009

The UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre held a sub-regional conference –cum- seminar on the reform and development of TVET at the Centro de Conferencia Joaquim Chissano in Maputo, Mozambique, on 15-17 July 2009. The seminar was jointly organised with UNESCO Maputo and Magdeburg University in Germany (a UNEVOC Centre). Also, institutions such as Universiti Pedagogic Maputo, the UNEVOC Centre at Ohio State University (USA), UNESCO Harare, UNESCO Windhoek, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) provided various forms of support.

There were 117 participants at the seminar, which can be divided into three groups, namely:

• Mozambican vocational educators and planners and teachers;
• Regional experts and leaders in TVET, including chief executive officers of TVET authorities; and
• International experts.

The different groups included vocational educators and researchers belonging to UNEVOC Centres in their countries. Also, there were participants from NGOs and industry- related entities. The diversity among the participants made for rich and wide-ranging discussions and exchanges during the seminar.

Questions about the reform and development of TVET and associated learning were treated in both plenary and breakaway sessions and focussed on the following themes:

• TVET policy and curriculum reform and development;
• Improving access to, equity in and quality of TVET;
• Innovation and best practice in reform and the development of TVET:
• Training of technical and vocational teachers;
• Distance education in TVET;
• Blended learning; and
• Strategies for international cooperation and collaboration.

Learning occurred from the keynotes and thematic presentations, which were followed by moderated discussions, questions/answers and various expositions. In the breakaway sessions, there was in depth treatment of country and school experiences, practices, and exemplars relating to effective strategies for reforms and development of TVET, e.g.

• Qualification frameworks and reform and development of TVET;
• Vocational teacher training;
• Research;
• Lifelong learning perspectives;
• Recognition of prior learning and indigenous knowledge and skills;
• Blended learning approaches; and
• Utility of the UNEVOC Network in the reform and development of TVET.

Activities and strategies for follow-up and possible collaboration and cooperation were identified.

Conclusion

A lot of learning occurred. The seminar provided insights into various aspects of TVET reform. The participants went away with a better understanding of the value of an effective national UNEVOC Network, how the utilization of the broader UNEVOC Network was beneficial to TVET planners and leaders, and how it made it unnecessary to reinvent the wheel in addressing the development and innovation of TVET.

Conference Summary by Frank Bünning (Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg) and Claudia Kalisch (Rostock University)