Contributed by a Network member

Associate Professor Margarita Pavlova (IELL), the Director of the UNESCO-UNEVOC Centre, Hong Kong took part in the General Assembly Meeting of the Regional Association of Vocational Teacher Education in Asia (RAVTE) held in early November in Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting was hosted by the Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi. Faculty deans, directors of institutions, university presidents, vice-presidents and rectors gathered in Bangkok to shape the future of vocational teacher education in the region. The purpose of the meeting was to develop The Strategy and Plan of Action for 2014-2018 to enhance the quality of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) teachers in the region.

The RAVTE was established to support integrating processes in the ASEAN region (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) that by 2015 intends to transform the region with ‘free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labour, and freer flow of capital’ (http://www.asean.org/communities/asean-economic-community). Human resources development, capacity building and recognition of professional qualifications are among the areas of cooperation for the ASEAN countries. The RAVTE is supported by the ministries and regional organisations such as SEAMEO VOCTECH, UNESCO Regional Office, AUN Bangkok and CPSC and international donors (GIZ, USAID, AusAID).

The mission of the RAVTE is “to support vocational personnel development in order to enhance TVET quality and efficiency as well as foster the on-going integration activities and developments in East and Southeast Asian countries” (http://educationsocietythai.org/flie/RAVTE.pdf). Currently more than 15 universities from 8 ASEAN countries are the members of the RAVTE, including Bejing Normal University and Tongji University in China. The Faculty of Education and Human Development is the focal point for collaborative activities within this Association for the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

During the General Assembly Meeting Dr Pavlova led one of four groups that developed the action plan for several RAVTE strategies. The work of her group focused on strategic co-operation in different areas including policy formulation with such organizations as SEAMEO VOCTECH, GIZ RECOTVET, OVET (Thailand) and enhancement of quality and relevance of vocational education through improving the quality of TVET teacher education by placing more emphasis on the practice component of educational programs, cooperation with enterprises and vocational schools, and quality assurance.

Among the activities included in the draft action plan are: collaboration with GIZ in the field of TVET teacher competencies and education program structures; establishing Centres of excellence across RAVTE members for the in-service teacher education: and organisation of courses through the regional and national institutions such as UNESCO, SEMEO VOTEC, OVET.

In RAVTE HKIEd will play a significant role in the area of green skills education and research. Through the UNESCO-UNEVOC Centre, the Faculty of Education and Human Development will lead research and development activities within the network to enhance Vocational Teacher Education, research and cooperation. The team from the FEHD lead by Associate Professor Margarita Pavlova includes Associate Professor TAM, Siu Ling Maureen, Dr HUI King Fai, Dr George Ngai and Chan Wa.

Active involvement of HKIEd in the RAVTE network will contribute to improved quality of teacher education in the region that potentially results in “social integration, harmony and peace throughout the region” (http://educationsocietythai.org/flie/RAVTE.pdf).