Report of the 1st Experts Consultation Workshop

Executive Summary

The formidable task of overcoming poverty incidence is a major and a sensitive issue on the world’s decision makers today. Guided by the UN Millennium Development Goals, nations are placed in a timeframe of halving the people experiencing poverty by at least a half of 1990 levels by 2015. Different countries and organizations in strengthening their efforts to fulfill the targets incorporated in the said agreement have entered several talks and agreements.

In heeding the call of the world’s advocates of anti-poverty measures, the Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) has forwarded actions and initiated linkages to its member countries in its activities, particularly in skills formation and development. CPSC believes that one of the ways of alleviating poverty is to provide capacity building in relevant avenues, most especially in the field of technical education and training.

With this perspective, the Government of India responded to CPSC’s initiative by forwarding a financial grant to build capacity of master trainers, which, in return, will provide a multiplier effect through training initiatives at the community level. This action is envisioned to provide long-term and sustainable solutions for poverty alleviation in the region. This prompted CPSC to organize the International Consultation Workshop on TVET Skills Development for Poverty Alleviation, the last leg of the 3-day International Symposium on TVET Skills Development on Poverty Alleviation held at the CPSC Headquarters in Manila on August 4, 2010.

Led by His Excellency Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi, Minister of Labor and Human Resources of the Kingdom of Bhutan and Honorable Mr. J.S. Mukul, Joint Secretary (TC), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, twenty distinguished international experts and guests from the different member countries of CPSC gathered to share and utilize their experiences in formulating the curriculum framework and to decide modalities of the training program. This workshop provided an avenue to layout the plans and guidelines for the execution of the TVET Skills Development on Poverty Alleviation programs to the CPSC Member Countries.

The international experts analyzed some of the current innovative practices and initiatives related to poverty reduction including some of the approaches taken by major international and bilateral organizations. By focusing on a new understanding of poverty and its underlying factors, these frameworks and initiatives have achieved a broad consensus on the issues related to poverty and the challenges ahead.

The workshop identified a number of key cross-cutting issues about poverty alleviation in the region: the multi-dimensionality of poverty and the role of partnership and coordination. It also tackled general issues related to the sustainable outcomes of the program, including the project development and road map, the curriculum framework for the capacity building of the master trainers program and the project implementation modalities.

The adoption of the name “Champion Leaders” Training program as the new focus for this project seeks to instill to the participants who being a catalyst to combat poverty in the region. A set of key recommendations which emphasized integration of generic skills in training delivery; the host country’s initiation in selecting participants based on guidelines; active cooperation between CPSC and the partner institutions; focus on the country’s niche areas for program thrust; provision of a common database for the lesson and the best experiences that emerged during the programs implementation are those substantial points that transpired as major outcome from the workshop. These will be used as a considerable basis in the formulation of the in-country programs across the member countries of CPSC.

List of Experts

	H.E. Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi Minister for Labor and Human Resources Royal Government of Bhutan
	Mr. J.S. Mukul Joint Secretary (TC) Ministry of External Affairs, India
	Prof. Rupert Maclean Director, Centre for Lifelong Learning Research and Development; Chair Professor of International Education, Department of International Education and Lifelong Learning (IELL),The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong Phone: +852 2948 6455 Fax: (+852) 2948 8775 Mobile: (+852) 6380 8563 Email: [email protected]
	Md. Shahjahan Mian Director (Planning & Development) Directorate of Technical Education, Bangladesh Tel No.: (+88-02) 9110804 Mobile: (+88-0172) 1675517 Email: [email protected]
	Mr. Sangay Dorjee Director Dept. of Occupational Standards Ministry of Labor and Human Resources, Bhutan
	Dr. C.K. Basu CPSC Director Emeritus Consultant FAITH Healthcare Private Limited E-mail: [email protected]
	Prof. Dinesh Awasthi, Ph.D. (Econ.) Director Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India Tel.: +91-79-23969157 Fax: +91-79-23969160 E.mail (Office): [email protected] E.mail (Home): [email protected]
	Professor R. Natarajan Former Chairman and Former Director, AICTE and IIT Madras, India Tel.: +91- 80 2334 1033 (Res.) Fax: +91-80 4128 2337 (Res.) Mobile : +91-988 60 61242 Email: [email protected]
	Dr. S. Mohan Director National Institute of Technical Teacher and Training and Research Ministry of Human Resources Development, Chennai, India
	Mr. Josua T. K. Mataika Chairman Pacific Association of Technical & Vocational Education and Training (PATVET), Fiji
	Hj. Mokhlis Bin Jaafar Deputy Director General Department of Polytechnic & Community College Education Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia Level 5, Block E14, Parcel E 62505 Putrajaya, Malaysia Fax No: (+60-3) 88836561 Email: [email protected]
	Dr. Mohammad Naim Yaakub Director Policy Development Division Polytechnic Education Department, Malaysia Tel: +60-3 89394243 Fax: +60-3 89394225 Email: [email protected]
	Mr. Javzan Sukhbaatar TVET Project Director and Chairman, Board of Directors USI College Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of Mongolia Fax No.: (+976-11) 260816 Email: [email protected]
	Dr. Khin Htike Ktike Lwin Director General Department of Technical and Vocational Education Ministry of Science and Technology, Myanmar
	Mr. Shiva Shankar Ghimire Director, Curriculum Division Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Nepal
	Dr. Sultan Hanif Orakzai Regional Director Prime Ministers’ Secretariat, NAVTEC, Pakistan Email: [email protected]
	Dr. Jayasundara J. Banda Acting Assistant Secretary – TVET Department of Education Papua New Guinea [email protected]
	Dr. Virginia Silvestre ALS Chief, NCRBALS Department of Education, Philippines
	Dr. Siripan Choomnoom Deputy Secretary General Office of the Vocational Education Commission Ministry of Education, Thailand Tel : (94-11) 2640470 / 2650621 Fax : +66 22801832 E-mail: [email protected]
	Prof. Shyamal Majumdar, Ph.D. Director General E-mail: [email protected]
	Prof. Rajesh P. Khambayat, Ph.D. Program Coordinator and Faculty Consultant E-mail: [email protected]
	Prof. T.J. Tesoro-Gayondato Faculty Member E-mail: [email protected]
	Dr. Renato Sorolla, Ph, D. Faculty Specialist E-mail: [email protected]
	Engr. Jahagir Alam Faculty Specialist E-mail: [email protected]