Grant A Fillip To Training Centre
By Norhayati Zalani

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei Darussalam Seameo Voctech Regional Centre has been awarded a grant amounting to more than half a million US dollars by the government of the Netherlands for research and training programmes.

Awang Mohammad Abu Bakar, the director of the centre told The Brunei Times that the International Institutes Cooperation Programme under the -Ministry of Foreign Affairs/ Development Cooperation has approved the grant for the centre's project entitled "Research Networking and Capacity Building Program for Higher Education Institutions Involved in Vocational and Technical Education in Southeast Asia."

The Netherland's International Institutes Cooperation Program finances higher education projects with a regional or multi-country focus and in which the activities are demanddriven. The programme may also finance a combination of activities in various fields of policy development, research in higher education, capacity building, higher education management, and training of trainers, curriculum development and others. The programme further stipulates that for each project at least one of the beneficiary countries must be a bilateral partner for the Dutch development cooperation.

Seameo Voctech, being one of the 16 centres or network under Seameo, with the Netherlands as one of the Associate Members, was invited to write in its programme proposal.

The grant period shall run from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009, a period of three years. Setting meetings and communications to all concerned Seameo countries will thus commence early next year.,

"Matters on obligations attached to the grant have been stipulated with which we at the Centre are bound to comply.

Since its establishment, this is the biggest funded project, amounting to more than half million US dollars, that has been received by the Centre, Awang Mohammad said. He said the impact of these projects was that, all beneficiaries in the region, including Bruneian Vocational and Technical Education and Training (VTET) instructors and teachers will take active participation and exposure in research and in the training programmes within these three year period.

"We thank the Netherlands Government for approving our projects, the result of the management's concerted and collaborative efforts," the director added.

The approved programme has two-pronged components. The first, the Southeast Asian Vocational Education Research Network and Capacity Building for Administrators I Instructors/ Teachers of Universities, Colleges and Polytechnics offering WET focus on establishing a VTET research network or association, which will be known as Southeast Asian Vocational Education Research Network (Seavern). This research network will be the avenue for collaboration among researchers in Southeast Asia that will generate, manage, and disseminate information based on research activities.

The second component is aimed at developing the capabilities of higher education institution administrators, researchers and -tecturersl instructors in developing and implementing research and/or training projects in VTET.

The two-week training programmes to be conducted at Seameo Voctech will focus on various topics, among others include improved policy directions through qualitative and quantitative research, management course for administrators of universities and holistic assessment of learning competency.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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