With the challenges of globalization and rapid technological change, the Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, National Heritage, Culture and Arts, Fiji jointly organized an In-Country Program on “Web-based Teaching and Learning System in TVET” held from April 22-26, 2013 in Suva, Fiji.
Overall program supervision was under the helm of the CPSC Director General Dr. Mohammad Naim Yaakub, while Mr. Felix Sibal acted as Program Coordinator, complemented by the Local Coordinator, Ms. Rina Roshni Chand, Senior Education Officer for TVET.
The inauguration, held on April 22, 2013, was graced by Mr. Ilieasa Lutu, Deputy Secretary of Public Service Commission, who delivered an inspirational message. She emphasized the importance of ICT in education and stated that, "The evolution of digital advances and methodologies in education will continue to change, and in a more rapid way... It is daunting to think how far we have come and what lies ahead. These developments in the field of communication and information technology have fostered knowledge distribution and accessibility never before achievable." Mr. Lutu believes that the training program will help Fiji as it strives for global standards in the field of technical education.
The ICP provided an opportunity for the participants to learn about different innovative web-enabled ICT practices, E-learning authoring tools, software and technologies and E-Teaching and Learning systems. It also aimed to provide resources, ideas, strategies to help those involved in the training and development to meet the learning needs of the various institutions using teaching and training techniques, facilitation, and development activities in TVET system.
A total of 28 participants from different academic staff members, teachers and trainers institutions and representatives of other public and private sector organizations attended the five-day program.
The closing ceremony was graced by Mr. Moape Qiolevu, Manager of Information Technology & Computing (ITC) Services (ITC), Ministry of Finance, Fiji. In his closing speech, Mr. Qiolevu said that he believed in the transformative power of information technology and that an effective education led transformation can help countries increase student competitiveness, build job skills and competencies, thus, support economic development and provide social cohesion.
The program received positive feedback and perceived it to be very timely and relevant.
 Organizers and participants of the program in Fiji |
 A group of participants presenting their group project |
