October 8, 2015. Suva, Fiji – Today 15 Pacific Island countries under the European Union’s Pacific Technical Vocational Education Training for Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Adaption (EU-PacTVET) project are meeting in the Programme Steering Committee to discuss the project objectives and work plans in order to better achieve results.
This project, jointly implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and The University of the South Pacific (USP) in partnership with the European Union (EU), is working to develop recognised accreditation in the vocational education sector, particularly in the interests of strengthening climate change adaption and supporting the development of sustainable energy in the region.
During the two-day meeting, countries will be given the opportunity to present their findings from the gap analysis and training needs assessments carried out in each of the countries earlier this year which will further contribute to determining priority areas for developing TVET training.
“This consultation will hopefully lead to regional TVET qualifications in the areas of climate change adaptation and sustainable energy. This is literally trail blazing, a first, and courses and skill sets can be tailored to national needs,” USP’s Deputy Director for Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development, Dr Morgan Wairui, said.
It will also include presentations on TVET qualification frameworks, curricula and accreditation guidelines in-country and allow participants to critique each other and offer solutions to some of the challenges identified during discussions.
“The meeting will also serve to bring countries together with partners to identify potential areas of collaboration and activities in order to ensure results are achieved,” SPC’s Project Team Leader for PacTVET, Dr Sarah Hemstock, said.
“After the conclusion of this meeting we can begin our training of trainers as well as the development of a regional technical training for renewable energy technicians and project managers as well as community training schemes for local climate change adaption,” she said.
“Sustainable energy and climate change adaptation are top priorities for Pacific countries and for the European Union. The partnership with SPC and USP is the best way to build TVET capacities and provide the technical expertise for the countries to deal with these challenges in the long term,” the Acting Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation for the Pacific, Jesús Laviña, said.
PRESS RELEASE