Technical and vocational education and training in peace education: Solomon Islands
Technical and vocational education and training programs as a form of peace education are examined in this paper. It explores the notion of educating for a culture of peace through refocusing technical and vocational education and training programs on sustainable community development in the Solomon Islands. It further highlights the policy and practice mechanisms that contribute to advancing technical and vocational education and training as a peace education initiative. As a model of the applicability of the program as a form of peace education, the discussion describes a technical and vocational education and training centre in the Solomon Islands that has engaged in post-conflict livelihood projects – bringing about healing and restoration and creating the culture of peace. This is a practical and comprehensive model to peace education that extends beyond the centre and embraces the culture of peace in the community as a whole. The implications point to technical and vocational education and training as a means to achieve co-existence. Technical and vocational education and training as a form of peace education is capable of training people for a productive livelihood, creating a sense of national identity and unity, rehabilitating former militants and moving training programs outside the walls of the institutions. As a result, the pedagogy of technical and vocational education and training as a form of peace education is largely based on learning by doing which incorporates a number of peace activities.
Vocational Education and Training in Solomon Islands: Policy and Practice
In most of the small Pacific Island states formal education is given more emphasis in human resources development. However, due to the increasing number of school leavers, the available employment opportunities were saturated. This had given rise to urban drift which creates social problems. Therefore, the formal system was inadequate in terms of preparing people for nation building. The inadequacy was further evident in the widespread shortage of skills needed to generate self-employment opportunities in Solomon Islands, a small Pacific Island state. This has placed Vocational Education and Training as one of the priority areas in human resources development in countries like Solomon Islands. The purpose of the book is to examine the effectiveness of Vocational Education and Training in Solomon Islands Rural Training Centres.
Examining the Quality of Practical Learning in Secondary School Technical and Vocational Education Curriculum in Solomon Islands
The Government of Solomon Islands is committed to the achievement of 'Education For All' through its various education reform programmes. Central to the Government's education sector reform is the provision of quality education, which is an important tool to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the education sector goals of universal completion of basic education in primary and secondary education by 2015. To achieve these goals, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has listed technical and vocational education as one of the three key areas in its Education Strategic Framework. The Framework stresses that in order for Solomon Islands to achieve the 'Education For All' goal, it should improve the quality of learning to enhance student achievement in all areas and forms of education. It is against this policy framework that this article sets to examine the quality of practical learning in the secondary school technical and vocational education curriculum. The focus question that guides the discussion is: "how is Solomon Islands resourcing and promoting quality practical learning in its secondary school technical and vocational education curriculum?" The article concludes that the delivery of quality practical learning in the secondary school technical and vocational education curriculum is hampered by a number of factors, important amongst them being the shortage of suitable qualified teachers, the dominance of academic education and lack of learning resources, tools and equipment. As the deadline for the achievement of the 'Education For All' is drawing near, it is critically important for the Government to put in place a policy intervention to address the key impediments to quality practical learning in the secondary school technical and vocational education curriculum.