Project News

In August 2012, Directors and equivalently responsible persons from vocational training institutions from Sudan came to Japan for receiving a 3-week training titled "Training Management in Vocational Training Institutions" at JICA Yokohama Center. The participants are, such as Directors, Deputy Directors, Heads of section and so on (16 trainees in total), those who daily manage the vocational training institutions, but their responsibility also lies in the future development of Sudanese vocational training system as a whole. From the Capacity Development Project for Provision of the Services for Basic Human Needs in Kassala (K-TOP), the Director of Kassala Vocational Training Center (KVTC) participated in the training.

The training was structured to make the trainees learn about the features and effectiveness of the vocational training in Japan. The purpose of the training is to make the trainees to contribute to the development of both their own vocational training institution and the vocational training sector in Sudan on their return.

In the vocational training institutions in Sudan, it is hard to see "a systematic management", and KVTC is also not an exception. There are various issues, such as concentration of decision-making power, no effective reporting system and so on. In order to find the solution for these issues, the training took the following steps: first, the participants looked back on their daily tasks at their vocational training institutions, secondly they wrote down the issues they identified through the first activity, and thirdly they tried to find the solutions to these issues through lectures and exercises.

Mr. Hassan (Director of KVTC, left) is presenting what he learnt in the lecture of Process Management.

Visiting a factory of Yamaha Motor Company.

The participants learned useful topics such as how to manage the institutions efficiently and how to improve the quality of training, through various key words:- PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Action) cycle, Kaizen, and 5S. (See the link below for more information of these key words). The lecturer provided the training in connection to the participants' daily working experience. Throughout the lectures, it was observed that the trainees raised many questions to the lecturers and there were active exchanges of opinion between them.

In addition to the lectures, the participants enjoyed an opportunity to visit a vocational training institution in Hamamatsu and a factory of Yamaha Motor Company. Through the visit, the trainees could see how the lessons they learned in the lectures are applied in the actual field, and realized that many small bits of ideas make the whole system better.

After the trainees' return to Sudan, through K-TOP vocational training cluster activities, we will support KVTC's continuous development effort to make KVTC as the best practice in the whole Sudan.

On the last day of the training, the trainees visited Sudanese Ambassador in Japan, H.E. Mr. Abdelwahab Mohamed ELHIJAZI (left), and reported the achievement of the training. Mr. Elhijazi gave them warm words and expressed deep appreciation and affection toward Japan and Japanese.

The first Shinkansen-train experience. For the trainees, there were a lot of curious things in Japan in addition to the training.

Spread to Overall Sudan: The Energy toward the Vocational Training Institution Development

In the training, Mr. Mustafa, Secretary General of Supreme Council for Vocational Training and Apprenticeship (SCVTA) which monitors every vocational training institutions in Sudan, also participated as a course leader from Sudan side. His strong initiative contributed to the decision to hold an Action Plan Follow-up Workshop in Khartoum after six months from the training.

Actually, Mr. Mustafa was promoted to Secretary General of SCVTA just before this training started. In other words, he plays a leading role for development of vocational training in Sudan.

This training in Japan was an occasion for Mr. Mustafa to understand the issues which the other 15 participants from various regions of Sudan are facing in their vocational training institutions, and to consider what to do for the improvement of the situation. His promotion at this timing surely helped him to make a firm commitment for the betterment and strengthening of the vocational training in Sudan.

For regional vocational training institutions like KVTC, having the training with General Secretary of SCVTA contributed as the first step for building a stronger central-regional relationship.

(Reported by Mr. Atsunori Kume, JICA Expert on Vocational Training Curriculum & Teaching Materials
Ms. Mariko Ikawa, JICA Expert on School Management)