Technical and Vocational Training in the modern world requires more and more often going beyond the limitations and capabilities of individual private agencies in order to involve institutions in civil society and in this way to obtain new resources and forms of collaboration.
How far has collaboration come between educational institutions and the business world? How can Christian-inspired institutions make a contribution? What are the expectations of business firms? Are these prepared to take an active part in the training process? These were some of the questions addressed through contributions from around the world by the Bonn Forum.
One issue which was under consideration throughout the day was how to collaborate with local businesses in a way that was beneficial to both parties involved. Fr A. M. Jose underlined the importance of net-working, starting from the experience of Don Bosco Tech India, an organisation which brings together 130 educational institutions in the country and of which the Salesian is the coordinator.
Fr Adolph Furtado, Director of the “Don Bosco Learning Center” in Mumbai, and Michael Mager, Personnel Director of “Grohe AG”, then described the “Grohe Jal-Academy” Cooperation Project. Supported by the Grohe AG Company, the programme offers from three to twelve months courses in plumbing, and aims to train 900 street children in the next 5 years. In the future it is intended that a contribution will also be made by some staff coming from Germany.
International work for training was discussed through the examination of the project “Initiative Berufsbildungs-Export Handwerk” (IBEX), which encourages and supports overseas industrial training schemes in handicrafts and commerce; while the Jesuit priest Benedictus Triatmoko, spoke about his experience of industrial training for work carried out by the “Technical Academy for Manufacturing Engineering”.
The Bonn Forum “Cooperaton with Industry” provided an opportunity for the exchange of experiences and a meeting with agencies and experts in the field of Technical and Vocational Training, in the context of cooperation in development and of collaboration with potential business partners.
As summed up by Jean Paul Muller, formerly in charge of the Bonn Mission Office and now Economer General of the Salesian Congregation, the main aim is to put the young people at the centre of all the educational efforts being made: “In looking for cooperation with businesses, as educational institutes we need to aim at the best training possible and the further development of our apprentices.”
Published 06/04/2011
