|
Fw: Development Update - December 2004
|
Julian Goh
|
Dec 03, 2004 00:15 PST
|
WELCOME TO THE FIFTH EDITION OF DEVELOPMENT UPDATE
This last edition of Development Update for 2004 comes to you at a time of
cultural importance for many of us. A number of people from Islamic cultures
who work with IDP in development are celebrating the end of the holy fasting
month of Ramadan. Others across the world are preparing to celebrate
Christmas.
The importance of cultural understanding in education and development was
the theme of the 18th IDP Australian International Education held in Sydney
in early October and attended by some 1,235 delegates, including a number
from the Middle East and Southeast Asia. This Update shares some of the
highlights of the development sessions.
We are very pleased to also present in this edition a special feature story
from Dr John E S Lawrence of UNDP. Dr Lawrence, a presenter at our
conference, outlines the challenges of achieving, by 2015, Education For All
(EFA) and the EFA Flagship initiative which seeks to ensure that the
Millennium Development Goal is realized by persons with disabilities.
As 2004 draws to a close and we move forward into a new year, IDP would like
to extend seasons greetings to partners and colleagues around the world and
wish you all the very best for a rewarding new year in development.
Robyn Stokes
Head, Development Implementation
Global Development Services Group
UNESCO, UWS AND A LOT OF SCIENTISTS: S&T IN THE ASIA PACIFIC
The Australian Expert Group in Industry Studies (AEGIS) at the University of
Western Sydney is working in partnership with UNESCO on a new Australian
Research Council (ARC) funded project.
The AEGIS team and partner organisation UNESCO will be studying the roles of
key science and innovation personnel in the Asia-Pacific region over the
next two years. Cohort analyses based on age, sectors of employment,
countries of training and fields of research will provide new insight into
the changing role of scientists in this economically diverse region. The
study will document the role of advanced education in integrating knowledge
creation and use in the region, highlighting the role of Australia in
regional innovation networks that constitute a major national and regional
resource.
The project team is led by Professor Tim Turpin, who in addition to working
at UWS is the Australian Focal Point for the UNESCO, Science and Technology
Policy Asian Network (STEPAN). Also on the team is Senior Researcher Dr
Richard Woolley, (UWS) and Danielle Logue (IDP Education Australia). For
further information on the project, please contact Professor Tim Turpin at
t.tu-@uws.edu.au
SPECIAL FEATURE STORY:
THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES - TOWARDS INCLUSION
In the 2000 Millennium Declaration, all 191 UN member states have pledged,
by the year 2015, to achieve eight global targets, dubbed the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) These are not only very ambitious targets, but they
also mark the first time that world leaders have openly committed to such
optimistic worldwide compacts in the interests of human development.
The first, and most visible goal requires eradication of extreme poverty and
hunger, expressed in explicit terms, and with numerical criteria. The second
and third goals deal with education, specifically universal primary
schooling, and gender equity in primary and secondary education. These are
strong and welcome global commitments which essentially take forward
original promises made at the World Conference on Education for All in
Jomtien, Thailand in 1990, that were signed on to by 155 attending
countries, but not kept. The most recent EFA Global Monitoring Report (2005)
says that although more children are going to school than ever before, many
still drop out before grade 5 of primary school, or complete without
mastering even a minimum set of cognitive skills. The report, which focuses
in this edition on quality, documents 150 million children with disabilities
worldwide, and underscores the fact that only 2% of them are enrolled in
school. Furthermore, the Jomtien Declaration addressed basic education
needs not only of children, but of adolescents and adults as well, so the
problem is actually much larger than these numbers alone suggest.
The truth is that unless major new efforts are made to reach out to persons
with disabilities, and include them more closely in all aspects of basic
education planning, administration and programme delivery, the MDG goal of
education for all simply will not be achieved by the target date.
Research cited in the EFAGMR 2005 suggests that students with disabilities
do better academically and socially in more inclusive educational settings,
but that some disabilities require special schooling. Education systems must
adapt to both these sets of requirements, and individuals and their families
helped to make the right choice.
This is the thrust of the effort currently planned by the EFA Flagship
entitled `The Right to Education for Persons with Disabilities: Towards
Inclusion.' The Flagship's purpose is to act as a catalyst to ensure that
the right to education and the EFA goals are realized for individuals with
disabilities. The Flagship represents a working partnership between UNESCO
and other UN and multilateral and bilateral agencies, as well as
universities, and international and national disability organizations.
An overview of the Flagship initiative was presented at this year's IDP
meeting in Sydney, Australia, and is available on the Conference Proceedings
CD. You can learn more about the Flagship by visiting the UNESCO website
(and brochure) at
http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/know_sharing/flagship_initiatives/depliant_flagship.pdf
John E.S. Lawrence, a research psychologist, was the UN Development
Programme's principal technical adviser in human resources development from
1988-98, and Deputy Director of UNDP's Social Development Division. He has
been closely involved with the global Education for All initiative since its
inception before Jomtien, and has worked most recently to assist the
Flagship team to develop a framework for the EFA Flagship programme on
disability. He can be reached at jeslaw-@att.net
If you have a contribution on development issues you would like to share,
please contact Daniell-@idp.com or +61 2 8521 2772
NEWS FLASH: IDP WINS EXTENSION TO FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAM IN
PNG
In August Robyn Stokes and Ian Kidd from Development Implementation Branch
worked closely with the Government of PNG and the IDP project team in Port
Moresby to design an extension to the AusAID-funded Provincial Financial
Management Training Program (PFMTP), which IDP has been jointly managing in
PNG since 2000.
A key objective of the extension is, by the end of the project, to have
substantially increased the capacity of the PNG Department of Finance's
Training Branch personnel to plan, manage and evaluate training. The
current project team will be boosted with the addition of a second full-time
HRD adviser and up to four additional volunteers located in provincial
treasury departments.
Key contacts: Ian Kidd, Program Manager; ian.-@idp.com; Robyn Stokes,
Program Director robyn.-@idp.com
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT STREAM AT THE IDP 18th AIEC CONFERENCE
| | From October 5 - 8 in Sydney, IDP Education Australia held the 18th
|
Australian International Education Conference. The development stream
within the conference was a great success, with several highlights:
Returning from work in Timor Leste was our World Bank presenter, Mr Ian
Morris, who presented with Ms Patricia Lyons of AusAID to a large crowd keen
to hear their perspectives on future project activities, SWAPs and donor
coordination
Our session on "Education as a Long Term Investment: EFA" was presented to a
full room, where the audience was very interested to ask questions of our
presenters Mr John Lawrence of UNDP, Professor Tim Turpin of UWS and Mr Ian
Kidd of IDP Education Australia
The large turnout for our session on culture and ethics in education and
development, led by Ms Jane Ellis of Transparency International and Mr
Gilbert Hennequin of IDP, demonstrated the strong interest in this topic,
generating much debate on the floor about imposing ethics, morality,
cultural understanding and achieving sustainable development.
INDONESIA AUSTRALIA PARTNERSHIP IN BASIC EDUCATION COMBINES FORMAL LAUNCH
WITH DYNAMIC WORKSHOP
After 6 months of intensive and extensive consultations with stakeholders,
and selection of three districts in East Java (Jombang, Jember and Gresik)
to focus on, the Indonesia-Australia Partnership in Basic Education (IAPBE)
marked its entry into a dynamic implementation phase with an Orientation and
Planning Workshop that doubled as a formal launch for the whole project.
IAPBE team leader Geoff Sanderson, Wita Katoppo from AusAID and Robert
Kingham, the team leader of the AusAID-funded LAPIS project gave the formal
introductory addresses.
Held in August in the Probolinggo district, East Java, the workshop was
extremely well-attended by 138 participants from all key stakeholders:
representatives from central government, East Javanese provincial
Departments of Education and Religion, AusAID Jakarta, other related
programs (LAPIS, PERFORM, CLGI), district and sub-district offices of
Education and Religion, district Planning Offices. There were also
principals and their chairs of school committees, heads of the district
education council, heads of Bappeda and relevant local parliament
committees, and representatives from local Malang schools where IAPBE
teacher trainers will be working..
Consistent with the active teaching/learning (PAKEM) strategies being
advocated by IAPBE, the workshop promoted active participation through,
brainstorming, discussions, simulations, recording and presenting group
results in oral and written form, and viewing the results of other group
discussions. Excellent high tech IT set up by IAPBE staff for the workshop
added to the professionalism of the workshop.
Formal evaluations corroborated the general feeling that the workshop was
highly successful in identifying key educational issues and development
needs in the districts. Altogether, a very successful launch of what is
already shaping up to be an excellent project.
Key contacts: Christina Landsberg, Project Manager
(christina.-@idp.com); Geoff Sanderson, Team Leader
(gsand-@iapbe.org)
"A new learning experience" for Qatari student in Australia"
Khalifa Al Hellabi describes studying in Western Australia as interesting
and valuable, "a new learning experience". The Qatari student is sponsored
by Qatar Petroleum to study in Australia under the IDP-managed fellowship
program. In his free time he plays soccer with the Qatari student team, but
his focus is studying an Advanced Diploma of Engineering (Oil and Gas) at
TAFE Western Australia. Upon completion he will be able to articulate into
a Bachelors degree. These Australian qualifications will provide Khalifa
with extensive technical and industry knowledge and a pathway to success
when he returns to Qatar Petroleum at the end of his studies.
IDP manages the Qatar Petroleum Fellowships program, as well as several
other private and government sponsored training programs for students from
around the world keen to benefit from Australia's excellent higher education
system and from the multicultural and stable environment the country offers.
The programs include students from Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,
Students from Dubai, for example, are sponsored by the scholarship program
initiated by His Highness, Crown Prince of Dubai, Minister of Defence,
Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. This program aims to provide
exceptional educational and development opportunities for potential leaders,
with the ultimate goals of enhancing the skill level of national talent and
accelerating the overall development of Dubai.
Among the support IDP provides to students is visiting them at their
university each semester. Khalifa finds these visits helpful, particularly
in dealing with "university or faculty issues and processes" where he needs
advice.
Key Contact: Sukhdeep Kaur, Project Officer, Fellowships. Email:
Sukhdee-@idp.com
SPOTLIGHT ON THE MIDDLE EAST: IDP COUNTRY OFFICE PROFILE
IDP Office Location: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Jeddah, Riyadh,
Dammam
Country Director: Mr Sanjeev Verma
Nationality: Indian
Languages: Arabic & English
IDP Development Activities in country: Fellowship Management for Qatar
petroleum, GOSI, EDDAD, MOHE, Kuwait; school counselors visits to
universities; study tours and management of official delegations.
Services available:
Project management and implementation
Research consultancies
Study tours to Australian institutions
Fellowship/scholarship program management
Examination services including distance exam supervision
Student recruitment for Australian institutions
Graduation services
Conference/workshop organization services
University preparation training
Alumni services
IDP UAE upcoming events: I Roadshow : Mar 28, 2005 - Apr 13, 2005; II
Roadshow Sept 20 - Oct 5; Career Awareness Programme ( Periodic Seminars on
various career options by Visiting Academics & professionals).
For more information contact: Sanjeev Verma at sanjeev-@idp.com (Dubai)
or Margaret Lo at margar-@idp.com (Sydney)
THE PEACE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM:
The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) is the latest
organisation to commit support to the Peace Scholarship Program, a AU$6
million international scholarship program initiated by IDP Education
Australia with the support of the Australian education industry following
the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. AusAID have committed to support
three undergraduate students from Indonesia annually over the next three
years to study abroad at participating Australian universities for one
semester. AusAID's support is worth AU$90,000 over the three year period,
joining a growing list of supporters which include 31 Australian
universities, the Queensland and Victorian Departments of Education, the
Mexican Government, Vodafone, Standard Chartered Bank, the University of
Johannesburg and UNIFEM Australia. The Peace Scholarship Program is
committed to providing opportunities for eligible students in selected
countries worldwide to study abroad at an undergraduate or postgraduate
level in Australia for one or two semesters. Further information on the
Program and how you can support it is available at www.idp.com/globalpeace.
For more information contact Eleanor Rivers, Manager of the Peace
Scholarship Trust. Tel: +61 2 8251 2701, Email: eleanor-@idp.com
DID YOU KNOW...?
In Botswana, people-singular are "Motswana", people-plural are "Batswana"
and the native language is "Setswana".
SUBSCRIBE TO DEVELOPMENT UPDATE - CLICK HERE!
DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES!
Want to work with us? Are you registered with IDP? We regularly have long
term, short term, overseas and in-Australia consultancy work available.
Click here to access ConsultantZone and register for development
opportunities with IDP and our partners around the world.
IDP is a global organisation with more than 90 offices in some 50 countries.
IDP is an independent not-for-profit organisation owned by Australian
universities.
IDP Education Australia Limited
Global Development Services Group
Level 4, 210 Clarence St, Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 8251 2700
Email: develo-@idp.com
www.idp.com
NEWS FROM THE FIELD
Introducing Jan Parry
Since Jan joined IDP's Projects Team almost a year ago, she has been
managing the ADS East Timor contract, DEST International Awards and
Exchanges Program and IDP's involvement in the UNICEF East Timor curriculum
reform project. Jan came to IDP after completing her Masters in
International Development from the University of Melbourne, where she had
studied as an IDP sponsored scholar from the UK, under the IDP Commonwealth
Scholarship Scheme. Jan has experience of working in development on several
fronts. In 2002 she worked as a volunteer in Uganda, delivering non-formal
health education with a Ugandan counterpart in rural Eastern Uganda. It was
this experience of living and interacting closely with a rural Ugandan
village community that sparked Jan's keen interest in international
development. Her management of IDP projects with key clients such as
AusAID, DEST and UNICEF is providing her with an excellent foundation in
project management and contract management and providing her with another
perspective on development. Jan can be contacted at jan.p-@idp.com
Want more information on IDP's other business activities?
Subscribe to IDP GLOBAL UPDATE a monthly newsletter covering all of IDP's
business activities around the world. Email global-@idp.com
Your subscribed email address is:
julian_a-@hotmail.com
If you wish to unsubscribe:
<a
href="http://newsletter.idp.com/members.aspx?Task=OO&SI=43997&E=julian_acade
mic%40hotmail.com&S=4">click here</a>.
If you would like to upgrade your text newsletter to HTML:
<a
href="http://newsletter.idp.com/members.aspx?Task=CH&SI=43997&E=julian_acade
mic%40hotmail.com&S=4">click here</a>.
Would you like to forward this email to a colleague?
<a
href="http://newsletter.idp.com/members.aspx?Task=FF&SI=43997&E=julian_acade
mic%40hotmail.com&S=4&N=107&Format=TEXT">click here</a>
Click here to update your settings for all IDP newsletters you receive.
<a
href="http://newsletter.idp.com/members.aspx?Task=US&SI=43997&E=julian_acade
mic%40hotmail.com&S=4">click here</a>
|
|
 |
|
