Lauren Jones, Namibia
28 June 2010
Lauren Jones, working with the Namibia Training Authority, on
organising the 8th International Vocational Education and Training
Association (IVETA) Africa Conference. By all accounts a huge
undertaking and a roaring success.
Lauren Jones at the 8th IVETA Africa Conference
Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in a tiny town in central NSW called West Wyalong.
When I was six months old my family moved to Mudgee and I spent the
next eighteen years there.
What were you doing before you joined the AVI program?
Prior to joining AVI I was working as a Group Leader for
Intrepid Travel. I started tour leading in Eastern Europe, thinking
of it as an eighteen month break from event management, my main
profession. However I found that the job satisfied my love of
travel and my craving for constant learning, and of course it came
with its own event management challenges! By the time I joined AVI
I'd worked as a tour leader for nearly four years in Eastern and
Western Europe, New Zealand and had finished in the Middle East.
I'd also spent some time working in the Melbourne head office with
the Southern and Central Asia, Russia, Latin America and Africa
teams. I travelled Africa myself for two months and fell in love
with the continent. Prior to my work as a tour leader I had worked
in event management in Australia for two major conference venues,
an event design company and the Sydney Olympics.
Why did you get involved in organising the training
conference?
I have always wanted to work in the development field but
breaking in when your skills are in event and project management
often means working in a purely fundraising position. Joining AVI
to work for the Namibia Training Authority in producing an
international conference was a perfect way to enter the development
field, gain further overseas project management experience and work
towards something worthwhile - strengthening the vocational
education and training sector in Namibia.
How did you put it together?
Producing an international calibre event that would be of
benefit to the many varied stakeholders in the vocational education
and training field, from government ministers to the trainers
themselves, would be a challenge in any environment. There were a
few extra challenges in putting together the 8th IVETA Africa
Conference, such as the event company being fired within a week of
me landing and leaving the entire conference squarely on my desk,
my local counterpart leaving the organisation, the Namibia Training
Authority being such a new organisation and very understaffed,
technological challenges when the internet, email, phones and fax
machines all stop working, and the protocol and political
challenges of meeting the Ministry of Education's requirements.
Thankfully we were able to identify and contract several local
suppliers who were very professional, such as the conference venue,
caterers, transport and equipment suppliers etc. Then it simply
became a matter of hard work! With fifty working days from the day
I landed to the first day of the conference, working weekends and
sixteen hours days became the norm.
At event time, we encountered some additional challenges like
the volcano in Iceland stopping twenty two European delegates and
one presenter from attending, and a minor bus crash in a
neighbouring country stopping another presenter.
The amount of work we'd put into the pre-planning, including
contingency planning for just such unexpected occurrences, and the
willingness of the staff from the Namibia Training Authority to
pull together and complete any task required on the day, ensured
that the event was a huge success. Two hundred and fifty nine
delegates from twenty countries spent three days exploring,
debating and discussing the new ideas, best practices and
challenges for vocational education and training in Africa.
What were the key outcomes?
The conference itself was very successful in gathering key
stakeholders from vocational education and training (VET) from
across Africa, and providing a forum for the development of the
industry as well as networking opportunities for the delegates.
From the evaluation forms completed by delegates at the end of the
conference, 94% of delegates found the conference topics pertinent
and 88% will be able to apply knowledge gained in their own
situations.
For the Namibia Training Authority, another outcome was the
major increase in their profile gained through the hosting and
success of such a large international event. For a fledgling
organisation still developing its public image, earning the support
of the Ministry of Education and carving its place in the VET
structure with the vocational training centres and industry, this
increase in status will be invaluable.
The conference also brought profile and economic benefits to
Namibia, the coastal town of Swakopmund, and importantly, the many
small local suppliers sourced to produce goods or services for the
conference, such as the co-operative of twenty eight local women
who hand painted and stitched the three hundred conference bags,
and hand beaded three hundred key chains and name tag lanyards.
Namibia as a tourist destination was well showcased to our
international delegates, especially at the gala dinner "Diamonds in
the Desert" where we used a fleet of 44 4x4 transporter vehicles to
whisk delegates to 'sundowner' champagne at a viewpoint over the
alluvial plain, then at dark descended into a candle-lit canyon of
the Namib desert for a magical evening of Namibian food, a local
comedian and Marimba band. Many delegates have said that it was a
highlight they'll never forget.
The conference post-event report identified the following
outcomes and commitments:
- The Minister of Education indicated a commitment to support and
adequately resource Vocational Education and Training in
Namibia.
- This highlights the important issue of developing and
strengthening strong relationships between government and
vocational education and training institutions across Africa
- The links between industry and vocational education and
training must be strengthened and maintained for VET to be relevant
and provide trainees with confidence that their VET training is
demanded by the job market
- Quality assessment is the foundation of trust in vocational
education and training between industry, vocational training
providers, trainers and trainees
- The support of teachers and learners is a vital component in
the success of a vocational education and training authority
- The profile of vocational education and training must be
improved to make it a first choice for Africa's youth, rather than
a last resort.
Some of the comments from the feedback forms
are:
"I am taking home a wealth of new knowledge and will return to
my workplace with new enthusiasm. I will look out for the next
conference".
"This has been a good forum for sharing ideas, particularly the
constraints facing VET and the way forward".
"Thank you for all the networking opportunities. I believe
that it was during these times that most work and discussions were
done. I made many new friends from other countries with whom we
will be working and exchanging information".
Compiled by AusAID South Africa
