Wednesday, October 4, 2023
National Skills Network
  • Home
  • Skill Story
  • Skill Talk
  • News
    • Events
    • News digest
    • NSN Newsletter Archives
    • NSN PDF Newsletter Archives
    • Other Newsletters
  • Resources
    • E-books
    • Glossary
    • How To’s
    • Learning Videos
    • National Education Policy 2020
    • Reports
    • Skills for Schools
    • Upcoming webinars and virtual events
  • Skill2Jobs
    • Apprenticeships & Internships
    • Employability Skills
    • Jobs
    • Projects
  • About us
    • Advertise with us
    • Our Clients
    • Our Services
    • Our Team
  • Success Stories
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Skill Story
  • Skill Talk
  • News
    • Events
    • News digest
    • NSN Newsletter Archives
    • NSN PDF Newsletter Archives
    • Other Newsletters
  • Resources
    • E-books
    • Glossary
    • How To’s
    • Learning Videos
    • National Education Policy 2020
    • Reports
    • Skills for Schools
    • Upcoming webinars and virtual events
  • Skill2Jobs
    • Apprenticeships & Internships
    • Employability Skills
    • Jobs
    • Projects
  • About us
    • Advertise with us
    • Our Clients
    • Our Services
    • Our Team
  • Success Stories
No Result
View All Result
National Skills Network
No Result
View All Result

Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC): Enhancing global competitiveness of TVET

by S. Divya Sree
February 4, 2023
in Organization, Skill Story
Prof. G.L.D. Wickramasinghe, Director General, Colombo Plan Staff College
Prof. G.L.D. Wickramasinghe

“There is a need to align technical education curriculum and competencies to take advantage of the upcoming new jobs and opportunities,” said Prof. G. L. D. Wickramasinghe, Director General, CPSC, Manila, Philippines, while talking about the need to enhance the global competitiveness of TVET. 

Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) is a one-of-a-kind Inter-Governmental Organization (IGO) that addresses challenges in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Asia and the Pacific region. CPSC has been actively promoting human resources development in the region for more than four decades.

To learn more about the initiatives taken and the significant role played by CPSC in enhancing the global competitiveness of TVET, the importance of digitalization in teaching, and more we conversed with Prof. G. L. D. Wickramasinghe, Director General, CPSC, Manila, Philippines.

Below are a few excerpts from our conversation. You can watch the full video interview on our YouTube channel.

 Establishment of the Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC)

“The Colombo Plan Staff College was established in Singapore. An independent, specialized agency for the Colombo Plan Staff College was founded in 1973, and the Republic of Singapore was the first country to establish it. CPSC relocated to Manila, Philippines, in 1987 with an invitation from the Philippine government.

In total, there are 26 member countries of the CPSC, and there are now 16 active and 12 charter members. We also have several new members at the Colombo Plan Staff College who have requested to join CPSC.

The Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission is another division that we have (APACC). Therefore, as part of the CPSC, we essentially accredit TVET institutions; this is done for the CPSC’s quality assurance system,” said Prof. G. L. D. Wickramasinghe.

Role of the CPSC in training and staff development 

While talking about the role of the CPSC in training and staff development, Prof. G. L. D. Wickramasinghe said, “As mandated, the scope of CPSC is to develop staff through our staff development programs.” This is crucial since it is challenging to execute the initiatives in the TVET system for the students without the faculty’s understanding and support. We conduct numerous programs and provide training in support of Sustainable Development Goals. We recently held a regional program with participation from all of our member nations, where CPSC Singapore presented a program on gaining TVET for sustainable development.”

Various programs conducted by CPSC

“We create leadership programs and programs on sustainable energy for teachers and lecturers. Additionally, we also conduct programs on a list of topics and member countries can also request us to conduct programs on specific subjects like sustainability.

As part of the Busan Foundation for International Cooperation (BFIC) program in South Korea, we conducted a program on sustainable city development in Busan on smart transportation. We invited all CPSC member nations to participate in a couple of online programmes, with a physical program to follow,” stated Prof. G. L. D. Wickramasinghe.

Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) Enhancing global competitiveness of TVET

Digitalization in teaching

Digital technologies are evolving quickly and changing not only technical education but also how individuals work, learn, and even live their daily lives.

Prof. G. L. D. Wickramasinghe expressed, “It is important that our TVET education or technical education systems adopt a digital teaching approach. Because we cannot continue with the same teaching pedagogy. With this new digitalization and the technology advances, there are many options to make the teaching different and better”.

The importance of digital skills and digitalization in education

Industry 4.0: Digital skills and digitalization are necessary for Industry 4.0 adherence because of many new systems and procedures.

Education: Moving to platform learning is important in education. There are several online learning platforms available for people to complete their education.

Initiatives and programs from CPSC

“Singapore acted as our digitalization model. They are ranked second in the world for the best talent, right after the USA. Therefore, we organised a program in Singapore for all of our member nations, and they shared their best practices and ways of coping up with digitalization. When we visited their lab, we could see how advanced they are in today’s world of technology,” stated Prof. Wickramasinghe.

Challenges of making vocational education aspirational 

“Since vocational education and training is not typically a first choice for people in most countries, TVET has to be positioned accordingly in the education system. There are various challenges as everyone strives to attend prestigious universities and polytechnics, while the rest who cannot go to such universities pursue TVET education. So, that way of thinking needs to change,” noted Prof. G. L. D. Wickramasinghe.

There are three things to keep in mind to make vocational education aspirational. They are,

  1. Reputation and positioning of vocational education – Important to bridge the gap between graduates from regular universities and graduates from vocational institutions.
  2. Industry relevance – Making the vocational education industry relevant by upgrading the curriculum to meet the industry demands.
  3. Job opportunities – Government and industry leaders should create initiatives to provide sufficient job opportunities.
Tags: Colombo Plan Staff college (CPSC)digital skills and digitalization in educationInitiatives and programs from CPSCProf. G. L. D. Wickramasinghe Director General CPSC Manila PhilippinesTechnical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)Training and staff developmentTVET for sustainable developmentvocational education
Previous Post

The future is 5G: Up your game with the top skills for a rewarding career

Next Post

Top 5 ways Higher Education Institutions (HEI) can meet the needs of the industry

Next Post
Top 5 ways Higher Education Institutions (HEI) can meet the needs of the industry

Top 5 ways Higher Education Institutions (HEI) can meet the needs of the industry

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to our E-magazine and newsbytes

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Siemens Technical Academy STA

Siemens Technical Academy (STA), Mumbai – German Dual VET transforms the lives of youth in India

October 8, 2018
10 best online learning portals in India for students and teachers

10 best online learning portals in India for students and teachers

June 26, 2020
Skill development government schemes in India

Top 10 organizations, missions and schemes for skill development, livelihoods and gainful employment

May 29, 2016
Mahatma Gandhi on craft-centric education

Mahatma Gandhi on the importance of vocational education and skill development

October 1, 2017
Siemens Technical Academy STA

Siemens Technical Academy (STA), Mumbai – German Dual VET transforms the lives of youth in India

285
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra PMKK

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra – PMKK

98
Recognition of Prior Learning RPL

Recognition of Prior Learning – RPL

81
B.Vocational Degree

B.Voc Degree Courses: What do they offer and who can apply?

79
3rd October 2023

Weekly Newsbytes from NSN on skill development and education – 3rd October 2023

October 3, 2023
MSDE and MoE collaborate with IBM to equip digital skills training in India

MSDE and MoE collaborate with IBM to equip digital skills training in India

September 29, 2023
NSN Quiz on Mahatma Gandhi’s concepts of education and crafts

NSN Quiz on Mahatma Gandhi’s concepts of education and crafts

September 28, 2023
Australia-India Education Researcher Forum

Webinar Report: The Third Australia-India Education Researcher Forum on “Skills and Professional Education”

September 28, 2023

About us

National Skills Network (NSN) captures and shares the positive impact of various training, skill development and vocational education initiatives in India.

To know more about Our Team: Click here

Follow us

Address

National Skills Network – NSN
NSN Digital Solutions Pvt Ltd.
Gachibowli, Hyderabad – 500032
Email us: contact@nationalskillsnetwork.com

Subscribe to our E-magazine and newsbytes

  • About us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 National Skills Network - NSN

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Skill Story
  • Skill Talk
  • News
    • Events
    • News digest
    • NSN Newsletter Archives
    • NSN PDF Newsletter Archives
    • Other Newsletters
  • Resources
    • E-books
    • Glossary
    • How To’s
    • Learning Videos
    • National Education Policy 2020
    • Reports
    • Skills for Schools
    • Upcoming webinars and virtual events
  • Skill2Jobs
    • Apprenticeships & Internships
    • Employability Skills
    • Jobs
    • Projects
  • About us
    • Advertise with us
    • Our Clients
    • Our Services
    • Our Team
  • Success Stories

Copyright © 2023 National Skills Network - NSN

loader