INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / JANUARY 10, 1989

 

es

Da Vis its 3 i ii tate ,on 3
y VISia ea are "a !

netted pa yi
the sundi chorly ing are ale ;
ways extre Mely interested in |
technical education, becauser
that is one of the means by. fe page
which human capital is ©
developed," Day explains.”

The other members of the
team were Tom Norton, execu-
tive director of ACCC, Rod
Kosmick from Conestoga Col-
lege in Ontario, and Dr. Patricia
Groves, dean of instruction at
King Edward Campus of Van-
couver Community College.

They consulted with Indian
and Sri Lankan government offi-
cials, teachers and
administrators on the needs in
these countries technical/voca-
tional education systems, and
how these needs could possibly
be met by an association with
Canadian Colleges and In-
stitutes, Day says.

 

"The Sri Lanka part of the
exercise was complicated
by the fact there was an
outbreak of guerilla
activity."

 

"And we were doing an as-
sessment, based on our own
perceptions of on-site situations,
for what would be the most use-
ful thing that Canadian colleges
can do to assist,” he adds.

Day spent two weeks in India
with the team, including one
week in New Delhi and another
in the Madras region. He then
carried on with another team
member to spend a week in Sri
Lanka.

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"We had to stay in the Colom-
bo area, where our safety would
be guaranteed. However, we
were able to do our job," he
stresses.

The Canadian pair in Sri
Lanka visited nine institutions
and met with officials from five
government ministries. In India,
the team collectively visited 19
institutions and met with offi-
cials from three state ministries.

At the completion of the visit,
the team produced two reports
for CIDA, "both of which iden-
tify strengths and weaknesses in
both systems of technical/voca-
tional education," Days says,
adding that both also include
proposals to involve the direct
relationship of Canadian institu-
tions with their Indian and Sri
Lankan counterparts.

The challenge of India is its
vast education system, Day

 

      

.
fs. He saallinal there are

v0 Lets At that would be
i cal or technical

oe

Curtain Cotteses work direct-
ly with the Indian Association
for Technical Education (IATE).

 

"The challenge of India is
its vast education system.
There are 1,100
institutions that would be
called polytechnical or
technical schools."

 

The IATE is a "very active,
professional association which
is universally recognized as
doing good work. It’s very
small and very poor, but has con-
nections to every major
institution in India.”

Day continues: "There is no
government agency that
blankets all of India, so what
we’re advocating there is that
the IATE be given direct assis-
tance from Canadian
Community Colleges."

He says the group believes
it’s better for the IATE to define
exactly what they need and
want, Canada can then send
faculty and administrators to
India to act as consultants to the
IATE and work in its programs.

The Canadians will be
"drawn from an enormous array
of talent and expertise," he says.
Visits would last about three to
four months, and could be done

continued on page 3

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