Box Hill Institute (BHI) in Melbourne, Australia recently conducted a teacher training program in vocational education and training for a group of 37 trainers from Saudi Arabia.
The program was delivered for the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (TVTC) and ran for 12 weeks from early April to late June.
BHI has a strong track record in teacher training, having successfully trained over 12,500 teachers. This includes over 1,000 internationally for clients such as the Malaysian Department of Education, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Middle East clients in the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
For the TVTC teacher training program, BHI provided additional programs and services to their Saudi guests, said a statement from the Australian institute.
As well as delivering the internationally-recognised teacher training qualification, the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40110), each participant had a personal coach for mentoring and an additional subject matter expert ‘buddy’ to guide them through class work and activities, it stated.
BHI has significant expertise in organising and managing professional development programs for international vocational education and training teachers, said the statement.
An example of the pre-departure preparations were the videoconference briefings with the Saudi participants prior to departure to cover items such as telecommunications, travelling and living overseas, as well as cultural expectations and likely challenges.
The weather and what to wear were also among many points of discussion, as the shift from a Saudi summer to winter in Melbourne can be full of surprises! Welcome packs were provided on arrival, including tickets and information on public transport, halal restaurants and food supplies, as well as the location and prayer times of local mosques, it added.
BHI said it had also organised visa assistance, medical insurance, transfers, accommodation, on-site prayer rooms and English language testing and tutoring as required.
Feedback on the program was overwhelmingly positive and all the trainers successfully completed the program, the institute said.
“BHI has been delighted to work with the TVTC to assist in the development of their teaching professionals and more broadly contribute to the development of the vocational education and training sector in Saudi Arabia,” it stated.
Victoria has a well developed vocational education and training sector and is internationally recognised as a global leader and innovator in vocational education and training.
In February 2013 the Victorian Government launched the Arabic version of the Study Melbourne website which will enable students from the Middle East to learn more about Victoria’s broad range of excellent international education options in their own language.
The site provides prospective and current students extensive information on living, studying and working in Victoria.
