CNA brings training to Vietnam
2/12/2003 11:32:24 AM
February 12, 2003 - College of the North Atlantic has partnered with Ottawa’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in a project that will pilot the use of Information Communications Technology (ICT)-supported distance education in Vietnam.
This research project will test new ideas and approaches to computer-assisted distance education in delivering courses to fish farmers in rural areas of Vietnam. It will be conducted in collaboration with Fisheries College No. 4 (FC4) in Bac Ninh province, and NetNam, the Internet Service Provider that first introduced Vietnam to Email.
The fisheries sector is important to Vietnam, employing millions of people and contributing four to five percent of Gross Domestic Product annually and nine to 10 percent of Vietnam’s total exports. Aquaculture is carried out in rural areas, with women making up some 45 percent of the workforce. The government sees this industry as playing a major part in improving the role of women in rural and mountainous areas.
The Vietnamese government would like to increase the number of fisheries technicians by 20 percent between 2000 and 2010. The goal is to create jobs for two million people in aquaculture. At present, only 30 percent have been trained.
Valued at nearly $200,000, the project aims to train farmers using a combination of face-to-face field-based training and ICT-based academic information and learning materials, supplemented by tutor-learner interaction via e-mail.
Mervyn McIntyre, Business Development Manager for Community, Corporate and International at CNA, and leader for the project, says that a Distance Education Centre (DEC) will be established on the main campus of FC4.
“The centre will be equipped with networked computers and connected to the Internet. This will further enhance students’ experience as well as the instructors’ capabilities,” says McIntyre.
“College instructors will use this teaching centre to create distance education materials for Internet supported delivery, respond to student inquiries, and also conduct research to help them develop courses with the latest scientific and technical information.”
The Fisheries College will also establish a pilot Community Education Centre (CEC) at its outreach centre in Quang Ninh province. Farmers will attend classroom and field sessions, receive training in computer and Internet skills, and have access to supplementary materials that FC4 instructors will be developing. The Quang Ninh pilot CEC and series of introductory courses will serve as a model program for future expansion and for policy development in the area of distance and adult education and vocational training. In the future, the DEC could service the needs of a number of CECs linked in a networked arrangement.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s College of the North Atlantic (CNA) is a leader in the design, development and delivery of distributed learning in rural and remote areas, and provides a wide array of complete services for customized training in many countries and in many educational sectors.
Fisheries College No. 4 (FC4), located in Dinh Bang, about 13 km North of Ha Noi, is responsible for providing college level and continuing education courses to students and workers in the northern provinces of Vietnam. Its courses range from business and accounting to aquaculture, information technology, and food processing technology.
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is a Canadian public corporation with a mandate to initiate, encourage, support, and conduct research into the problems of the developing regions of the world and into the means for applying and adapting scientific, technical, and other knowledge to the economic and social advancement of those regions.
The first activity of the project will be a field visit in February, by McIntyre and John King, Chair for Distributed Learning at CNA, to review the project methodology and training requirements. This will include detailed discussions with the Ministry of Fisheries, management and instructors at Fisheries College No. 4, personnel at Quang Ninh, farmers, NetNam and other Vietnamese institutions working in the area of distance education and delivery. They will review the project with the Vietnamese team including assessing equipment and software needs, training requirements and the project time line. This is a unique opportunity for Vietnam, says King, as well as College of the North Atlantic.
"We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with IDRC and to expand the long-standing relationship between CNA and Fisheries College No. 4,” says King.
“This research project recognizes our experience and creativity in overcoming geographical barriers for learning. We hope this work will lead to additional opportunities for consulting, training, and development in distributed learning around the world.”
Future activities by College of the North Atlantic will include training for Fisheries College instructors in distance education techniques. This will take place through visits by Fisheries College instructors to Newfoundland and Labrador, training missions to Vietnam by CNA personnel and on-line support from CNA to Vietnam.
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For more information contact:
Stephen Lee
Communications Officer
(709) 643-7929
or
Tanya Alexander
Public Information Officer
(709) 643-7928