VOATIONAL PEDAGODY IN ACTION: I witnessed it.

This time, it is not the usual face of the regular lecturer (right in the picture)/Instructor but rather the business community who have come to teach the students of Bachelor of Nutrition and environmental health at Akershus University (HIAK).

The two ladies (one of them in a blue apron left in the picture) are nutritionists by qualification and they are currently working as agents of the Norwegian Meat Marketing Board. Their aim is to promote the consumptionn of meat and this is done through demonstration of the various methods of cooking the different types of meat (Beef, Lamb and Pork).

I had a chance to partcipate in this Lecture together with my colleagues Fatin and Sabet both from the Upper Nile University in Sudan. We were partcipant observers.

In the first part of the lecture, scientific principles about meat, nutrients there in, effect of heat on meat and methods of cooking meat were explained to the students. Written out and well illustrated recipes in full colour were given out to the students. Suitable accompaniments to the meat dishes were given a similar treatment.

Ingredients had been prepared and two well equiped kitchens had been booked in advance for the practical session. The students were then divided into groups of four and each group was assigned different meat recipes with their accompaniments to prepare. The students immediately swung into action.

Here, the instructors (one in blue jean trousers) are actively interacting with students as they work in their groups.

At the end of the practical session, food was served for lunch at table and over this lunch, discussion about the practical follow. This is what you would call evaluation. More clarification on the results were made particularly the various levels of cooking beef steak (rare, medium,and well done steaks).

More about what the Meat Marketing Board does.

Aware that meat is an expensive food item and that schools which teach cookery may not be able to afford to buy the meat for the practicals, they provide funding for schools to enable them carry out the practicals. This funding is equivalent to 20 -50 NKr per student per year for the schools that apply for this funding.

Considering the fact that schools, colleges and universities train for the industry, it is a good idea that the industries give back to the training institutions. This creates a link that is necessary for feed back between the two sectors. This link spills over to the community because the students who are trained in these skills belong to the community. As ealier indicated, the aim of the meat marketing board in this lecture was to promote the consumption of meat.

Other similar groups such as the Fruit and Vegetable marketiers and others had done their part with the same group of students.

The students will now sit the practical examinations set by the university based on all the lectures including the one I observed.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Iam at Akershus University College (HIAK), just thinking about Vocational Education. What is it about?

One may say, "skill and knowledge required for a particular job". Yes and i think this may be true. Vocational Education prepares one to directly enter occupations without further training. This is what the developing nations need because of the limited resources. Unfortunately, this is not so, and for long, vocational education has been considered a subject for the academically "disabled''. Slowly, this kind of attitude is changing. I wish there was a faster way of doing it!

My reflection: Looking at the education system in Uganda, it would be a good idea to establish Vocational Education Colleges which will provide the avenue for the graduates of the community polytechnic colleges, who will in turn be the candidates for the Bachelor programme already existing in Kyambogo University and one to be esablished at Upper Nile University in Sudan.