Curriculum development workshops in Egypt and Ethiopia 

In November and December the experts of AeresUniversity of Applied Sciences animated workshops in Egypt and Ethiopiato shape the training program, or pre-departureprogram, to be implemented at the localuniversities before the mobility phase in which students will travel to The Netherlands.

From the 13th to the 17th of November, DaanWestrik and Mohamad Al Hassan from Aeres travelled to Kafrel Sheikh (Egypt) to meet and work with the colleagues from the Facultyof Agriculture of Kafr el Sheikh University.

For the development of the training program the findings of the scopingstudies conducted last summer in each country and the inputs received duringthe kick-off missions executed early autumn wereused as a starting point.  The team identifiedthe main priorities and opportunities for the content and the format of thetalent program to be developed. Using a competencydevelopment-based approach to education, the staff decided on the mostimportant functions and professional tasks to betrained. Based on this information objectives for the different parts of thetraining program were defined and assignments to train the required skills wereformulated. The identified professional tasks and formulated assignments willalso direct the selection of horticulture theory to be taught. In the workshopalso the pedagogical approaches and contacts with the labour market,specifically, horticulture companies in the proximity of Kafr el SheikhUniversity were defined.

From the 11th to the 16th of December, Aeres’experts flew to Hawassa (Ethiopia) for a similar workshop with the colleaguesfrom the College of Agriculture of Hawassa University. Building on the resultsof the Egyptian workshop, the staff from the two institutes continued workingon the design and development of the pre-departure program, contextualizing itto the needs and priorities of Ethiopian students and labor market.

During the two workshops in Hawassa and Kafr el Sheikha planning was made for the selection process ofstudents and the implementation of the training program. In the followingweeks, the content of the modules and the pedagogical approaches for the twopre-departure programs (Egypt and Ethiopia) will be further refined, aiming tolaunch the local training already in February and March.

The programs will enable students to develop a mix of technical and softskills related to production management, post-harvestmanagement and sales and marketing management ahead of their departurefor the training and internship program in the Netherlands, next July.

Educational staff fromthe Netherlands and from counterparts will continue working together in thenext months for the development of the training modules and the training oftrainers charged of training and coaching thestudents.

Next appointment is fixed for the end of January, for a similarcurriculum development workshop with Tunisian partners.