Institute for Holistic Learning Based on Montessori Education

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01 Al Zaroo, Salah; Kuhail, Hisham - Palestine - szaroo@hotmail.com
The Main Charactaristcs of the Palestinian National Strategy <strong>for</strong> Vocational Technical Education and
Training
The PNA has inherited a run down system of VTET designed to train low skill workers <strong>for</strong> the Israeli labour market, a
VTET system that is teaching according to curricula that are at least 25 years old, or according to no curricula at all,
that utilize equipment and buildings that are vastly outdated or obsolete, and based on teachers and trainers that have
received little training, in pedagogic and in vocational skills, and which only have the capacity of training 3 % of the
student population in any given year.
Thus, there is no doubt that the system is in serious need of development, if it is to produce graduates that will
contribute to the national wealth of Palestine and reduction of poverty. After three years of work, a national strategy <strong>for</strong>
vocational and technical education (VTET) has been <strong>for</strong>mulated. The aim and objective of the strategy is to create a
VTET system that is: relevant, flexible, effective, efficient, accessible, sustainable, and which fulfils its general
obligations towards the Palestinian society.
This paper tries to explore the main characteristics of the Palestinian strategy including: aims, objectives, and structure
of the Palestinian VTET, interrelations with the rest of the educational system, and management of the revised system.
The roles of government, local community based organisations, the private sector and other stakeholders in providing
training. It tries also to identify what has been achieved so far, and what emergency plan has been set-up to proceed
in this unique conflict situation.
02 Amor Bravo, Elias - Spain - Amor_eli@gva.es
The Valencian Plan of Vocational Training: a Regional Strategy <strong>for</strong> Lifelong <strong>Learning</strong>
This paper presents the making process of the Valencian Plan of Vocational Training in order to give an answer to the
regional policy of Valencian Community in terms of building <strong>for</strong> the future a new culture in the society based in the
Lifelong <strong>Learning</strong> process, according to the recently established Law of Qualifications and Vocational Training (Ley
5/2002 de las Cualificaciones y la Formación Profesional).
This Plan elaborated with a methodology based in strategic planning, is inspired in consensus and full participation of
social agents and regional government in the Valencian Council of Vocational Training, the institution which was
responsible <strong>for</strong> the preparation of the <strong>for</strong>mer studies and its later analysis and evaluation.
This paper also exposes the advantages of this experience in strategic planning of vocational training <strong>for</strong> regional policy
and its possible application in other European regions.
03 Andrew Theo N.; Tyobeka E. - South Africa - Theoandr@twr.ac.za
Integrating Career Focused and Traditional University Education in South Africa - An Evolutionary
Perspective
The South African higher education system is currently undergoing major restructuring with respect to the shape and
size of the traditional technikons and universities. A major implication of this restructuring is that the previous binary
divide between career focused (technikons) and university type education will not be necessarily institutionalized. The
merging of a career focused institution with a traditional university is not a trivial issue. This paper however will focus
on the challenges facing the integration of ‘career’ and traditional university programmes. The engineering field is used
as a case study. The authors attempt to develop an appreciation <strong>for</strong> the inherent complexity by first analyzing the
evolution of <strong>for</strong>mal career focused education in South Africa, in the context of its external environment and the
pedagogic imperatives. A general synthesis of the rationale <strong>for</strong> the restructuring of the Higher Education sector in
South Africa and its implications will set the stage <strong>for</strong> identifying the key challenges. The paper will conclude by
providing some scenarios that could ameliorate these challenges.