Publicité
Embedding work-based learning in all university programmes
Par
Partager cet article
Embedding work-based learning in all university programmes
A lack of employability skills. Basically, this is what led the University of Mauritius (UoM) to embark on the combined Student Work Experience programme (SWEP)/Work-based learning programme (WLB). The project director, David Jamookeeah, is currently holding workshops at the university to prepare both employers and academic staff for the change that will be fully operational in August. As from that moment, all undergraduates of all programmes at the university will have to go through a placement at the end of each year at the university.
“The international concern is that there is a lack of fitness for work when university students come out of university. Mauritius is no exception and there was a need to try and change this situation,” says David Jamookeeah. The Human Resource Development Council has indeed highlighted the same concern in its latest report. Employers often complain about the difficulty of finding employees fit for the job as they leave university. In fact, this programme should benefit all stakeholders.
The objective is to “expose students to the world of work, which will be as close as possible as the discipline studied”. It aims at reducing the gap between university education and the realities of a professional environment. On the one hand, the students are expected to be more comfortable when they start their jobs – as they have some knowledge of the world of work in their field – and employers will save time and money, as they will no longer have to train their new employees coming directly from the university. “These students will be ready for work; they should be efficient immediately and should not need any retraining,” says the WLB director.
Right from year one, all undergraduate students will have to do a minimum training of six weeks in a company or institution corresponding to their discipline at the university. Each practice carries academic credits, which will have a direct impact on their results. “Credit is compulsory and this is a recognition by the university that experience is important,” insists David Jamookeeah. “Real work related activities were and are still viewed as a vital educational experience in today’s competitive business environment,” agree the WBL director and the vice chancellor of the university, Professor Indur Fagoonee.
Up to now, only some university students were given the opportunity of going on placement during their studies. And most of the time, only the better grades were given that chance. With the new programme, the university ensures that each student will have a fair, safe and equitable practice experience.
Students will be given the opportunity of applying knowledge and skills developed at the university but also of developing new skills in team work, leadership, professional relations, communication, work ethics and work-related attitudes.
Tripartite partnership</B>
However, such a programme will never be successful if there is no collaboration from the participating organisations. “The success of this programme is dependent upon a tripartite partnership between the university, the participating organisations and the students,” says the brochure. With this in mind, David Jamookeeah is really happy to have the support of the Mauritius Employers Federation (MEF) for the project – Azad Jeetun, the MEF director, is even a board member of this project. “By supporting, educating, exposing and engaging students in the real business of work, participating employers and business organisations would make a major contribution to shaping and enhancing the productivity of the human resource capacity in Mauritius,” the WBL director points out.
When organisations agree to welcome students they will however be brought to take on a few responsibilities. The types and nature of placement learning opportunities available in their organisation will have to be clearly defined. They will also be called upon to review and assess the student’s progress during the placement. All relevant information on the organisation will also have to be given to the student.
Of course, the student will also have to accept some responsibilities, among them the maintenance of confidentiality of any sensitive information concerning the organisation and its business. Students are also asked to adapt to the organisation’s culture, methods, leadership and programmes. In short, they are expected to take maximum advantage of the SWEP/WBL programmes.
The university will be the link between the student and the organisation. Each faculty will be responsible for selecting the students according to a list of employers’ participation forms previously sent by the different participating organisations.
This partnership is expected to benefit the students, the organisations – and the country in the long-term. New recruits will become more efficient more rapidly when they take up a job by applying what they have learnt from university in a world already known to them.
 |
LAUNCHING OF THE PROJECT
<B>A phased-in approach…</B>
■ The combined programme needs trained professionals and the preparation of all organisations accepting to offer placement to university students. And this requires time. This is why the WBL Project director from Bradford wants a phased-in approach. He is in Mauritius at the moment to lead the first of a series of three-day workshops for employers and academic staff. Abdul Mohammed, the WBL project coordinator, and Azad Parahoo, director of the programme, will then take over the programme. Participants of these workshops will then become “mentors” – professional representatives of their respective practice fields or organisations. Each organisation is actually supposed to designate training personnel to take on the mentorship role. These mentors are expected in the long-term to spot talents and invest in them in order to prevent the brain drain that is occurring at the moment.
|
UK SPONSORSHIP
<B>The origins of a fruitful collaboration…</B>
■ In 1994, the first step was taken to allow university students to acquire on-the-job- training though the Otto Essien Professional Training Programme in collaboration with the United National Development Programme. Five years later, the Student Work Experience Programme (SWEP) – a six to eight week training period in an organisation between June and end of July - has been implemented. It is only now that the SWEP is being integrated with the Work Based Learning (WBL) for a more structured approach expected to benefit all parties involved. The new combined programme is actually a collaborative initiative between the UoM and the University of Bradford and is sponsored by the Department of Education and Skills in the UK and the British Council under the England-Africa Partnership Scheme. The university of Bradford has actually been called upon by the UoM to take part in the bid launched by the British Council for a partnership between the UK and Africa. As David Jamookeeah was born in Mauritius, and is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Continuing Professional Development and Lifelong Learning at the Uom, he was delighted to be given the opportunity of putting his experience at Bradford to the profit of his native country. The university of Bradford in known worldwide for its teaching system that enables all its students to find jobs quite easily.
Publicité
Publicité
Les plus récents
