Peace Cup in a peaceful Malakal

It is time for those having left Malakal to return and to show their skills.

This message was given by one of the organizers of The Peace Cup, a football competition finally won by the team from the South of town after penalties. The happily cheering crowds running into the field after the match was a joyful experience definitely not reminding any one of any tribalism. He desribed the Saturday experiences as a display of Malakal at peace and love and invited those who wanted to participate in he development of Malakal to join in.

After the sports events the artist Vivian Nyanchan and her band was giving a concert. We are very tired from fighting and war and we have been waiting for peace for a long time and now peace has come, was her message.

Late warm African evenings in peaceful coexistence, fotball and concerts at the stadium was the Malakal experience during this week end. A team of Egyptian engineers building a technical school and a hospital in Jongilei here together with Fatin and Trond "under the tree" at South Sudan Hotel in Malakal.

The last two weeks Fatin and Trond has been in Malakal after a flight by Sudan Airways not easily forgotten. Malakal is the town where the new college of technical vocational teacher education at Upper Nile University is to be located. Saturday Johan arrived by WFP. The preparations for the start of the NUCOOP-TVET Bachelor's Program no doubt requires hands on.

Earlier this year the people of Malakal has experienced some incidents among others a clash between some militia and the SPLA. Malakal now appears to be peaceful and calm. While shopping at the market we met some American and Australian UNMIS police officers working with capacity building. They confirmed the impression given by the UN security reports and told that they had received no information about any security risks in Malakal.

Vocational Teacher Education

Curriculum Development;
Vocational Practices at Training Centers
and Local Industries in South Sudan

Upper Nile University in Malakal is in cooperation with Akershus University College in Norway and Kyambogo University in Uganda forming a Bachelor programme in Vocational Teacher Education. The Vocational Teacher Education will be offered by Upper Nile University in Malakal.

Three master degree students in Vocational Pedagogy at Akershus University College in Norway are in the period Oct – Dec 2008 studying vocational practices and doing data collection among others in Juba, Malakal, Wau and Yei. The purpose of their work is to have a vocational teacher education in line with the needs of South Sudan.

They are going to document the work processes in the different vocational trades and how the learning of the vocational skills takes place both at the vocational training centers and at the workplaces.

We appreciate your kind cooperation and will do our best to provide you with access to a high quality vocational teacher education which is in accordance with the needs of the industries, the vocational training centers, the communities and the individual human beings of South Sudan.

Aidah Trevelynn Nganda Studies: Preparation, cooking, hygiene, safety, preservation and presentation of food. Interested in cake making for important occasions and cooking local& international dishes.	Daniel Ruben Ateng Instructor at Malakal Vocational Training Center Upper Nile and at St. Joseph's Vocational Training Center in Khartoum within mechanical production and Youth Entrepreneurship Development	Paul Tartisio Kenyi Instructor at Don Bosco Vocational Training Center among others in Wau within Auto Mechanics. Teacher at upper secondary school among others within mathematics.

To Whom It May Concern

Akershus University College is a partner in the NUCOOP Bachelor in Vocational Education Project in cooperation with Upper Nile University in the Sudan and Kyambogo University in Uganda.

The partnership is funded by SIU, Norway, and is about developing a bachelor program in Vocational Education at UNU in Malakal.

The participants in the NUCOOP program from Akershus University College are:

• Johan Houge-Thiis, project coordinator and research fellow
• Trond Smistad, project developer and research fellow
• Jan Erik Heimdal, educator and specialist in curriculum development for Technical and Vocational Teacher Education
• Roger Bakken, educator and specialist in electronics in VTE
• Egil Froyland, educator and senior advicer
• Paul Tartisio Kenyi, mastertsudent in Vocational Pedagogy and NUCOOP BVE-Project assistant
• Kwang Daniel Ruben, mastertsudent in Vocational Pedagogy and NUCOOP BVE-Project assistant
• Aidah Trevelynn Nganda, mastertsudent in Vocational Pedagogy and NUCOOP BVE-Project assistant

How to make English the tounge of vocational learning in the NUCOOP Bachelor programme?

The teachers in the NUCOOP Bachelor programme in Vocational Education are beyond doubt expected to be using the English language when teaching. At the same time it is expected that not all of the teachers are used to teaching in English and that even a smaller part of the Sudanese bachelor students are feeling at ease when using the English language.

In some parts of the Sudanese upper secondary schools English is not taught at all. It is expected that some of the bachelor students are going to qualify for admission partially based upon their vocational merits.

Lazarus is worried that his computer training which he paid for him self is soon becoming useless because of his lack of acces to a computer.

Lazarus, a young man from Malakal told me how he had learned his English. By listening to others, picking up pieces of phrases and actively construct-ing his English language he has on his own obtained sufficient knowledge in English to be able to participate in social inter-action using the same language. Lazarus is beyond doubt a clever guy and he is called wise by his peers. He has in his own way managed to cope with the challenges caused by that his school did not offer him the opportunity of learning English.

The NUCOOP bachelor programme in vocational education will have to face the challenge of a student body supposed to be lacking sufficient knowledge in English by integrating intensive focus on language training in all of its activities.

One way might be to offer the students access to high quality soundtracks presenting readings of English literature as well as vocational texts. The individual use of technology supported interactivity enabling each student to record and listen to his or hers own pronunciation and intonation and to compare it with the sound tracks will probably contribute to an increased learning outcome.

Another approach might be to facilitate a systematic formalisation of the tacit knowledge often characterizing vocational practice by open reflection and sharing.

The big question of how to manage to make English the tongue of learning in the NUCOOP bachelor programme in vocational education in South Sudan still remains mainly open and ideas are welcomed.