ANGOLA: Vocational network increases opportunities for youth
Salesians host meeting to improve sharing of information across vocational training centers
ANGOLA
(MissionNewswire) During the last week of June, Salesians in Luanda, Angola, hosted a meeting of the SAAM project, an acronym for the “Supporting Alliance for African Mobility” project. The project, launched in 2020, is creating a vocational education and training network based on peer-to-peer connections among vocational training centers in Africa and Europe. The project is funded by the European Union under Erasmus+, the European Union’s program to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe.
The project has brought together two Salesian networks from Europe — CNOS-FAP (National Salesian Center for Vocational Training and Ongoing Education) in Italy and Tech Don Bosco in Spain — as well as 14 centers that belong to the Don Bosco Tech Africa network. Don Bosco International, the Brussels-based liaison office representing the Salesians of Don Bosco at the European Institutions, is part of the project’s steering committee.
“Sharing information and networking in this way allows Salesian centers in Europe and Africa to share best practices and learn from one another,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This kind of sharing of information and expertise only bolsters the education experience for youth in Salesian vocational training centers.”
The first project meeting took place in Brussels before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Over the last two years, despite the challenges of travel restrictions, 27 vocational training experts have traveled from European countries to African countries to visit vocational training centers. In addition, 39 teachers from Africa have traveled to European centers while 34 European teachers have visited centers in Africa.
The next phase of project, to start in the fall of 2022, will have African students visiting European centers and taking part in internships in centers’ partner companies. The goal is to provide real-life work experience so students can apply what they learned in the classroom in the workforce.
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