The Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) jointly organised a 12-day workshop on developing e-learning materials on educational leadership. It was held at the National Institute of Education (NIE) International, Singapore, from 17 November to 2 December 2011. Facilitated by two resource persons from COL, 23 senior-level educators from the small states of the Commonwealth crafted content on educational leadership. Sir John Daniel, President and Chief Executive Officer of COL, and Mrs Belinda Tay, Deputy Director for Technical Cooperation, Singapore MFA, co-officiated the opening ceremony of the workshop.

The workshop provided a platform for international collaboration among the small states of the Commonwealth to brainstorm current issues, policies and technologies affecting the management of educational institutions. Six groups examined the strategies and tools required to lead change. Their discussions culminated in the creation of a set of educational leadership training materials that would be published on COL’s website as open resources for use and adaptation by individuals and institutions.

At the closing ceremony of the workshop, Mr John Lesperance, COL’s Education Specialist for VUSSC who also facilitated the workshop, said that the training had not only been an enriching and educational experience, but a cultural one as well. He observed that the participants had learnt a lot from the team of NIE trainers and from one another, and he urged them to pass on the knowledge acquired to their colleagues back home.

Professor Abdullah Mansaray, Dean of Postgraduate Studies in Njala University, Sierra Leone, in his thank you speech on behalf of the participants, expressed gratitude to MFA, COL and NIE for organising the workshop. He remarked that the workshop had been an “exceptional experience and unique learning opportunity” for all of them, and encouraged fellow participants to “make a difference in their home countries”.

The Singapore Cooperation Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Commonwealth Secretariat are co-organising the second run of the "International Disaster Management Course" from 3 to 14 May 2010. Conducted by the Civil Defence Academy, the two-week course is attended by 23 government officials from 17 Commonwealth member countries.

Through lectures, case studies, group exercises, country presentations and site visits, participants will be equipped with a better understanding of Singapore's unique policies and actions on disaster risk reduction and management. In addition, the course will address emergency response and incident management at both the tactical and operational levels, and has a new segment on business continuity planning for a more holistic coverage of the subject. The Commonwealth Secretariat also provides additional expertise through the active contributions of Mr Julius Kaberere on how the Secretariat delivers practical assistance to countries struck by disasters.

Mr Koh Tin Fook, Director for Technical Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore, co-officiated the opening ceremony of the course with Mr Julius Kaberere, Adviser (Technical Cooperation and Strategic Response Group) from the Commonwealth Secretariat. Mr Koh underscored the Singapore-Commonwealth Secretariat Third Country Training Programme as one of the longest standing and most successful collaborations the Singapore Cooperation Programme has with development partners. He added that following the successful inaugural run of the course for Commonwealth participants in May 2009, Singapore was pleased to re-run it this year with the Commonwealth Secretariat, to further strengthen disaster management capacity in fellow Commonwealth member countries.

Mr Kaberere affirmed the productive partnership and thanked Singapore for the opportunity to train and enhance the capabilities of Commonwealth member states in managing disasters. He remarked that the course, which arose from a mandate from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on disaster management, will help the participating Commonwealth member countries to develop their policy and governance frameworks necessary for organising and managing all actions in disaster risk reduction and management.

During the closing ceremony for the course, Ms Desiree Joseph, Mitigation Manager, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, Trinidad and Tobago, who was also class representative, delivered a thank you speech on behalf of the class. The full speech can be accessed by clicking on the link below.

Click here to read full speech by Ms Desiree Joseph.

I recently attended the workshop on “Integrated Water Resources Management” held from 1st to 7th September 2010 in Singapore. This workshop was divided between lectures and site visits.

Malta is slightly smaller than Singapore’s main island, as such we can apply some of the principles which I have learnt during the workshop. In this workshop, I have learnt that we must manage the complete water cycle, where we must harvest every possible drop and also manage our demand. These are the principles which I will be using to enhance our operations in the Water Services Corporation in Malta.

We will be making use of the water from our sewage treatment plants and we will continue to control our unaccounted flow water. Finally we will keep focused on the complete water cycle in all that we do so that the concept “Water for All: Conserve, Value, Enjoy” will also be a reality in Malta.

Ing Nigel Ellul
Regional Manager
Water Services Corporation
Malta