CARPENTRY AND JOINERY DEPARTMENT.
The department started with 20 students in march 2008 and 3 students dropped out which bring the number to 17 who have persevered to the end .
Zacheous and onesmus said that what makes them to work very hard and learn is because they come from very poor families and want to improve their skills in carpentry and joinery to earn a living.
Zacheous said that all his brothers are drivers and mechanics and he really wants to develop his own skills different from all his family members.
Most of learning here takes place by doing since 80% of the coverage is practical and 20% thoery. this is partly because most of the students do not read and write and therefore doesnot benefit them at all to spend alot of time in class because they are more interested in the skills. This was also partly affirmed by the students when they told me that thay prefer being in the workshop working than sitting in class.
The department started with 20 students in march 2008 and 3 students dropped out which bring the number to 17 who have persevered to the end .
Zacheous and onesmus said that what makes them to work very hard and learn is because they come from very poor families and want to improve their skills in carpentry and joinery to earn a living.
Zacheous said that all his brothers are drivers and mechanics and he really wants to develop his own skills different from all his family members.
Most of learning here takes place by doing since 80% of the coverage is practical and 20% thoery. this is partly because most of the students do not read and write and therefore doesnot benefit them at all to spend alot of time in class because they are more interested in the skills. This was also partly affirmed by the students when they told me that thay prefer being in the workshop working than sitting in class.
It is so because most of students cannot read and write which probed the administration to introduce adult literacy of English, maths, social studies and business skills. The business skills taught here are to help the students know how to market their products after produce. This adult literacy is in three forms;
- form one for those who have not had any education at all.
- form two for those who attained a primary leaving certificate
- form three for those with an ordinary level certificate and above.
There are no female students in this department and an instructor said that the females are discouraged to join this field because most of the work is done manually. Similarly all the instructors in this department are males and this may be one of the reasons why there are no females in my understanding.
In my observations, these students continue to learn with their colleagues even in absence of an instructor which is a good practice.
Reflections
- Training in vocational institutions is still handled negligently and this makes the products incompetent to some extent.
- The nine months' training is not good enough to produce candidates for the labour market in South Sudan. This is because when one looks at the products at the end of the training, i would think that there is alot to be done to improve.
3 comments:
Hei, Trevelynn, Are the 9 month in reality improving the students learning or worsening the learning process? Do you think the 80% of practical work helping the students not only in the school but also in local industries? What is the pedagogical aspects behind the 80% of practical and 20% of theory?
Hi, Aidah
you have mentioned at the end.The nine months' training is not good enough to produce candidates for the labour market in South Sudan. For them to acquire the required
- How do you reach to this Conclusion?
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