The Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education (CPSC),Office of the Vocational Education Commission (OVEC) and Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, (RMUTT), both under the Ministry of Education, Thailand intensified tripartite cooperation and partnerships as they engaged in another collaborative undertaking through the Regional Program (RP) on Strengthening the Culture of Entrepreneurship in TVET. An addition to the tripartite partnership was the Education Society Thailand (EST) which co-organized the program with the three institutions.

The regional program, held from July 15 to 19, 2013 at the RMUTT, Thailand, gathered 16 planners/managers/administrators, head of departments, curriculum developers and educators from CPSC member countries who are involved in TVET development and implementation.

At the end of the program participants were expected to be able to: understand the needs and importance of entrepreneurship education in TVET; identify the emerging trends, issues and challenges of entrepreneurship education in the Asia and the Pacific Region; apply innovative models and approaches for linking entrepreneurship to TVET; gain knowledge and skills on how to start own business; and attain skills in developing a business plan.

The respective heads and their representatives of the three organizing institutions, who also acted as Program Supervisors graced the opening ceremony to show full support to the program. In his welcome remarks, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Numyoot Songthanapitak, President of RMUTT shared that co-hosting the CPSC program is a privilege and an opportunity for RMUTT to find an avenue to contribute ideas on entrepreneurship. In addition he said that the topics of the regional program are very relevant and significant in their quest for improving the delivery of the course on entrepreneurship.

Dr. Mohammad Naim Yaakub, Director General of CPSC, in his inaugural speech, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the RMUTT, OVEC and EST for the strong support to CPSC. He also articulated the excellent performance of CPSC in the previous year due to the full support of all member countries.

Dr. Hazrat Hussain, CPSC Faculty Consultant and Dr. Godelyn Hisole, CPSC Faculty Specialist handled the preparations and implementation of the program as Program Coordinators and Resource Persons. On the part of hosts, Mr. Rangsan Thepmondhri of the Bureau of Policy and Planning of OVEC and Dr. Paiboon Saiyawongs, Assistant to the President for International Relation and Vice Dean, Academic Faculty of Business Administration of RMUTT took charge of the local coordination and preparations as Local Coordinators.

The RP embodied the strengthened collaboration among the four institutions as they worked together in achieving successful results for the capacity building efforts of TVET professionals. The current program commenced immediately after the successful conclusion of the Customized Program on English Training for RMUTT support staff held last week, while OVEC had conducted numerous collaborative programs with CPSC in the past.


CPSC DG Dr. Naim delivering the Special Lecture during the program


Dr. Hazrat Hussain, CPSC Faculty Consultant and Dr. Godelyn Hisole, Faculty Specialist, during the sessions with the participants.