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Turusuala
Community Based Training Centre
Weathercoast, Solomon Islands
Turusuala
Community Based Training Centre provides vocational training
to young people on the remote Weathercoast of Guadalcanal.
Located in one of the least developed parts of the Solomon
Islands, which was particularly affected by the 1998-2003
ethnic tensions, the centre is the only one of its kind
in the area providing educational opportunities for local
youth who have been excluded from the education system.
The centre provides training in agriculture, joinery,
building, sewing, home management, and food and nutrition.
Most of the students come to the centre with only a primary
school level education.
Indigo
Foundation has supported Turusuala since 2004, providing
core funding and support to build the Centre’s
capacity and provide students with post graduation transition
opportunities as they return to their villages.
Context
Solomon
Islands has one of the fastest growing populations in
the world, a high number of school dropouts and a sense
among young people that they are being left out of community
affairs. The majority of out-of-school young people
are based in rural areas. Indigo’s initial decision
to fund Turusuala was supported by research commissioned
by AusAID in 2003 on youth in the Solomons. The researchers
asked young people about their concerns and needs, and
found that, for both young women and men, the demand
for education and training in practical skills was high
on their list of needs. Among the categories of training
young people wanted, they identified rural livelihood
skills courses, literacy, youth leadership and community
organisation skills. The staff at Turusuala Community
Based Training Centre are working to address these needs
through the Centre’s residential and community
vocational training programs. In doing so, they have
the additional challenge of meeting these needs amidst
the harsh conditions on the Weathercoast. The area’s
food security is hindered by excessive rainfall, pests
and diseases, and poor soil quality. There is no electricity
in the villages and poor communication infrastructure.
Partner
since: 2004
Project
Manager: Sally Anne Vincent (in-country)
Liaison Officer: Doni Keli
Management Committee representative: Reiko Take
The
Project
IF
provides financial and technical support so that Turusuala
can:
-
Provide residential and short vocational courses for
students in the AvuAvu area
- Run
short courses for members of the local community on
topics of high need
- Organise
quality work programs to assist local community members
-
Work towards securing the centre’s long term
financial viability
Funding:
2004-2007 = $AUD 3000per year ; 2007-2010= $AUD 4000
per year
Activities
The
number of students at the centre has varied from 15
to 31 with teacher numbers of between seven and nine.
Student numbers were boosted in 2007 with the introduction
of a literacy course which attracted more girls. However
partly due to the quality of teaching and also the expectations
of families for girls to work in the villages, the literacy
course collapsed.
In
2008 the centre provided educational opportunities for
15 students. In 2009 the number has increased to 15
students and 5 local farmers. The centre has started
using a block course approach, where students and community
members return to their villages to implement what they
have learnt after ten days of training. It is hoped
that this new approach will encourage more females and
locals to undertake training.
Outreach
activities in which students undertake work assignments
(building, carpentry etc.) for local villagers has boosted
the Centre’s profile and brought income into the
Centre.
Successes
An
independent evaluation in October 2005 concluded that
“Turusuala CBTC has been an excellent choice of
support by IF. It is the only vocational training centre
serving a remote area with a significant population.
The Centre is supported by and benefits local communities”.
Since then Turusuala’s fortunes have waxed and
waned. (see challenges below)
In
2009 significant progress has been made toward Turusuala’s
financial independence from IF. At the end of 2008,
IF invited local NGO Kastom Gaden Association (KGA)
and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training
(TVET) Section of the Ministry of Education and Human
Resources Development (MEHRD) to accompany IF on the
annual Monitoring and Evaluation visit. KGA is one of
the few NGOs active in the Weathercoast area and had
been working with Turusuala and IF on the design of
a Graduate Transition to Village Program. This program
aims to give students work experience back in their
villages so that they can use the skills developed at
Turusuala. TVET oversee the support to Rural Training
Centres (RTC) in the Solomon Islands and one of Turusuala’s
objectives is to qualify as an RTC so that it can access
government funding.
After
the visit in December 2008 Turusuala and KGA began negotiating
a partnership agreement which was signed in September
2009. Turusuala is one of only ten organisations across
the country to have been selected for this new program
(KGA is funded by AusAID under its Sustainable Livelihoods
for Isolated Rural Areas program). Under the agreement
KGA will provide an officer to build the centre’s
capacity, funding to support administration, office
renovation, and agricultural related activities (including
the Graduate Transition to Village Program) as well
as training for Turusuala staff. While Turusula and
KGA have been working together informally for several
years, IF has been credited with providing the focus
to the relationship which led to this agreement.
Challenges
While
progress in some areas of the centre’s operations
has been made, many challenges remain. An ongoing issue
has been the quality of teaching and although numerous
strategies have been suggested (and some tried) this
remains a challenge that has an impact on student enrolment
and retention. Strategies that have been discussed but
are yet to be implemented are: seeking a volunteer through
the VIDA (Volunteering for International Development
from Australia) program; sending staff members for attachments
to other training centres across the Solomons; approaching
donors to use Turusuala for a distance learning teacher
training pilot program; increasing teachers’ salaries.
Gender
equity continues to be a major challenge for the Centre,
reflecting the existing imbalance across the Solomon
Islands education system. Feedback from students indicates
that pregnancy and marriage are reasons students leave
the Centre. The collapse of the literacy program, which
was introduced to boost student female numbers at the
Centre, was also a blow. Strategies that have been suggested
but not, as yet, implemented include: using mothers
of graduates to promote the Centre to potential female
students and their families; an offer by Solomon Islands
National Council of Women to pay for one of their gender
officers to visit the Weathercoast to speak to the community
about the importance of female education.
Infrastructure
issues remain a challenge although improvements have
been made. The Turusuala land agreement with the local
landowner has been agreed in principle, but not yet
concluded. Sanitation and fencing for crops (which were
destroyed by pigs in 2009) both need to be upgraded.
Lessons
Learned
- Progress
can take a very long time, but messages, such as the
importance of gender equity, do seem to gain traction
eventually, particularly if there is a catalyst to
help it along.
- Being
located in such an extreme weather environment and
so isolated can be a strong marketing tool when seeking
other organisation’s assistance. However, these
organisations generally want to contribute to an existing
support structure rather than initiate their own,
which highlights how critical IF’s catalytic
funding can be.
- Turusuala’s
leadership is weak and requires frequent contact to
keep the Centre on track and ensure frequent use of
IF funds. However the remoteness of the Weathercoast
has greatly inhibited IF’s ability to provide
the necessary level of attention so building an alliance
with a local NGO Kastom Gaden Association which has
similar values to IF and is active in the Weathercoast
area has been critical to Turusuala’s development.
If
you would like more information please contact the project
manager at indigo.foundation@bigpond.com.
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