CYP South Pacific Centre successfully completes its 4th PI & ERM Meeting to strengthen and enhance the Diploma in Youth Work

The CYP South Pacific Centre recently concluded its 4^th Partner Institutions and External Regional Moderators Meeting in Sydney Australia from 3 to 7 December 2007. This bi-annual progress review meeting of tertiary Partner Institutions (PI), External Regional Moderators (ERM) and relevant stakeholders has proved to be critical in the establishment and maintenance of the necessary protocols and foundations for promoting and sustaining youth work training programmes in the region.

CYP SPC Programme Manager and convener of the meeting, Mr Sushil Ram said that the CYP’s interest and commitment to maintaining healthy relationships with PI’s, ERM’s and relevant stakeholders particularly the Government Ministries is proving to be a viable investment and the way forward in ensuring that the Diploma programme is properly promoted, recognised and sustained in the South Pacific region.

The Diploma is currently in its third cohort of offer in the Region and the Partner Institutions have each experienced notable achievements and challenges in the delivery. One of the most critical challenges faced has been the low retention and high dropout rate amongst students. The meeting therefore noted that it is imperative, that the main objective and thrust of current and future offers will be to strengthen delivery mechanisms and student support structures in order to increase the number of graduates.

Working with key stakeholders, much energy and focus would be directed towards graduating as many youth development workers as possible without compromising quality and whilst maintaining consistent adherence to the terms and conditions of the respective Memoranda of Understanding between all the relevant stakeholders.

The main aim of the meeting, according to Mr Ram, was to provide an avenue for the partnering institution representatives to meet together with the External Regional Moderators and CYP professional staff to review progress on the delivery of the Diploma in Youth Development (DYD) as well as to plan for future offers with existing and potential new partners. The focus was on five central themes:

• Setting the context and identifying priority issues 
• Teaching and Learning 
• Advocacy and Awareness
• New Initiatives
• Professionalisation of Youth Work.

The specific objectives were:

• To alert participants to new and revised mandates from CHOGM, CYMM, RAB and the CYP Strategic Plan – 2006 to 2008, concerning the strategic positioning of youth work within the Commonwealth and in particular the programme area of Youth Work Education and Training (YWET);
• To formulate decisions on ways and means to improve the delivery of the Diploma and increase the number of graduating students;
• To strengthen dialogue and networking with specific Governments to support the delivery of the Diploma in their respective countries;
• To discuss issues surrounding the professionalisation of the youth development sector and gauge the viability and sustainability of a Youth Workers Association in the Region;
• To consider new initiatives in the area of youth work training and education;
• To consider a review of the Certificate in Youth Work and other short courses in order to align these with the Diploma;
• To agree on work plans of the Partner Institutions and ERM’s for the next cycle of delivery commencing in 2008.

The vision for the CYP Diploma is to develop the profession of youth work comprising knowledge, attitudes, attributes and skills, acquired through formal and non-formal education and training, guided by a Code of Practice and supported by regulatory mechanisms. The South Pacific Region supports this vision and recognises that it can and will achieve the necessary outcomes and desired impact of developing the profession of youth work through its youth work training programmes including the Diploma in Youth Development Work, the Certificate in Youth Work and other short courses.

The Diploma Programme has been offered in the South Pacific Region since year 2000 through three PI’s – the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) in Australia, University of the South Pacific (USP) a regional university based in Fiji and the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE) in Honiara. The Papua New Guinea Institute of Public Administration (PNGIPA) in Port Moresby begun offer of the Diploma in 2005. Through these four universities, the Diploma has been delivered to all fourteen Commonwealth member countries in the region. There are currently negotiations being held with relevant Government Ministries and educational institutions in Tonga, Samoa and New Zealand to establish new partners in each of these countries.

Two external regional moderators (ERM’s) from the National University of Samoa (NUS) and Victoria University (VU) in Melbourne, Australia support the delivery of the Diploma by ensuring that the course is delivered with quality and in consistency with Pan Commonwealth standards. In the South Pacific region, the moderators have taken on advocacy and capacity building roles within their allocated institutions on top of their quality assurance responsibilities.

The meeting was also attended by senior government officials and for the first time a graduate of the Diploma Programme, Ms Marylin McBride who added value to the meeting by giving a students perspective to the discussions.