Meet Côte d’Ivoire Alumni Ambassador: Martin Tiehe

Côte d’Ivoire Alumni Ambassador: Martin Tiehe

Short Course: Technical And Vocational Education Training Teacher Skills Upgrade, Chisholm Institute of Technical and Further Education, 2013

How have your studies in Australia impacted on your organisation?

I still work at the School of Baking (Ministry of State, Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Vocational Training). When I returned home from Australia, I organised workshops to talk about what I had learned from the course. The School Administration and colleagues appreciated and participated in the training I offered and have shown interest. As the school is a public institution, change depends on government deciding to move towards competency-based training, which is still an emerging idea in Côte d’Ivoire. That is why I see the TVET Teacher Skills Upgrade Program as a long-term program in my organisation and in Côte d’Ivoire as well. I also made a presentation at the Vocational Training Development Center in Abidjan, and similarly the program was really appreciated.

What development issues in Africa are you most concerned about and how are you contributing to addressing these issues?

The development issue I am most concerned about is education.  Education is the way to sustainable development. My way of contributing to development in Côte d’Ivoire is to use the knowledge acquired in Australia to train teachers in the vocational training sector, so that they have a variety of training tools and techniques that will make them efficient in their classrooms.

What was your most memorable experience in Australia?

I was really happy to go to Australia. I met excellent people there. I made a lot of friends and I learned a lot. We had an exciting visit to Ballarat Sovereign Hill Museum and Ballarat Wildlife Park. Before going to Australia, I went to Mauritius, and after Australia I went to South Africa. It was a great experience making so many friends around the world.

Why should someone from Côte d’Ivoire apply for an Australia Award?

Australia is a beautiful country and Australians are really kind people. Australia has a high-quality training infrastructure and offers high-quality training in line with international standards.