For five days, the Sikasso Regional Council meeting room took on a classroom look. Elected, technicians of the Regional Council, managers of the Regional Resource Centre, trainers of the partner centres and agents of the Regional Directorate of Employment and Vocational Training have come to learn how to make live the Regional Master Plan of Vocational and Technical Training for Employment (SDRFPTE) 2026-2030 in order not only to store it in a drawer. The aim is to foster a visual identity between the elected officials who decide and the technicians who execute.
An agreement, not an improvisation
This week is the result of a memorandum of understanding signed between the Regional Council and FIER II, the Second Vocational Training Project, Integration and Support for Young Rural Entrepreneurship, led by the Government of Mali with the support of IFAD. The project was committed to building the capacity to pilot vocational training in the Sikasso region. The workshop was designed and facilitated by the Training and Support Studies Bureau (BEFA).
Five days, a logical progression
Participants were asked to understand SDRFPTE and the role of each actor, to plan its implementation, to pilot and fund, to monitor implementation, and to analyse and correct shortcomings in implementation. As for the trainers, they intended to draw attention to the lines of work and the opportunities offered by each sector. Thus, they built their case studies around the fields that participants know well, Niono rice, milk, shallot, fishing, agricultural maintenance.
Elected officials and technicians on the same page
Some 20 people attended the session, including 15 elected and technical representatives from the Regional Council and the Regional Resource Centre, two representatives from the partner training centres, three managers from the Regional Directorate for Employment and Vocational Training, and four technicians from the Regional Coordination Unit of FIER II. Everyone goes back with a personal commitment plan to turn what was seen this week into concrete actions.
