In this issue
More and more MDF is expanding its competencies to work with Higher Education Institutes. In this newsletter we show a few examples of these experiences. Other topics are:
- Idha’s learning experience
- Meet the trainer - Maurits Spoelder
- Strengthening Universities in Indonesia
- Recently acquired assignments
- Thank you for your feedback on our website
- Request the MDF brochure 2012
- Charity Cup 2011: playing footbal
- Join MDF on LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook
- Upcoming courses
Idha’s learning experience
Idha Saftawaty, Manager at the National Institute for Public Administration (LAN-RI)
Competency Based Learning course alumni, joining with an NFP scholarship awarded by NUFFIC*:
"An interesting lesson I’ve learned from this program is that if learning outcomes are not carefully thought about in the very beginning, a module design may not be so provoking..."
Learn more about Idha’s experiences in the course here.
* For a number of courses MDF Training & Consultancy has reached an agreement with NUFFIC (Netherlands organisation for international co-operation in higher education) for a limited number of fellowships through the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP, managed by Nuffic). Emphasis is on applying the course content in your own environment and this is supported through the refresher courses in which participants exchange experience, deepen their insights and continue their job with greater motivation. View the details of this opportunity online.
Meet the trainer
Meet Maurits Spoelder, Trainee in post-secondary education and international development at MDF.
Maurits, tell us about your work!
At MDF I am working on capacity development in higher education. I am involved with both consultancy assignments (Woord & Daad, Edukans and the NUFFIC NICHE programme) and training courses.
What developments do you recognise within your field?
What we are witnessing today is a broader shift towards the entire Education For All (EFA) agenda. As enrollment rates have increased globally greater focus is on increasing quality and equity in education. Also in higher education, programmes are focussing more, but in my view not enough, on quality improvements.
And what do you consider the main challenge to be?
Our continuous challenge is to facilitate the relationship between teacher and student in a way that enables children to becoming critical thinkers and being competent. This sometimes requires a new approach to teaching and learning methods.
So how are the training courses you mentioned addressing this issue?
The Competency Based Learning course is pursuing an integrated learning approach of expertise, social skills and applying these successfully in your assignments and work. This approach underlines the Labour Market and active Learning in Education course, which is specifically helping you to monitor labour market dynamics in your environment and to introduce these in the lessons.
And last but not least, what further reading can you recommend to our readers?
I have noted down a list of papers that I found particularly interesting and useful for my work. You can download these and the complete interview here. I recently also updated the education page with new information on this topic.
Strengthening Universities in Indonesia
How are our branch offices locally dealing with capacity development in higher education? Rini Marien, Team Leader Education Projects at MDF Pacific Indonesia (MDF PI), explains:
MDF PI is managing four long-term projects to strengthen higher education institutions in Indonesia. One of the institutions is POLITANI, the Agriculture Polytechnic in Kupang, Timor Province, Indonesia.
As a result of various management trainings, POLITANI initiated participative and asset-based processes (using Appreciative Inquiry methods) in order to manage the institution. The management of POLITANI believes a new, more participative approach will improve quality, ownership and commitment of all concerned. With the assistance of MDF-PI this approach was succesfully applied to develop the institution’s strategic plan. In the past strategic plans were formulated by a few selected staff or commissioned to a consultant.
Now, other higher education institutions are following POLITANI in formulating their strategic plans in a participative manner. The first two to follow are PNK and UNCEN.
Recently acquired assignments
- MDF has been contracted by Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC) to facilitate the formulation of a capacity building project of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries in Mali.
Interesting challenges of this mission will be, to make sure that:
- this project fits within a sector wide programme approach
- the interests of all stakeholders (donor(s), Malian administration at central and provincial/local levels and producers) are well discussed, analysed and conclusions taken into account in the new project proposal.
- For a period of 3 years, MDF will deliver services for the EU funded programme 'High Impact Tourism Training for Jobs & Income' (HITT)
SNV has initiated this programme to give local people a chance to develop competencies so they can benefit more from the tourism or related sectors. MDF assists in:
- delivering a training needs assessment manual & coaching
- developing a curriculum for people working in the informal tourism sector
- delivering input for the M&E systems and impact measurement systems.
- MDF has been awarded a one-year contract for delivering face-to-face workshops and distance learning modules to UNAIDS staff
This project is based on the Core Competencies "delivering results"and "driving change and innovation". For the distance learning modules we will work together with Opikanoba, a Belgian market leader in e-learning. An interesting challenge will be to guarantee a complementary and at the same time integrated approach regarding face-to-face and distance learning.
Feedback on website
MDF is thanking you for your feedback on our website. Therefore we have raffled a number of our booklets ‘Break the Ice, Energise’ amongst you.
The main learning points are that the homepage could be more structured and we should better balance the amount of texts and illustrations. We were pleased to hear that you appreciate the information available on courses and branch presentations and the use of colours.
In the months to come we will start updating our website and meanwhile we continue to appreciate your feedback. Do not hesitate to let us know what you like about our website and what you like to see improved! Send us an e-mail.
Request the MDF Programme 2012
You can already let us know whether you wish to receive the MDF Programme for 2012 by postal mail. The Programme will provide you with information about our consultancy services and the course programme. In the past we automatically sent the printed Programme to all our Alumni and Clients. From now on you can (and should) indicate yourself whether you wish to receive the Programme in a paper form. Sign up for the NewsLetter on the left and request the brochure. We will send it to you this Autumn.
Interested in the digital Programme? No need to leave your details, we will let you know through our NewsLetter when you can download it from our website.
Charity Cup 2011: playing footbal
Last Saturday, June 4, MDF joined the Charity Cup 2011: the footbal tournament in the Netherlands for organisations in the international development sector. The MDF team has had a lot of fun and would like to thank Oxfam Novib for organising the Cup and making the tournament such a success!
View more pictures on facebook.
Join us online!
Twitter: and be the first to know about special discounts and updated materials
LinkedIn: and start a discussion or leave a question
Facebook: and learn more about experiences from participants
Upcoming courses
Management Services (click here):
- Financial Management for the Non-Financial Manager, 20 - 24 June
- Leadership and People Management, 27 June - 1 July
- Project and Programme Management, 22 Aug – 2 Sept
- Management course for Development Practitioners, 19 Sept – 14 Oct
Organisational and Institutional Development (click here):
- Capacity Works (GIZ certification), 14 - 16 June
Private Sector for Development (click here):
- Value Chain Finance, 13 - 16 June
Facilitating Processes (click here):
- Active Network Management (ANM) 4 modules, 14 - 24 June
- ANM 1: Dynamics, 14 - 15 June
- ANM 2: Facilitation, 16 - 17 June
- ANM 3: Leadership, 20 - 22 June
- ANM 4: Accountability, 23 - 24 June
- Training of Trainers, 22 Aug – 26 Aug
