2 December 2014
Australian Volunteer Making a Difference at the Solomon Islands Don Bosco Technical Institute
Teaching a computing class
Vern Healey arrived in Solomon Islands six months ago to take up an assignment with the Don Bosco Technical Institute as Mentor to the Staff and Principal.
“My main responsibilities are in the institute’s administration but I also do some teaching as well. I work most of the time with the Principal, Fr. Srimal Priyanga sdp and with the staff with whom I teach a Teacher Training Course. The teachers have just completed an exam I set out and they are looking to me for results.”
“I also do teacher appraisal, I visit every classroom twice each term and give feedback to the teachers about how they can improve their teaching. With my English background, I am also the editor of all publications that go out from the Institute and I am also the financial controller of fundraising here. I am a member of the school board and TVET National Curriculum Board. ”
His assignment at the Don Bosco Institute under the Australian Government funded Australian Volunteer International is his 7th volunteer posting in his career.
“Before coming to the Solomon Islands, I volunteered at Universities, high schools and held Education positions in Malawi, in Africa, in Shanghai China, Ethiopia, Guyana in South America, Lanjiao in remote China and in Mongolia. I also did one year working at a Catholic Mission in very remote Western Australia. So I have a lot of experience in volunteering and I really enjoy it because I get so much out it.”
“In my current posting, I am learning lots of things new, I ‘m learning about new cultures and I am learning about the way people here live. I am also learning about technologies because this is my first experience of teaching in a technical institution as I have been always in the past been with Universities and in High Schools and I certainly enjoy my work. ”
Vern teaches around 40 junior students in computing and speaks of the challenges he faces and how he has managed to overcome it.
“This school is blessed in terms of resources in the Solomon Islands, but sometimes we face resourcing issues, when computers do not work and the electricity goes off and I have to have two students working off one computer which is not the best way to teach computing.”
“Among the significant memories I am taking with me when I leave Solomon Islands is seeing changes in the school while I am here because these things normally take a while. Even in my short 6 months with the institution, I am starting to see a lot of changes and a professional approach from the teachers. Another significant memory would be relationships I have established with students here. An example of this is that I am still in contact with students I taught in Malawi 10 years ago.”
There are approximately 60 Australian Volunteers who work in the country every year in a variety of fields from medical, to legal, the media and education.
Vern also like to read and write in his spare time.
“I am a prolific reader and a writer, I have written 2 books and I am getting raw material to write another book. The book will be on my experiences in all my volunteer positions around the world, my volunteering in Solomon Islands will also be an important part of this book.”