COL-CEMCA Charts Expansion of AI in TVET Training in Maldives, Malaysia, and Brunei

Building on the success of its inaugural AI in TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) programme, the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (COL-CEMCA) conducted a series of consultative meetings with two participants from Maldives, six from Malaysia, and seven from Brunei Darussalam to refine and expand its upcoming training initiatives. These sessions, held in mid-July 2025, were aimed at capturing first-hand feedback from educators who completed CEMCA’s AI training in April 2025.

The consultations revealed strong appreciation for the course content, with participants calling it comprehensive and relevant. However, there was a resounding call for more hands-on, practice-oriented learning and a flexible, modular delivery model better suited to the needs of working professionals. A critical takeaway was the unified recommendation to adopt a Train-the-Trainer (ToT) model with face-to-face components, enabling scalable and sustainable capacity-building across institutions.

Technical challenges such as internet disruptions and timing conflicts affected the first cohort’s learning experience, underscoring the need for improved scheduling, blended learning models, and better infrastructure support. The participants also stressed the need to embed ethical AI use into curriculum frameworks and institutional policies.

In his welcome note, Dr B. Shadrach, Director of COL-CEMCA, delineated the objectives of the consultation as learning more about the effectiveness of the course; if and how the course has been impactful in work settings; and what could be different for future course offerings. Towards the end of the consultation, Dr Shadrach also shared the next steps and way forward for scaling up course adoption for training TVET faculty. The consultations were facilitated and moderated by Ms. Nabeela Ata, Consultant, COL-CEMCA.

This consultative process has laid a robust foundation for a more contextualised and impactful second phase of COL-CEMCA’s AI in TVET initiative, aligning with Commonwealth of Learning’s vision of inclusive, technology-enabled learning for sustainable development.