CIV Water Welcomes Delegation From Benin, West Africa

On November 30th, CIV water welcomed a French-speaking delegation visiting from Benin. The delegation was composed of multiple representatives from the Beninese government, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Benin, and Nuffic. The delegation was interested in learning more about the Dutch VET education system, being particularly interested in the entire water and sanitation value chain.

In recent years, the government of Benin has undertaken broad reforms to improve the technical and vocational education system in their country. Within this framework a governmental delegation visited CIV Water and World Water Academy in Leeuwarden to understand the working and structure of technical and vocational education establishments in the Netherlands. World Water Academy is the leading independent training institute for water professionals in the Netherlands and abroad and offers interactive and practical courses and programs which are well known for their quality (ISO9001 certified). In the near future, Benin would like to implement the Dutch way of educating VET students on the topic of water.

During their visit the delegation was impressed by our innovative ecosystem, and lifelong learning opportunities. They had the chance to visit the Water Application Centre (WAC) to see students interacting on real cases in the WAC and also outside. This gave them a very nice impression on how we train our students. Afterwards they visited our partners Wateropleidingen, who focus on adult education. Again, the Benin delegation expressed how impressed they were with how the Netherlands education system is well organized and stated that they would like to have a similar innovative ecosystem in their country.

The Benin delegation was also connected to the PoVE Water project’s CoVE parter in South Africa, Manual Jackson of Stellenbosch University, to perhaps join the CoVE in South Africa.