SOME 70 senior officials and education specialists from Africa are here for a two-week workshop to learn about the island's experience in building its education system.

The Leaders in Education and Training for Sustained Growth in Africa' (LETSGA) workshop, jointly organised by The World Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, aims to to highlight the importance of visionary leadership and to provide the African delegates an opportunity to establish contacts with institutions in Singapore for future collaborations.

IE Singapore, whose mission is to promote the overseas growth of Singapore-based companies and international trade, has been connecting Singapore companies with international organisations such as WB and the Asian Development Bank to open up new avenues to participate in international projects.

'Through the LETSGA workshop, not only can Singapore share her experience in building her education system, it also provides an ideal platform for Singapore's education players to interact directly with senior education policy makers from Africa and The World Bank to better understand the needs of education systems in Africa,' said Mr Chua Taik Him, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of IE Singapore.

The delegates will pay visits to Singapore's tertiary and vocational technical institutes, including the ITE, NIE, and Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), as well as various primary and secondary schools.

Some of the topics that will be discussed during the workshop include strategic leadership, school management systems and curriculum development.

Africa remains WB's lead development priority for the third successive year. It is the largest provider of development assistance to Africa.

'Africa is a different place today, with economies registering steady and even rapid growth over the past 10 years. To sustain that growth will require good policies in education and training to supply the skills required for economic productivity,' Ms Tan Jee-Peng, the World Bank Africa Region Education Advisor, said.

She added: 'In this regard, Singapore has a lot to offer from its experience over the past 40 years. Such knowledge-sharing and exchange foster a mutually beneficial and strong relationship between Singapore and African countries.'

The WB also launched two books on education on Monday, which provide an analysis of education development in Singapore and regional perspectives, placed in the contexts of Sub-saharan Africa. These are 'Toward a Better Future: Education and Training for Economic Development in Singapore since 1965' and 'An African Exploration of the East Asian Experience'.

Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State for Education and Manpower, hopes that the books will provide insights into the policy directions that have guided Singapore in developing its education system.

'Even though Singapore has come a long way in our educational journey, we are constantly seeking to refine our own systems and processes, to improve the education landscape in Singapore. Education remains a work-in-progress in Singapore,' Mr Gan said.