UK Examining Board Assessor impressed with Malawi’s HBI students performance
Students studying BTEC’s creative media and TV production course at HBI Institute of Communication and Management in Blantyre were on Tuesday and Wednesday accorded rare opportunity when they brushed shoulders with United Kingdom based Edexcel examining body’s assessor Steve Miller, who came to assess students’ work and performance at the institution.
According to Miller, BTEC courses are vocational qualifications that provide an alternative method in which to gain the essential skills and knowledge for future study or a career in media and Tv production, Business, Music, Information Technology and Health & Social Care.
And they offer a practical, hands-on approach and students undertake a number of units for which they present evidence, based on actual work and studies, hence his visit to assess the students. This allows them to demonstrate their skill and knowledge.
“When studying the BTEC way, progress is measured throughout their course, allowing the students to gauge their own performance on a continuing basis.
“Students are more engaged and motivated as a result, as they see their own progress through the course rather than waiting to the end to sit an exam. Learning should be fun, not daunting,” said Miller in an interview Wednesday.
He also claimed that experience has shown that students enjoy BTEC programmes because as they specialize in areas of learning linked with work that they are interested in.
“We are continually developing and updating BTECs in response to the needs and skills required by employers. This will ensures that learners gain maximum benefit from their work whilst qualifying, and the qualifications stay up to date and relevant,” said Miller.
On students performance, Miller said students have “performed extremely well and in line with BTEC standards”.
“Basically, I came to ensure that standards are the same just like in other countries including Europe. Students have performed well and they enjoy the skills have learnt from this institution,” said Miller.
On his part, HBI Managing Director Rodrick Mulonya said all BTEC qualifications are developed in co-operation with the relevant Sector Skills Council (SSC) ensuring they fit with the needs of the employers.
Mulonya said BTEC courses give students the skills they need to either move on to higher education or go straight into employment and in additional, they also cover real-life activities such as writing and presenting a business plan.
“They provide a practical, real-world approach to learning without sacrificing any of essential subject theory. After completion of the studies, students can choose to be a script writer, video editor, and producer, among others,” said Mulonya .
Meanwhile, enrollment for July 2015 semester is underway.
“We have been motivated and inspired; we will continue to strive for perfection and build more productive young people through these programmes for the betterment of the country’s economy,” said Mulonya.
Edexcel, which is under Pearson PLC, American multinational publishing and education company headquartered and the largest book the largest book publisher in the world.
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