Tag: sierraleon

On the 2^nd of June 2025, the SPARKLE Partnership has been hosted at the EMERGENCY Children’s Surgical Hospital in Entebbe, to carry out its second Transnational Project Meeting. EMERGENCY is partner to the project and plays a fundamental role within the partnership. EMERGENCY has been operating in Uganda and Sierra Leone for many years, for this reason it is an important link between the European and African partners.

The partnership discussed key topics for the project implementation, now committed to the research and analysis of the needs and skills gaps of the electrotechnical sector in Uganda and Sierra Leone. These activities are fundamental to identify which are the most requested competences in the field of electrotechnics by different kind of stakeholders (industry, VET providers, trade unions, etc.), and to develop meaningful learning material which will be freely available on the SPARKLE Digital Open Space.

Furthermore, partners discussed the next opportunity to meet in person. In fact, in November 2025 all Partners will meet in Milan (Italy), for a Transnational Project Meeting and then Partners from Uganda and Sierra Leone will move to the Coordinator IAL FVG’ premises to implement a Mobility (Pordenone, Italy).

At the end of the fruitful meeting, SPARKLE Partners had the unique chance to visit the technological heart of the Emergency hospital, the feedback was very positive, all the guests were very impressed and asked the EMERGENCY Team a lot of questions.

For more information on the activities and results, visit the SPARKLE Project OER platform: www.sparkledigitalopenspace.eu

SPARKLE partners participate in a Train the trainer activity

From June 3-7, 2025, the SPARKLE partnership conducted a Train the trainer activity as part of SPARKLE, a project co-funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus + program. The initiative brought together eight partners from Uganda, Sierra Leone, Italy, Belgium and Spain and aimed to strengthen the capacity of vocational education and training providers in Sierra Leone and Uganda to promote effective collaboration with local businesses and authorities, bridging the gap between skills and the world of work.

The event began with a welcome and overview by the director of Namulanda Technical Institute, followed by sessions on vocational training policies in Uganda and Sierra Leone, and partner country experiences. Stakeholders actively participated in discussions on the challenges of the electrotechnical sector, answering more than 40 questions. Field visits were made to a hospital and a church-owned vocational training center.

Presentations by all partners were accurate with respect to the goal of identifying key gaps in electrotechnician training, and the project coordinator appreciated the active and interactive participation of all SPARKLE partner representatives and stakeholders, such as employers, policy makers, trade unionists, practicing electricians, solar product innovators, apprentices, instructors, and many others.

Namulanda Technical Institute was responsible for planning, organizing, and implementing the SPARKLE Train the Trainer activity that took place at the Institute’s campus in Uganda and invites all potential stakeholders to join the SPARKLE team by visiting www.sparkledigitalopenspace.eu