TIMMINS, ON: Northern College is pleased to announce it is working in partnership with both Niagara College and Cambrian College to support capacity building in the education and training sector in Mongolia.
The consortium, led by Northern will support the Mongolian Ministry of Education (MOE), General Education Authority (GEA) and polytechnic institutions to develop and implement a national teacher training program for technical and vocational education and training in Mongolia.
“This is an important project for Northern College as we work to diversify our international portfolio of engagements and partnerships,” stated Dr. Ahmed Baghdady, Executive Director of Global Engagement at Northern.
The three-and-a-half year SkillShift-04 Mongolia project aims to improve capacity for the MOE, GEA and other Mongolian partners to design and implement a national, competency based, gender responsive and inclusive teacher training program which directly supports technical and vocational education and training.
“With funding from GAC, and support from CICan, Northern College will work diligently with Niagara College and Cambrian College to support our partners in Mongolia,” stated Dr. Baghdady. “Our goal is to assist in the creation of a strong, competency-based teacher training program that meets local needs and contributes meaningfully to reforms in the Mongolian education sector.”
SkillShift Mongolia began with an inception mission to the country in May, which included faculty and administrators from the three-college consortium, spending two weeks in Ulaanbaatar and Khovd to conduct a situational needs assessment.
Meeting with multiple partners to collect data, representatives from all three Ontario colleges worked to establish a baseline, understand the local context alongside the broader needs and aspirations for the project.
“Niagara College is pleased to be working on the Skillshift-04 project and is happy to assist in teacher training with a focus on gender inclusivity and responsiveness,” stated Krasna Baotic, Professor in the School of Liberal Studies at Niagara College. “Our visit in May demonstrated the rich culture and dedication to education already present in Mongolia and we are looking forward to building this partnership”
Once the situational needs assessment is completed, the project team will work closely with Mongolian based partners to develop a national teacher training program which will feature competency based education and training, student centered and active learning strategies, inclusive pedagogy and universal design for learning (UDL), assessment design, classroom and learner management, digital tools for teaching and blended delivery and more.
“Being part of this consortium provides the opportunity for Cambrian to contribute to a meaningful global engagement initiative in SkillShift that delivers real impact empowering TVET teachers, strengthening institutional collaboration, and supporting sustainable skills development in Mongolia.” stated Imad Al-Sukkari, Director of International at Cambrian College.
The project team is slated to return to Mongolia later in 2026 to deliver the first training component and work alongside the MOE, GEA and polytechnic leaders to design the next phase of the project. As part of this project, representatives from partner institutions in Mongolia will visit Northern College, Niagara College and Cambrian College campuses in 2027 for observations, meetings and further training.
Northern College, alongside Niagara College and Cambrian College are proud to play a role in representing the quality, adaptability and collaborative nature of the Canadian educational system abroad.
