The Arava International Trainee Center

Students during Class

• The Arava Trainee Center has been operating for the past 12 years.
• This year (2005) there are 300 students at the Center.
• The Center employs about 30 staff members – teachers and facilitators, all of whom are Arava residents.
• Academic Director: Dr. Yossi Yassour
• Director: Hanni Arnon

The activity at the Center is a unique professional program of tutoring and practical teaching based upon the imparting of knowledge and expertise in an integrated fashion. The activity takes place in accordance with “Sinadco” (ministry of Agriculture), with their professional involvement. The Center works with the official institutions of the various countries, with which memoranda of understanding are signed.

Israeli and Thai Teachers

Thailand – Ministry of Education
Myanmar – Ministry of Agriculture
Nepal – Agricultural University in Rampur
Philippines – Economic Co. of Mindao in cooperation with the Agricultural Universities
Vietnam – Ministry of Agriculture

Working in the Pepper Field

The students from Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam are university graduates, and a special study program was written for them, which focuses on agricultural economic subjects, capital assessment and marketing.

The students from Thailand are from agricultural colleges that participate in the unique two year diploma program. The main part of the program consists of frontal studies together with a research paper prepared by the students. During the year an Israeli mentor counsels them, a resident of the Arava with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture. The culmination of the course is in the presentation of the paper by computer in front of the class.

The students from Myanmar are all graduates of agricultural universities, and are also integrated into the diploma program, and present research papers on their farms.

At the end of the year exams are held in each of the subjects, and each student receives a certificate.

Sorting Melons in the Packing -House

The students who come to the Arava are taken care of by the Center in the following areas:
Meeting with them in their countries of origin and preparation for their arrival in Israel.
Preparation of entry permits through the Ministry of the Interior in Eilat.
Internal distribution among the settlements of the Arava is determined in joint meetings with the settlement managers.

Diploma Time

All of the farmers signing the contract with the Arava Development Co.
Medical insurance is taken out for everyone when they arrive in Israel.
The trainees are met at the airport – they are received and taken to the settlements.
All of the farmers training the trainees on their farms receive instructions from the Center.
Instructions are given regarding the study program for the whole group, free days, trips and payment.
Payment is followed up - the farmer pays the trainee a wage.
The Center takes care of the flight ticket for the students leaving after 11 months of training.
The study program is a year-long program and includes 600 hours of study as well as educational tours in Israel, visiting companies and agricultural enterprises.

At the conclusion of the study program a ceremony is held for the awarding of certificates and deciding upon the outstanding student. The ceremony is held in the presence of the ambassadors to Israel from all the countries. The Center also follows up with students who have graduated, in order to change and improve the study program for the coming years. The students who have graduated serve as our true ambassadors in their own countries.

May 2006