scholarly journals Revitalising technical and vocational education and training in Africa: Issues outstanding

Author(s):  
George Afeti

One of the stark realities of Africa today is the crisis of youth unemployment. Every year,about 10–12 million poorly skilled young people exiting the various levels of the educationsystem enter the labour market (AfDB & OECD, 2012), where they end up in insecure andsometimes hazardous employment with no prospect of further education or training. Evengraduates of higher education institutions are not spared the frustration of seeking and notimmediately finding a job. In countries such as Zambia and Ethiopia, young graduates maytake up to five years after training before finding a job in the formal sector (ILO, 2013). InGhana, it is estimated that the economy needs to create 300 000 new jobs per year to absorbthe growing number of unemployed (Honorati & Johansson de Silva, 2016). In Tanzania,approximately 800 000 people enter the labour market each year (ILO, 2012), in contrast tothe absorptive capacity of the public sector of only 40 000.

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 162-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Seeber

From a societal perspective, vocational education and training must enable young adults to meet the challenges of the labour market in a globalized world, reduce the mismatch of supply and demand of qualifications (e.g. youth unemployment leading to disadvantages for individuals, society and national economies) and improve social cohesion. From an individual perspective, vocational education and training should develop young adults’ vocational competencies, support their individual personality development and their integration into the labour market and society, help secure their livelihood and enable them to lead self-determined lives as citizens. Therefore, the assessment of competencies obtained in vocational education and training programmes has emerged as a critical issue to develop workforces and the capacity for life-long learning and to foster civic participation as a responsible citizen. This article provides some insights into the modelling and measurement of competencies in vocational education and training, where occupational and cross-occupational competencies are necessary to cope with the requirements of workplaces, as a responsible citizen and in private life. In this article, cross-occupational economic competencies and occupation-specific commercial competencies in the area of business and administration are discussed. Both constructs are based on economic theories, concepts and central terms; nevertheless, the situation-specific context and requirements may vary substantially. Thus, different approaches to define and measure both constructs seem to be necessary.


Author(s):  
Alexa Nicole Anthonie

This paper explores the South African Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector in relation to calls for decolonisation that have emanated from higher education institutions (universities) and basic education institutions (schools). Both the public and the academic community have echoed these institutions’ calls for transformation through protests and articles in academic journals and the popular media. Apart from two articles in the popular media the silence on decolonisation and TVET has been deafening. A key phrase during the #FeesMustFall protests was “the missing middle,” referring to those students who were too rich for NSFAS bursaries but too poor to afford university fees. I argue that the TVET sector is a different missing middle in that it is missing from debates about decolonising education in South Africa. Through a document analysis of TVET related legislation, I argue that it is too “high” for basic education and too “low” for higher education. By drawing on Jan Blommaert’s notion of “voice” and Gayatri Spivak’s notion of “the subaltern,” the paper considers why there has been such silence on decolonising the TVET sector.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Miriam Grønning ◽  
Ines Trede

Due to a higher demand for tertiary education, continued educational achievement has become important for the career development of young people with vocational education and training (VET). In this article, therefore, we examine whether the labour market segment of the training firm influences VET diploma holders’ likelihood of entering tertiary education. In Switzerland, companies from a wide range of industries and with different institutional characteristics assume a large part of the responsibility for training. Thus, the training firm’s position in the labour market impacts apprentices’ education and training. Drawing upon segmentation theories, we argue that structural differences between training firms in different labour market segments result in varying opportunities and incentives for higher education. Our analyses are based on a longitudinal national survey of healthcare apprentices who were trained in the primary healthcare segment (hospitals) or in the secondary healthcare segment (nursing homes). Propensity score matching results show that VET diploma holders who were trained in the primary segment were more likely to enter tertiary education than those who were trained in the secondary segment. This finding implies that the structural conditions in the training firm matter for young workers’ careers by affecting further educational achievement.


Author(s):  
Fleur Goulding ◽  
Terri Seddon

A recent trend in Australian education is the diversification of programme delivery outside institutions’ traditional sector of education, including delivery of bachelor degrees by some public vocational education and training institutions (known in Australia as technical and further education, or TAFE, institutes). The delivery of higher education programmes in non-traditional providers, such as TAFE institutes, has created significant challenges for teachers working in these settings. They work within a vocational education and training (VET) culture but confront the regulatory frameworks demanded of higher education providers. Scholarship is a particularly problematic issue because it has not been an expectation in VET providers but is a key feature in higher education. This article examines the emerging nature of scholarship in a TAFE institute offering higher education programmes. We report on an analysis of regulatory and quality assurance documentation, which begins to formalise the notion of ‘scholarship’ in VET. We then compare this emerging official definition with higher education TAFE teachers’ experience of scholarship using interviews. We argue that higher education teachers and their TAFE institutes are forming distinctive hybrid scholarly cultures and practices as they take on external expectations and navigate through existing orientations to industry, educational commitments to teaching and the absence of scholarly structures and values in TAFE.


1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (First Serie (1) ◽  
pp. 84-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Fairley ◽  
Andy McArthur

2011 ◽  
Vol 50 (4II) ◽  
pp. 531-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shujaat Farooq

In this study, an attempt has been made to estimate the incidences of job mismatch in Pakistan. The study has divided the job mismatch into three categories; education-job mismatch, qualification mismatch and field of study and job mismatch. Both the primary and secondary datasets have been used in which the formal sector employed graduates have been targeted. This study has measured the education-job mismatch by three approaches and found that about one-third of the graduates are facing education-job mismatch. In similar, more than one-fourth of the graduates are mismatched in qualification, about half of them are over-qualified and the half are under-qualified. The analysis also shows that 11.3 percent of the graduates have irrelevant and 13.8 percent have slightly relevant jobs to their studied field of disciplines. Our analysis shows that women are more likely than men to be mismatched in field of study. JEL classification: I23, I24, J21, J24 Keywords: Education and Inequality, Higher Education, Human Capital, Labour Market


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Liudmyla I. Berezovska ◽  
Galyna D. Kondratska ◽  
Anna A. Zarytska ◽  
Kateryna S. Volkova ◽  
Taras M. Matsevko

This article sets sights on highlighting the effectiveness and efficiency of higher and vocational education and training, as well as exploring ways to address and implement the current reform agenda in the field. The research was conducted on the basis of a generalizing and comparative method, to identify the problems and development of vocational and higher education. Within the framework of the conducted research the current state of vocational and higher education has been characterized; the features of online learning at leading universities and its advantages has been clarified; the prospects of introduction of continuity of education have been studied, for the development of personality abilities, taking into account changes in society in the context of improvement of the system of vocational and higher education caused by the European integration process of education; directions for the development of vocational and higher education as part of the national education system and society in general have been outlined. It is determined, that at the present stage the domestic education system should be improved and transferred to an innovative way of development in accordance with developed countries. In the near future, such modern forms of education as: distance education, dual education, continuing vocational education and others, should be improved and implemented into the educational process.


Kyklos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-348
Author(s):  
Thomas Bolli ◽  
Maria Esther Oswald‐Egg ◽  
Ladina Rageth

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Graf ◽  
Justin J. W. Powell ◽  
Johann Fortwengel ◽  
Nadine Bernhard

Dual study programs are hybrid forms of work-based higher education that have expanded very rapidly in Germany—a country traditionally considered a key model in both higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET). The continued expansion of these hybrid programs increasingly raises questions if, how, and why they may be internationalized. Although comparative research suggests that this could be challenging due to the uniqueness of the German education and training system, strong forces support internationalization. This study examines the current state and the future prospects of internationalization of such innovative dual study programs by focusing on student mobility, a key dimension of internationalization. We find growing interest in but still relatively little mobility related to dual study programs, whether among German (outgoing) or international (incoming) students. Based on expert interviews and document analysis, we extend existing typologies of student mobility regarding specific features of work-based HE programs. Furthermore, we discuss opportunities—at home and abroad—for increasing student mobility in this rapidly expanding sector.


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