Technical Education, Vocational Training and Industrialisation in Sub-Saharan Africa(SSA)

This study contributes to a deeper understanding and perspective on the current debate on structural transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by investigating the effect of technical vocational education and training on industrial performance between 1980 - 2018. The panel data used for this study were obtained from World Development Indicators (WDI), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Fraser Institute databases. The empirical results derived from the Instrumental Variable (IV) Two-Stage Least Squares (2-SLS) econometric approach highlighted the important role of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as key determinants of industrial performance in SSA. The study found strong and robust relationship between TVET and measures of industrialisation. General secondary education, on the other hand, had a negative effect on industrialisation in SSA. The paper recommends therefore that there is the need for a complete overhaul and revision of the educational system in SSA with more emphasis on TVET in order to meet the required labour demand for industrial needs in the foreseable future.

STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING LEVEL OF ONLINE TEACHING IN THE TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (TVET) SECTOR

Although online education is not a recently emerged concept, the popularity of the concept has been boosted with the pandemic COVID-19, where the students have to depend totally on online education and they have been framed in it forcefully irrespective of the fact whether online education suits all type of education, especially for the sectors where the practicality is given the priority such as in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector. Therefore, there arises a need to investigate the understanding level of the students. The objectives of this research are to identify the students’ understanding level of online teaching and to evaluate the relationship between the understanding level of students and online teaching methods. The population of the study was all the students in the TVET sector in Sri Lanka and the sample was 294 students from 6 university colleges. Structured questionnaires were distributed among the sample for data collection. Descriptive analysis and correlation analysis were employed in the data analysis. The results discovered that a majority of students understand the online theoretical lecture delivery but they lack infrastructure facilities to engage in the academic activities. There is a low level of understanding of practical lessons. Moreover, the results visualize a moderate positive relationship between the students’ understanding level and online teaching methods. The researchers suggested that online teaching can be used for theory lectures in critical situations such as disasters but for the practical sessions, the student should physically be present to the field. Efficient strategies relevant to each type of professional qualification provided by the institutes should be implemented.

СТИМУЛЮВАННЯ ЗА ДОПОМОГОЮ ХАКАТОН-ЕКОСИСТЕМИ ВТОРИННОЇ ЗАЙНЯТОСТІ МОЛОДІ ЯК ФАКТОРА ПРОФЕСІОНАЛІЗАЦІЇ ТА СОЦІАЛЬНОЇ ІНТЕГРАЦІЇ

The article is an attempt to find new tools to boost youth motivation to secondary employment. The study notes that modern multi-vector (multi-dimensional) processes of updating the higher education system in Ukraine challenge the need for reforming higher education. The above verifies that currently, the biggest demand is primarily for competitive graduates who can independently build their own professional career trajectory, who are able to handle a large amount of information, think critically, demonstrate a high level of adaptability to permanently changing social environment and labor market demands, have developed communication skills, are able to learn throughout the life, are ready to expand management functions and are able to predict the results of their activities. The theoretical and methodological framework of this study involves systemic, structural and functional, economic and sociological and the resource-based approaches. A systemic approach was used to gain an overview and build an overall description of the researched phenomenon; structural and functional approach was applied to provide insights into the functional character of secondary employment, and the resource-based approach – to specify the opportunities for students to combine study and work. It is argued that the use of the Hackathon ecosystem enables to identify the possible outcomes of combining work and study for social and personal development of student youth along with getting better awareness of specific functions of youth secondary employment. Within the scope of this research, the following indicators were employed: the motivation behind secondary employment of student youth, performance assessment as realization of students’ expectations from employment, and the evaluation of the current job significance for mastering a future profession. A motivation hierarchy for secondary student employment has been identified where money is viewed as the key motivator whereas occupational incentives are perceived as less important. As it observed, this hierarchy demonstrates a relative stability in recent years against the falling trend for the significance of the early start of professional career for working students. In addition, the study provides a robust argument to substantiate the demarcation between pragmatics- and occupation-based incentives of student secondary employment. The findings have revealed a rather high realization level of financial expectations of many working students (as a manifestation of the key economic function of student youth employment); a certain devaluation of the work experience role for student secondary employment as their competitive advantage in the area of social and labor relations; as well as low effectiveness of the majority of working students for their further professionalization. However, the results of the study have verified critical effects of any work experience upon shaping basic work culture for this youth category. Apart from the above, the paper discusses the relevance of implementing professionalization agenda in the framework of student secondary employment as well as renders practical recommendations for its enhancement. The study results offer a number of implications to develop further theoretical positions and accumulate empirical data to promote quality assurance in vocational education and training institutions.

Meta-Governance Framework to Guide the Establishment of Mass Collaborative Learning Communities

The application of mass collaboration in different areas of study and work has been increasing over the last few decades. For example, in the education context, this emerging paradigm has opened new opportunities for participatory learning, namely, “mass collaborative learning (MCL)”. The development of such an innovative and complementary method of learning, which can lead to the creation of knowledge-based communities, has helped to reap the benefits of diversity and inclusion in the creation and development of knowledge. In other words, MCL allows for enhanced connectivity among the people involved, providing them with the opportunity to practice learning collectively. Despite recent advances, this area still faces many challenges, such as a lack of common agreement about the main concepts, components, applicable structures, relationships among the participants, as well as applicable assessment systems. From this perspective, this study proposes a meta-governance framework that benefits from various other related ideas, models, and methods that together can better support the implementation, execution, and development of mass collaborative learning communities. The proposed framework was applied to two case-study projects in which vocational education and training respond to the needs of collaborative education–enterprise approaches. It was also further used in an illustration of the MCL community called the “community of cooks”. Results from these application cases are discussed.

On the Effect of Employer Offered Leave of Work on Participation in Continuing Vocational Education and Training – Investigating the Intention-Behavior Relation

The availability of time is a deciding factor for participation of adults in continuing vocational education and training (CVET). In view of the importance of time for participation, the present study investigates the impact of employer offered leave of work on employees’ participation behavior in CVET. Leave of work provides a specific timeframe for CVET by enabling the use of working time as learning time. The rationale of the intention-behavior relation as theorized by the theory of planned behavior provides the theoretical framework for the study. The theory allows the integration of individual and contextual factors (e.g., the work environment) in explaining individual behavior and the underpinning decision-making process. The theory conceptualizes time as an element of behavioral control that is required to act on an intention. Behavioral control is theorized to moderate the intention-behavior relation. Two modes of behavioral control are distinguished. We use employer offered leave of work as a proxy for actual behavioral control and the degree of perceived behavioral control regarding the availability of temporal resources to participate in CVET to investigate the theorized moderating role of behavior control on the intention-behavior relation. To test the hypotheses, two waves of panel data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) are used. Aiming at causal inferences, hybrid logit models are employed. We find that a participation intention is a significant predictor of CVET participation. However, the results provide no evidence regarding the theorized moderating role of actual behavioral control in terms of an employer offered leave of work on the intention-behavior relation. Furthermore, the results provide evidence that the degree of perceived behavioral control regarding the availability of temporal resources to participate in CVET does neither moderate the intention-behavior relation nor is a proxy for actual behavioral control. Finally, we discuss possible future developments of the theory of planned behavior by integrating action-theoretical assumptions from the value-expectancy theory.

Orchestrators of coordination: Towards a new role of the state in coordinated capitalism?

Liberalization poses significant challenges for the continued provision of collective goods within coordinated market economies (CME). Extant scholarship suggests two dominant sets of responses. Either CMEs continue to rely on employer coordination, but only for a privileged core, leading to dualization. Or, in cases where the state enjoys high capacity, the state instead compensates for liberalization but ends up crowding out employer coordination. In both cases, the result is decreasing employer coordination. We argue that in CMEs, the state may also play the role of “orchestrator” by supporting the revitalization of employer coordination. It does so through the deployment of ideational and institutional resources that mobilize employers’ associations on a voluntary basis. Applying our framework to a core area of coordinated capitalism, vocational education and training, we show that in both Germany and Switzerland, this indirect and soft form of state intervention was instrumental for turning around their crisis-stricken vocational training systems.

Examining Assessment Tools and Procedures for Work-Based Learning in Pandemic Times

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the continuity to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) training activities and assessment thereby affecting and/or threatening the completions dates for many learners. Several institutions must revisit their assessment methods and tools for work-based learning during such pandemics. This study investigated the innovative assessment methods adopted by private TVET institutions to assess work-based learning during the pandemic. A quantitative research design was used to gather data using online questionnaires. Online questionnaires were used to effect social distancing and getting instant feedback. Purposive sampling was used to select research participants amongst TVET lecturers and attachment coordinators in private TVET colleges. Descriptive statistics were used to present research results using quantitative analysis and descriptions for clarifications. Findings indicated that assessment of practical skills virtually remains a challenge, and most of the institutions kept on using their old ways of assessing.