Policy development for skills and TVET

The enabling conditions for the legal enforcement of the right to education

Many governments have struggled to categorize and manage TVET and skills development. Issues that cut across traditional ministerial areas of responsibility, and that rely on interaction and cooperation with different social partners, are difficult for governments to tackle.[1]

TVET and skills development act as a bridge between the world of education and training and the world of work and lifelong learning. TVET cuts across every sector of the economy, and relies on effective dialogue and interaction between education and training providers, labour market stakeholders including employers, worker representatives, and other stakeholders. TVET contributes towards a wide range of socio-economic goals, including full employment, increased productivity and competitiveness, social cohesion, equity and sustainability.[2]

Services such as basic education and primary health care are accepted to be ‘public good’ which governments are obliged to deliver directly due to the positive externalities associated with provision, but this does not apply to TVET and skills development. Government support for TVET, in particular in-service training, is less clear-cut because of the high economic returns to both employers and workers from investing in training.[1]

For resource-constrained ministries of education struggling to finance the growing costs of their basic education systems, it is easy to deflect responsibility and state that TVET and skills development are primarily the concern of employers.

Governments have experienced difficulty in formulating, planning, managing, implementing and evaluating effective TVET and skills development policies, strategies and plans. To overcome these difficulties several governments across the world have given thought to the inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms and ‘institutional architecture’ required to successfully plan, manage, monitor and evaluate TVET and skills development.[1]

Trends have emerged in the implementation of TVET and skills development worldwide. From the late 1980s onwards a number of governments began to emphasise on the role of education in preparing learners effectively for the world of work. This school of thought, termed ‘new vocationalism’, placed the skills needs of industry at the centre of discussions on the purpose of public education. TVET and skills development were viewed as an important component in promoting economic growth in general and addressing youth unemployment in particular.[1][3]

General education systems had not been effective in developing the skills that many young people needed to secure employment in industry. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the introduction and expansion of new vocational curricula and courses, often developed in collaboration with industry, and an increase in the variety of work-based learning routes on offer to young people.[1]

Creating TVET and skills development system includes six intervention areas that include:[1]

1. Reforms to TVET governance;
2. Development of a ‘national training’ system;
3. Development of national and regional qualifications frameworks;
4. Introduction of new quality assurance mechanisms;
5. Diversification of funding modalities;
6. Managed autonomy for public training providers and an expansion of private training provision.

Developing and implementing an effective economic development and growth strategy requires interaction and coordination across policy domains. These domains play a role in shaping national skills systems. The four main functions that governments oversee for TVET and skills development include:[1]

• Policy development and design;
• Planning, management and delivery, monitoring and evaluation;
• Finance and funding;
• Quality assurance, standard setting, curriculum development and assessment.

In 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was adopted to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as an agenda for intergovernmental action. The SDGs is a set of 17 goals and 169 targets. The SDGs emphasize that work should contribute to increased income, productivity and competitiveness as well as address social and environmental issues. The renewed focus on work opens up the possibility of greater international focus on training and preparation for employment, and an enhanced role for TVET linked to the Sustainable Development Agenda.[1]

The specific education goal, SDG4, is to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’ SDG4 has ten specific targets, among which skills and lifelong learning have an important role.[1] There are many areas where TVET and skills development has a role to play if the SDGs are to be achieved. These include poverty reduction, agricultural productivity, clean energy, sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth with full and productive employment and decent work for all, the promotion of inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation.[1]

The World Education Forum's Framework for Action Education 2030 (the Incheon Declaration, WEF 2015) notes the importance of adopting a ‘whole-government’ approach to achieving the SDG education targets and the necessity of integrating education into wider socio-economic development frameworks. This entails improved coordination and collaboration at both national and regional levels.[1]

• TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training)
• Vocational education
• Lifelong learning

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