Tuesday, 25 December 2012

TVET GOVERNANCE ISSUE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES



TVET GOVERNANCE ISSUE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Nurihah Bte Mohamad Saleh
MP 111227
MPK 2053: Current Issue in TVE


1.0          1.0       INTRODUCTION

Therefore, in order to ensure the citizen receives a quality of TVET and they will get a place in the labor market, TVET governance plays a vital role in managing the TVET systems. According to UNESCO (2010), governance is concerned with how the funding, provision, ownership and regulation of TVET systems are coordinated, which actors are involved, and what are their respective roles and responsibilities, and level of formal competence either at the local, regional, national or supranational level. Whilst in many countries government continues to play the most significant role in coordinating TVET, the distribution of these responsibilities has been changing in response to calls for greater efficiency and effectiveness, particularly to engage employers.
TVET systems may differ from country to country and within countries. TVET may be delivered at different levels for different target groups and age cohorts in different types of institutions, including technical and vocational schools neither public nor private and as well as by NGOS, in enterprises, and apprenticeship training centers through formal, informal and non formal learning arrangements. However, UNESCO (2012) mentioned that in some countries TVET continues to be fragmentation and a low level of participation of relevant stakeholders. While in some cases TVET is owing to the uncoordinated provision and rigidity of centralized bureaucracies.

2.0              RESPONSIBILITIES FOR TVET

From the survey done by UNESCO (2006), in developing countries, there are become obvious that a broad range of national responsibilities for TVET at the national ministerial level. The responsibilities of the TVET governance are describes as follows:

2.1            Scattered Responsibilities
Responsibility is scattered across a range of ministries. Examples:
a.         Burkina Faso
Active cooperation of all partners in TVET, which would include a range of Ministries (Teaching Secondary and Higher Scientific Research, Employment, Labour and Social Security, Commerce, Enterprise Promotion and Handicrafts, Economics and Finance, other ministries - Health, Agriculture).
b.         Burundi
Six ministries are dealing with TVET (Education; Crafts; Trades Education and Adult Literacy; Public Health; Youth, Sports and Culture; Social Action and Advancement of Women) with each of them addressing particular aspects or branches of TVET.
c.          Democratic Republic of the Congo
Eight ministries organize TVET (Primary, Secondary and Vocational Education, University and Higher Education, Social Affairs, Health, Youth and Sports, Land Affairs, Labour and Social Welfare, Finance), indicating that each department has its autonomy in the development of training programs and management training and training institutions under its supervision.
d.         Ghana
At least seven ministries conduct TVET within their own mandates (Education; Youth and Sports; Manpower Development and Employment; Agriculture; Trade and Industry; Environment; Science and Technology; Tourism; Roads and Transports, others). It is acknowledged that there is a lack of coordination.
e.          Kenya
Co-ordination of TVET is shared among thirteen ministries.
f.          Seychelles
At national level the responsibilities of TVET are shared between the ministries of Education and Youth, Administration and Manpower Development, Social Affairs and Employment, Environment and Natural Resources, Health and Local Government Culture and Sport. All theses ministries have some control on a number of issues pertaining to TVET.

2.2       Core Responsibilities

            Core responsibility of TVET, although they do not always cover the entire scope. Examples:
a.       Senegal
The Technical Education and Training is an area of education, even if there are still some training structures under the supervision of other ministries. In the organization of the State I'ETFP management is entrusted to a Minister Delegate to the Minister of Education. Several TVET institutions beyond the tutelage of such directions and found scattered in several other departments.
b.       Swaziland
The Ministry of Education is responsible for training providers whilst the Ministry of Enterprise and Employment is responsible for ensuring that the training meets industrial development. The Ministry of Home Affairs provides training to persons with disabilities.

2.3       Coordinated Approach
           
Unified approach to responsibilities for TVET at the government level. Examples:
a.      Madagascar
The national agency established to coordinate I'EFTP in Madagascar is the National Ministry of Education and Scientific Research through the Department of Vocational and Technical Training.

2.4       Grouping Responsibilities

            Responsibility for TVET is grouped according to different criteria, with separate responsibilities for each of them. Examples:

a.      Botswana
College based TVET training is under the Ministry of Education; industry based TVET is under the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs coordinated through the Botswana Training Authority (BOTA).

b.      Mali
TVET in Mali is divided between the Technical and Vocational Education and initial
vocational skills training. Mali has two national Coordination of TVET
:
1.      The National Directorate of Technical and Vocational Education responsible for Initial Vocational Training.
2.      The National Vocational Training support continuing professional.

c.     Nigeria
TVET in Nigeria comprises three types and levels of education in technology which are being coordinated by Agencies as follows:
1.       Pre-vocational Education in secondary schools coordinated by the States and Federal Ministries of Education.
2.      Vocational Education in Technical Colleges coordinated by the States and Federal Ministries of Education.
3.      Technical Education in Polytechnics/ Monotechnics coordinated by the National Board for Technical Education soon to be transformed to National Commission for Polytechnics.

d.      Rwanda
TVET is shared between two Ministries:
1.      The Technical and Vocational Education at Secondary and Higher Education under the Ministry of Education.
2.      Vocational Training young people do not have access to Secondary Education under the Ministry of Public Service, Vocational Training, Trades and Labour.

e.       Sierra Leone
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology remains the main body responsible for TVET matters. The Departments of Education, Labour, Trade and Industry shall (through the NCTVE) provide linkages for those learning on the job to upgrade their skills through short courses and provide opportunities for work placements which will enhance the practical experiences of trainees.

f.       Togo
Independence of Togo since 1960, technical education and vocational training were precarious and could be summarized in a direction integrated within the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research. In 13 September 1984, the birth of the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training, type of education had long depended on the Ministry of Education and Research, which made ​​him much more theoretical than practical.

g.      Uganda
As part of the restructuring process, government transferred all vocational training institutions that used to be run individually by different Ministries to the Ministry of Education and Sports. These vocational institutions were transferred from Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Labor and industry among others. A department was then established in the Ministry of Education to coordinate vocational education and training centrally.

h.      Zimbabwe
The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education through the Department of Technical and Vocational Education co-ordinates TVET programmes. An additional network of Vocational Training Centres is run by the Ministry of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation caters for the rural population.


3.0           CURRENT CHALLENGES AND ISSUES

According to UNESCO (2006), the involvement of a large number of ministries and agencies as such should not be interpreted as an indicator for unsatisfactory governance of TVET. On the contrary, it might well be an indicator for a broad variety of opportunities for vocational learning within a given country, as opposed to a rigid monolithic TVET system with a limited spectrum of specializations and delivery patterns. The crucial issue for governance of TVET seems to be the availability of adequate structures and frameworks for information, communication, collaboration and coordination among these ministries and agencies. To that end, some countries have already established structures such as national training boards or agencies; others are in the process of addressing the issue. Furthermore, the existence of national frameworks for interaction, cooperation and coordination can be seen as an indicator for a political intention to ensure consistency of the education and training system. However, their mere existence as such does not guarantee the effectiveness of their operation.
In addition, according to UNESCO (2012), four indicators were involved in the conceptual framework of governance system which is finance, quality, access and participation and also TVET relevance. All these four indicators are become most important as it was a key characteristic of generating the TVET system. However, governance structure is largely depend on institutional arrangements and the respective roles of key stakeholders which this situation is also contribute to the issue of how they manage these four indicators within available resources. A barrier that hinder some of the subgroup like women, dropout, and marginalized people to access and participate in TVET area should cater by the policy maker so that it will decrease the number of unemployment while at the same time increase the economy of the countries. TVET institutions and schools should fully equip with the necessary facilities and equipment that required for the programme offered. The trainers or teachers also need to be well prepared and expertise in the subjects they teach. In the aspect of funding, it is require describing precisely the various financing schemes for the different types of TVET programmes.


4.0          DISCUSSION

From a few examples of TVET responsibilities in developing countries, it clearly showed that in TVET system, governance plays a vital role in managing the TVET system. The pattern of how the governance system works is also varies from country to country. Apart from the involvement of governmental ministries and agencies in such frameworks, there is also a need to interact with non-governmental stakeholders, such as private training providers, employers, and the workforce and their respective organizations and representatives. Such interaction is an integral element in some countries, whereas little evidence of it has been identified for other countries. TVET and skills development should not be considered as independent and isolated from the other parts of the education system. Articulation between general education and TVET or skills development is a prerequisite for the learner to move both horizontally and vertically within the education and training system in the course of learning and working throughout life. National qualifications frameworks that currently emerge in a number of countries are a tangible response to this need. Further to this, this is also required to identify a number of policy approaches which aim to improve governance. These include:
a.          Making TVET part of a strategy.
b.         Engaging stakeholders in active partnerships.
c.          Deciding whether to decentralize, and how.
d.         Reviewing and reforming qualifications.
e.          Developing quality assurance processes.
f.          Achieving an improved evidence base for policy development.
g.         Linking policy frameworks and implementation strategies in order to realize reform.


5.0          CONCLUSION

Governance plays an important role in managing the TVET system.  They must be committed to people-centered, sustainable development and the building of a competitive economy. In most of the 25 countries under consideration, governmental responsibilities are scattered across a number of ministries and governmental agencies which in some cases, ten and more ministries are involved. However, the issues related to four indicators were involved in this conceptual framework which is finance, quality, access and participation and also TVET relevance. All these four indicators are become most important as it was a key characteristic of generating the TVET system. Therefore, to prepare vocational technical administrators and managers should attempt to cultivate in individuals key attributes and characteristics that can predispose successful leadership performance. The available of leadership development programs and the possibility of being able to acquire certain leadership behaviours and enhance and use certain leadership attributes holds great promise for those participating in and leading vocational educational programs, reform efforts, and the change process in the country.

REFERENCE

1.      Hans. K. (2006). Governance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training
Findings from the UNESCO TVET Survey 2004. 4th SADC Annual TVET Conference
Swakopmund, Namibia.
2.      UNESCO. (2010). Guideline for Policy TVET Review.
3.      UNESCO. (2011). Participation in Formal TVET Worldwide: An Initial Statistical Study. UNESCO-UNEVOC. German.
4.      UNESCO. (2012). Transforming Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Building Skills for Works and Life. Paris.
5.      UNESCO-UNEVOC. (2011). Women and TVET. Report of the UNESCO-UNEVOC Online Conference.
6.      Working Group Indicator (WGI). (2012). Proposed Indicators for Assessing Technical and Vocational Education and Training.


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