A bottom-up approach to improve women’s access to technical and vocational education and training in India: Examining a non-formal education upskilling programme

Vocational and business training to improve women's labour market outcomes in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a systematic review

Trained and technically equipped human resources are the nations’ assets and an essential requirement for sustainable national development. The skilled labor force required for the industrial revolution can never be undermined while it can be used as a powerful weapon for poverty reduction. Women presenting almost half of the world population can be economically empowered through vocational and technical training and the fifth sustainable development goal “achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls with disabilities” can be achieved through this training. Different vocational and technical training programs have been proven to produce technically skilled human resources in different developing countries. However, such programs also have the limitations of accommodating a high percent of trainees in jobs or self-employment. The study aimed to sort out the determinants of these training programs’ low success rates in Sindh province of Pakistan. A total of 128 surveys were filled from randomly selected women who have completed their trainings in the last two years. Data were analyzed through cross-tabulation analysis on SPSS and AMOS. It is used to establish the relationship between training trades and employability, age group and employability and income group of the beneficiaries’ households, and their employability after completing the different technical and vocational training pieces. Results showed that around 35% of the selected women were ever employed after getting the training while significant relationships among the variables also resulted. It has been proven that the importance of technical and vocational training programs cannot be falsified. However, proper selection criteria must be followed, and only severe and needy beneficiaries should be selected through proper assessment. Need assessments for the training programs should be carried out while efforts for achieving employment as an outcome of such training programs are mandatory.

Purpose: To explore barriers and pathways to the inclusion of persons with mental and intellectual disabilities in technical and vocational education and training programmes in four East African countries, in order to pave the way to greater inclusion.Materials and methods: An explorative, qualitative study including 10 in-depth interviews and a group discussion was conducted with coordinators of different programmes in four East African countries. Two independent researchers coded the interviews inductively using Atlas.ti. The underlying framework used is the culture, structure, and practice model.Results: Barriers and pathways to inclusion were found in the three interrelated components of the model. They are mutually reinforcing and are thus not independent of one another. Barriers regarding culture include negative attitudes towards persons with mental illnesses, structural barriers relate to exclusion from primary school, rigid curricula and untrained teachers and unclear policies. Culture and structure hence severely hinder a practice of including persons with mental disabilities in technical and vocational education and training programmes. Pathways suggested are aiming for a clearer policy, more flexible curricula, improved teacher training and more inclusive attitudes.Conclusions: In order to overcome the identified complex barriers, systemic changes are necessary. Suggested pathways for programme coordinators serve as a starting point.Implications for rehabilitationClear and up-to-date information on mental disability is required to engender societal participation; especially that of stakeholders in technical and vocational education and training programmes.Affirmative action and policy implementations of national and international human rights legislations are required to address the challenges of enrolment in technical and vocational education and training programmes.Disability organisations and government should adopt a more open and strengths-based attitude, tailor-made curricula, specific teacher training as well as clearer policies to ensure better inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in technical and vocational education and training programmes.

The major thrust of technical and vocational education (TVE) worldwide is to address issues of youth unemployment, poverty and international competitiveness in skills development towards current and projected opportunities and challenges. The paper posits that despite the evidence of numerous reforms in vocational and technical education programs over the years, they still remain greatly detested by students and parents in Nigeria as evidenced in low enrolment when compared with sciences, engineering, banking and finance, and medicine just to mention but a few. This may be because of lack of understanding of the importance, scope and content of the program or lack of occupational information. Some wrongly view technical and vocational education programs as education for the handicapped or education for those who cannot cope with the sciences and social sciences. This paper therefore, examines the factors responsible for low enrolment into technical and vocational education programs, its implications for Nigeria and suggests how career education and effective occupational information service can help to stem this trend. It is recommended that career education should be used to create the necessary career awareness and occupation information made readily to students to enable them make informed career choices.

Technical and vocational education and training programs as a form of peace education are examined in this paper. It explores the notion of educating for a culture of peace through refocusing technical and vocational education and training programs on sustainable community development in the Solomon Islands. It further highlights the policy and practice mechanisms that contribute to advancing technical and vocational education and training as a peace education initiative. As a model of the applicability of the program as a form of peace education, the discussion describes a technical and vocational education and training centre in the Solomon Islands that has engaged in post-conflict livelihood projects – bringing about healing and restoration and creating the culture of peace. This is a practical and comprehensive model to peace education that extends beyond the centre and embraces the culture of peace in the community as a whole. The implications point to technical and vocational education and training as a means to achieve co-existence. Technical and vocational education and training as a form of peace education is capable of training people for a productive livelihood, creating a sense of national identity and unity, rehabilitating former militants and moving training programs outside the walls of the institutions. As a result, the pedagogy of technical and vocational education and training as a form of peace education is largely based on learning by doing which incorporates a number of peace activities.

This research work examined the Parental and Learner Factors Affecting Teaching of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Programmes in Tertiary Institutions. TVET is an education that gives individuals the skills to live, learn and work as a productive citizen in a global society. The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The population of the study is 589 which comprised all the TVET lecturers from the thirteen colleges of education in North-west, Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the two technical colleges of education from the thirteen colleges of education. 161 TVET lecturers from the two colleges of education selected, participated in the study. A questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. The findings revealed that poor attitudes of parents and low Interest of the learner to learn TVET with mean score of 3.4 and 3.7 respectively are key factors affecting teaching of TVET programmes in Tertiary Institutions. It was concluded that students’ interest need to be sustained in vocational technical subjects. The study recommended that successful entrepreneurs in all areas of technical and vocational education should be invited to give career-talks and serve as role models to create awareness to students.

Unemployment has been a long-standing problem in many countries, including the Philippines, and the recent pandemic even worsened the economic conditions of Filipinos with a large part of the population losing their jobs. One way to create more platforms that will enable the employability of the population is through the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) program, whose goal is to produce middle- and high-skilled graduates ready to take on the demands of the rapidly changing economy. With the current gender gap in terms of employment, this study focuses on the employment status of female graduates of TVET and the possible factors that influence the employment of Filipino female TVET graduates were determined. The survey data collected by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in 2018 for their employability study of 2017 women TVET graduates was utilized in this study. Binary Firth logistic regression models were fitted on subpopulations of TVET female graduates who were employed before and after training. Results have shown a significant increase in the proportion of employed women after graduation, which was indicated in the estimates before and after the training. Among the unemployed Filipino female before the training, more than half of them (52%) were employed after the training. Age, education, region, and reasons for taking up a program showed to be determinants of the employability of female TVET graduates. The factors that hinder women from entering employment despite their TVET training is the primacy of their household and family duties. Their choice or nature of programs shows that women take stereotypical roles associated with women, an issue that is still present today because of prevailing traditional gender norms. With the huge decline in economic activities brought by the pandemic, the results of this study will be particularly important in creating more and better employment opportunities for Filipino women.

Modernity and technological developments have necessitated the need to expose opportunities in e-learning for effective technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programme. The opinion of the teachers regarding availability of these e-learning opportunities raises concern in teaching circles. It could be that teachers appear not worried about the availability of these opportunities. Against this background, it becomes necessary to determine the opinion of teachers on the availability of e-learning opportunities for effective TVET programme in tertiary institutions in South east Nigeria. To achieve this, three research questions and one null hypothesis were raised. The study adopted a descriptive research survey using a sample of 98 TVET lecturers from Enugu State South. Instrument for data collection was validated by three experts and reliability established using Cronbach alpha statistics which yielded a coefficient index value of 0.71 and was adjudged as high enough. It was found out that in the teachers’ opinion, e-learning opportunities for effective TVET programme were not available, and that this opinion was not dependent on experience. It was further recommended that teachers be sent on capacity building programmes to get acquainted with the skills to exploit the availability of e-learning opportunities in higher institutions. Key words: E-learning, availability, opportunities.

This systematic literature review identifies women's leadership empowerment through various Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes. Women in leadership positions offer numerous advantages and play a crucial role in achieving gender equality and fostering a more inclusive and prosperous society. 20 articles based on qualitative and quantitative research from prominent research platforms such as Scopus, Directory of Open Access Journal (DOAJ), and Google Scholar were analysed using PRISMA guidelines. The review determines nine training programme domains and their impact on the development of women's leadership, such as Change Management, Coaching and Mentoring, Conflict Resolution, Communication Skills, Gender Equality, Inspiring workers, LeadingInnovation, Problem-solving, and Project Management. The findings reveal the significance of implementing and expanding specialised TVET programmes to ensure women's active participation and leadership in various sectors. This study highlights the transformative potential of TVET in empowering women and calls for further research and policy development in this field.

PROTOCOL: Post‐basic Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Interventions to Improve Employability and Employment of TVET Graduates in Low‐ and Middle‐income Countries

The skill emphasis in the implementation of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes demands that conscious and concerted effort are made to put in place strategies that would guarantee hand – on learning experiences. Basically, a sure way of realizing these critical objectives is by the instrument of work – based learning (WBL) which implies the establishment of a synergistic relationship between TVET institution, business and industry as well as community – based resources inventory. This study has attempted to appraise the extent to which this synergy has worked in the Nigeria TVET system, using the seven (7) Federal Colleges of Education (Technical) in the South-Eastern geo-political zone of the country as study area. A total of 200 TVET instructors served as study sample while a structured questionnaire was used in generating data relevant to the study. Data analysis was based on the statistical tools of frequency, mean and percentage. Findings indicated among other things that, all emphasis so far is on the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) leaving other avenues or strategies almost unexploited. Such other strategies identified by the study included: cooperative work experience Programme, job shadowing, clinical work experience, youth apprenticeship programme, school-based enterprises, internships, to list a few. Factors responsible for this anomalous situation were indicated to include poor policy frame-work, curricular defects, and inexperience on the part of administrators of TVET programmes. Recommended important strategies emphasized awareness creation through government-industry forum, curriculum restructuring and regular retraining of TVET instructors and teacher -trainers. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n5p137

There has been a substantial convergence in the educational systems of many countries.' Starting with different educational backgrounds, political systems, and economies, both advanced and developing countries have developed similar educational ideologies, institutions, and curricula. One link among some common developments is vocationalism-the orientation of education around preparation for labor markets. In both advanced countries and LDCs, there has been a tendency to consider specific skill training, especially secondary-level vocational education, to be the principal manifestation of vocationalism. This conception is too narrow: every level of schooling, including the university, has become suffused with vocational goals, differentiated along vocational lines, and judged by vocational criteria. To understand the power of vocationalism, it is important to examine the full range of its consequences. In the first part of this article I will discuss different manifestations of vocationalism-understood as specific skill training-in both advanced countries and LDCs. The second section examines some larger consequences of vocationalism, especially its role in educational inflation and in defining the social roles of education. A finding common to many countries is that, despite claims of economic "relevance," vocationalized approaches prove to have little economic justification, fail to resolve the problems that they are designed to address, and generate new problems for education systems. The final section hypothesizes why, given these discouraging findings, vocational solutions to educational and economic problems continue to surface.

Purpose – This paper provides an overview on the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) program components/mechanisms and their overall effect on learning outcomes in a developing country context. Design/methodology/approach – Using secondary data, this descriptive case study integrates the realistic evaluation framework of Pawson and Tilley (1997) with Total Quality Management (TQM) frameworks. Findings – Ethiopia ' s TVET system adopts/adapts international best practices. Following the implementation of the 2008 TVET strategy, the proportion of formal TVET graduates who were recognized as competent by the assessment and certification system increased from 17.42 percent in 2009/2010 to 40.23 percent in 2011/2012. Nevertheless, there is regional variation. Research limitations/implications – Outcome-based TVET reforms that are based on TQM frameworks could improve learning outcome achievements in developing countries by enhancing awareness, coordination, integration, flexibility, participation, empowerment, accountability and a quality culture. Nevertheless, this research is limited by lack of longitudinal data on competency test results. There is also a need for further investigation into the practice of TQM and the sources of differences in internal effectiveness across TVET institutions. Practical implications – Our description of the Ethiopian reform experience, which is based on international best experience, could better inform policy makers and practitioners in TVET elsewhere in Africa. Originality/value – A realistic evaluation of TVET programs, the articulation of the mechanisms, especially based on TQM, that affect TVET effectiveness would add some insight into the literature. The evidence we have provided from the Ethiopian case is also fresh.

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is widely recognized as a vital driving force for the socio-economic growth and technological development of nations. In achieving the goals and objectives of TVET in Nigeria, the quality of the programme needs to be improved and sustained. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the challenges and improvement strategies of attaining quality TVET programmes in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Four research questions were raised to guide the study and four null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using z-test statistics. The survey research design was used and a total 160 registered Nigerian Vocational Association (NVA) members participated in the study. The instrument of data collection was a questionnaire (CSQTVETQ) and data were collected by the researchers. The study revealed the following factors as challenges of attaining quality TVET programmes in Nigeria tertiary institutions: lack of required TVET facilities, poor funding of TVET programmes; poor teaching methods employed by teachers; and poor assessment of TVET students’ competency. Also, the study showed that adequate funding; training and retraining of TVET teachers; provision of required TVET facilities; adequate internal and external supervision; and public private partnership are improvement strategies for quality TVET programmes in Nigeria. Thus, it was recommended that the government, stakeholders, policy makers and TVET providers in Nigeria should focus on TVET quality assurance best practices that have worked in countries around the world.

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