Achieving Peace and Development in Post - conflict sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through the Access and Participation of Girls and Women in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Abstract

This is a desk review-based paper intended to incite debate within education and related fields, regarding the stance that girls and women who participate in TVET are likely to increase their chances of contributing to peace and development in post-conflict societies. Peace and development are inextricably intertwined. TVET plays an important role in the development of any nation, so its role in peace building and conflict prevention in the community can hardly be contested. On this account, the paper argues in support of the ‘notion of educating for a culture of peace through refocusing technical and vocational education and training’ programmes for the sustainable economic development of SSA; and calls on TVET institutions to do a reality check on their programmes to ensure that they are capable of delivering for girls and women the skills they need to integrate themselves in the community, and make a difference. This is important because the TVET of girls and women is essential, not only for girls and women to attain gender equality (a laudable and achievable goal!); but beyond that, to become leaders of, and contributors to, peaceful change in their countries and local communities. It is hoped that at the end of it all, this paper would have succeeded in stoking a debate on this important but often underdiscussed subject – and in the process the TVET of girls and women would have been accorded its rightful place in policy discussions in the region, and by extension, other regions of the world. The TVET system envisaged in this paper is that which is well- designed, managed and funded. This is because a poorly- designed, managed and funded TVET system should not be expected to have the same impact on its graduates and their communities. The paper’s theoretical underpinnings are derived, to varying extents, from the Social Learning Theory, the Human Capital Theory, the Sustainable Development theory and the Capability Approach.