The ‘recognition of prior learning’ in vocational education and training systems of lower and middle income countries: An analysis of the role of development cooperation in the diffusion of the concept

Markus Maurer

doi:10.1177/17454999211061244

Abstract

‘Recognition of prior learning’ (RPL) has developed into an important instrument to support the permeability of education and training systems. Based on an extensive review of documents, this article analyses the global diffusion of RPL in vocational education and training systems (VET), with a specific focus on its diffusion through development cooperation between multi- and bilateral donors and lower and middle income countries (LMIC). This article argues that RPL became a core component of development cooperation when VET came to be seen as a means to foster equitable access to employment and income for the poorest. At the same time, it shows that the model of RPL transferred to LMICs is derived from the specific relations between labour markets and education and training systems in donor countries, where VET qualifications are often critical to accessing positions in the labour market, which is often not the case in LMICs.

Highlights

When governments and authorities of specific countries design education and training policies, instruments or approaches to be used in their respective countries, they often employ models that have evolved elsewhere in the world
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been able to contribute to the global dissemination of RPL through another form of influence described by Jakobi (2009): technical assistance to multi- or bilateral donor agency projects. In some cases, such as the TVET Reform Project in Bangladesh, funded by the European Commission from 2007 onwards (Delegation of the European Commission to Bangladesh, 2006), this support to RPL did not consist of stand-alone measures for such schemes; rather, it was embedded in comprehensive reforms of vocational education and training systems (VET) systems, which were strongly oriented towards the global VET policy toolkit (McGrath, 2012) and focused in particular on the development of national qualifications frameworks (NQF)
RPL has become a component of the global VET policy toolkit

Summary

Introduction

When governments and authorities of specific countries design education and training policies, instruments or approaches to be used in their respective countries, they often employ models that have evolved elsewhere in the world. Global-level actors, that is, mainly international organisations, but potentially bilateral donors, are able to influence educational development in LMICs through four distinct types of activity: (a) setting standards (including informal ones), (b) contributing financial means, (c) engaging in coordinative work (e.g. by creating cross-country monitoring systems) and (d) providing technical assistance to partner countries (Jakobi, 2009).

Results

Conclusion