Transforming TVET Systems with the CPSC in the Asia and Pacific Region

Abstract

The Asia and Pacific Region extends from Mongolia in the north to New Zealand in the south and from the Cook Islands in the east to Iran in the west. It embraces the world’s largest ocean, the Pacific (165 million square km.), as well as its third largest ocean, the Indian (73 million square km.) and a range of important seas. It contains three of the largest and most populous countries in the world (China, India and Indonesia), several mountainous and land-locked States (such as Bhutan and Nepal), and twenty-two small archipelagic States, territories and protectorates. With only 23% of the world’s total land area, the region is home to about 58% of its population. Twenty-four of the Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) member countries in the region are situated in the following geographical areas: North-East Asia (Japan, Mongolia and the Republic of Korea); South-East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam); South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka); and the Pacific (Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Palau and Papua New Guinea). These countries are diverse in terms of socio-economic status and this has significant implications for the development of technical and vocational education systems. Sustainable human resource development (HRD) through technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is an ambition for every country in the world. But rapid population growth and intensification in the exploitation of natural resources is making the Earth more fragile environmentally—and we are now aware that its capacity is not unlimited. This sustainable HRD concept was realized during the 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in which heads of State and government adopted Agenda 21 and stressed the link between the sustainable use of natural resources and human development. The concept of sustainable development emphasized that economic development should enable present generations to meet the present needs without depriving the following and future generations of the same opportunities. In order to put Agenda 21 into practice, a special programme known as Capacity 21 was launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to aid countries in the development and implementation of capacity-building programmes.