Vocational Education Policy Research Articles

Uncovering the Challenge of Vocational Education Policy

This study aims to describe the challenges faced by educational actors in developing vocational education mainly in the political perspective of vocational education. This research is a qualitative research. Data were collected using open interviews with 16 participants. Participants in this study came from the government, schools, industry, professional associations, media, the community, and non-governmental organizations. The results showed that the interest groups in vocational education faced four challenges in the development of vocational education. The challenges are in the form of bureaucratic challenges, management challenges, collaborative challenges, and trust challenges. This challenge arises because the development of vocational education is closely related to the allocation of resources including, human resources, budget, and facilities. The implications of this research can be used to improve communication between interest groups in the development of vocational education that can be used at the national and global levels.

Influence of learning and internship satisfaction on students\u2019 intentions to stay at their current jobs: survey of students participating in Taiwan\u2019s dual education system

We investigated the effectiveness of Taiwan’s dual education system, referred to as the dual system of vocational training policy (DSVTP) program. By surveying 722 randomly selected respondents participating in the DSVTP program, we examined the effects of students’ satisfaction with their learning and internship in the program on their intentions to stay at their current jobs. We employed structural equation modeling to analyze the associations among factors. Our empirical results revealed positive correlations between learning satisfaction, job involvement, dual system satisfaction, and intentions to stay at the current job. These empirical results also suggested that students participating DSVTP are largely satisfied with this program and would promote them to stay at current job, which in turn helps to alleviate youth unemployment. On the basis of the statistical analysis results, policy implications that could serve as a reference in future reforms of the DSVTP in Taiwan are also discussed.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING SYSTEMS IN THE LIGHT OF EU GUIDELINES

Continuous development of education and training programmes in the European Union is a key factor in enhancing cooperation at European level. Today, economic and social changes are taking place in the world, which is why vocational training is seen as a tool to prepare people for a changing world of work, improving employability and competitiveness. Vocational education and training must adapt to changes affecting the economy, society and the labour market. Vocational education and training (VET) policy has been a national, autonomous area of the Member States for decades, but the issue of VET has increasingly been given priority in the process of European economic unification. At the Lisbon Summit, the European Council recognised the important role of education as an integral part of economic and social policies, which is an important tool for increasing the European Union’s competitiveness. European cooperation in VET has been promoted by the three common European instruments created as a result of Copenhagen process: the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) and the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET), which are progressively integrated in their VET systems by the Member States. The aim of these instruments is to support recognition between European VET systems, to promote lifelong learning and mobility and to improve learning experiences. The aim of our study is to explore with a comparative study, to what extent and manner the V4 Member States (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) have integrated EQF, EQAVET and ECVET transparency instruments into their national vocational training systems and to what extent the transformations are in line with EU objectives.

Influence of Different Learning Environments in the Implementation of Technical Vocational Education and Training policy in Nigeria

Technical vocational education and training (TVET) are seen as an important tool in economic growth and poverty reduction in many developing countries. There is evidence that creating a work environment and duplicating the industries equipment in the TVET institutions is costly and pushed the budget high and cannot be afforded by the government. This lead to vocational education to be done in an academic setting, working on fictional tasks that are not in line with daily real work tasks. Although the influence of the learning environment on TVET policy implementation has been reported, little is known on the perspective of school leaders in the use of different learning environments. The study aims to understand the combination of different types of learning and learning environments influence the implementation of TVET policy. The study is based on a semi-structured qualitative interview with nine school leaders in TVET institutions in Nigeria. The study used thematic analysis to analyze the data and NVIVO qualitative data analysis software to organize the data. The paper and pencil coding method was also used for the analysis. The study finds out that combining different types of learning and learning environment may contribute to the effective implementation of TVET policy and increase the employability of TVET graduates. From the perspective of the school leaders combining different types of learning and learning environments will facilitate job-ready graduates. The results of the study should be used to guide the implementation of TVET policy and facilitate the combination of learning environments.

Vocational Education and Training for Young Offenders in Juvenile Approved Schools

Vocational education and training is an important component for rehabilitating young offenders in juvenile approved schools. It provides offenders with technical skills and employment opportunities that can reduce the risk of reoffending and increase successful social reintegration into society. This study explores the potential benefits of vocational education and training programs for young offenders. Qualitative interviews were carried out with 16 young offenders comprising both male and female participants from two juvenile approved schools in Malaysia. The findings identify four main benefits of vocational education for young offenders, including positive adjustment, rehabilitative effects, positive transition to society and improve self-esteem. Young offenders also identify these benefits in reducing reoffending and improving their chances of successful community reintegration. This study has implications on evaluation of vocational education programs and policy improvements in juvenile approved schools.

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Workforce Skill Development Policy and Strategy to Support 4th Industrial Revolution due to Disruptive Technology

Research papers on Technical Vocational Education and Training Workforce Skill Development Policy and Strategy to Support fourth industrial revolution due to Disruptive Technology aim to explore directions, trends, impacts, as well as policies for managing labor issues in the Disruptive Technologies era, studying the opinions of executives of businesses used or affected by Disruptive Technology, as well as obstacles, feedback, focusing on issues, concepts about Disruptive Technologies and vocational education concepts. Research methodology used in qualitative research and procedures for conducting studies. The study results are the impact of Disruptive Technology on Thai workers and technical vocational education and training (TVET) to develop a skill for the Thai workforce during disruptive technology, educational management to develop Thai people in the Thai era.4.0. Therefore, two focuses must be placed on: 1) increasing labor skills and 2) educating new workers under reality. In conclusion, the article outlines the approach of skill development to the labor force that must be advanced in the era of Disruptive Technology. It was briefly explained that realistic work means workers with flexible knowledge and skills adapting to advanced technologies. Therefore, for work to meet the required standards, TVET development requires a professional standardization process, namely information related to work knowledge. Creating the necessary skills and attributes requires operational standards. Procedures and scope of operation operational equipment prove performance and expertise in technical skills knowledge, competence, and performance results and policy recommendations on the government sector: Private Educational Institutions in managing labor issues in the Disruptive Technology era.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training Policy in Zimbabwean Secondary Schools: Teachers’ Views

Technical and Vocational Education and Training Policy in Zimbabwean Secondary Schools: Teachers’ Views

미국의 직업교육과 사회이동에 관한 종합적 고찰 - 직업교육훈련(Vocational Education Training, VET) 프로그램 효과와 정책 사례를 중심으로 -

미국의 직업교육과 사회이동에 관한 종합적 고찰 - 직업교육훈련(Vocational Education Training, VET) 프로그램 효과와 정책 사례를 중심으로 -

Effectiveness of inmates’ educational programs in Ilorin Remand Home, Nigeria

Investigating the effectiveness of inmates’ educational programs was the major focused of this research in Ilorin remand homes, Nigeria. Specifically inmates’ views on effectiveness of vocational and literacy educational program were investigated. This study was descriptive survey.108 inmates were sampled using simple random sampling technique. Two research questions were formulated and a researcher’ designed questionnaires containing10 items in two sections with 4-point rating scale was used for data collection while data collected were analyzed using mean scores and standard deviation. The result showed that most inmates positively acknowledged literacy education in recreational, guidance and counseling, religious and social sciences as highly effective and effective respectively and the result also established that most inmates acknowledged vocational education in fashion designing, laundry/dry-cleaning, catering/home management, metal fabrication and electrical maintenance work as highly effective and effective respectively. It was concluded that literacy and vocational education policy for the inmates should be vigorously pursued and implemented in Ilorin, Nigeria. In addition, government and private organization should invest in inmates’ literacy and vocational education to correct the erroneous impression that under play inmates’ education which leads to their stigmatization at the point of re-entry into the society.

Policy Documents of Nepali Technical and Vocational Education and Training: A Critical Discourse Analysis

This study critically examines the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) policy documents of Nepal, not only to understand the specific plans of the government agencies in designing, implementing and expanding TVET programmes but also to problematise discursive practices of TVET programmes in the existing socioeconomic and power hierarchy of Nepali society. More specifically, it aims at understanding the ineffectiveness of these training programmes concerning the target groups. This study makes use of Fairclough’s (1995) model of Critical Discourse Analysis of three inter-related dimensions of description, interpretation and explanation within the theoretical framework of capabilities approach (Sen, 2009). The findings indicate that the policy documents of Nepali TVET prioritise the development of semi-skilled human resources for the low-paid international labour market but ignore the conservation and development of indigenous knowledge systems of diverse ethnic communities of Nepal. The study initiates the discourse that integrating indigenous knowledge systems in TVET programmes provides a sustainable model of development.

VET Realignment and the Development of Technical Elites: Learning at Work in England

Context: An enhanced role for work-based learning is advocated increasingly widely across industrialised countries and by international Vocational Education and Training (VET) policies. However, this is framed differently in each country by long-term policy orientations that reflect VET’s relationship with wider economic and social formations. These national differences reflect path dependency but also distinctive responses to contemporary challenges such as globalisation. In England, recent reforms strengthening workplace learning are constrained by existing patterns of skill formation and may be shaped by further market liberalisation and divergence from social and economic policies in Europe. Approach: The study examined the relationship between greater emphasis on workplace learning in England and societal change, addressing the research question: how are early experiences of work in England, as part of young people’s full-time education programmes, positioning them for future employment? Case studies were organised around apparently distinctive placement types that had emerged from earlier studies. Using the constant comparative method, the team identified a series of categories to distinguish the way each type of work-based learning positioned students in a particular type of labour market transition.Findings: Evidence emerged of divergence in England’s "further education" system, across mainly male "technical" routes, young people on vocational courses preparing them for routine, low-skilled, precarious employment, and an area of greater uncertainty preparing young people for digital routes linked to the "new economy". Key dimensions of difference included study locations, discourses of occupational status, types of valued learning content, approaches to socialisation, sources of expertise and processes of credentialisation. In each case, learning at work served to position students for a particular type of labour market transition, which we characterise as technical elite formation, welfare VET and new economy precarity.Conclusion: Approaches to workplace learning in England already reflect social distinctions but entail the possibility of reinforcing these, supporting a more hierarchical pattern of labour market transition. Whilst the upper strata of VET shift their purpose to support the formation of new "technical elites", others face the possibility of further marginalisation. Such new inequalities could become central to a further fragmented society in a post-Brexit, post-COVID-19 Britain. Other European states facing challenges of globalisation and the transition to services are also likely to experience pressures for VET stratification, although they may seek less divisive solutions.

Vocational Training, Labor Market and Immigration Policy in Russia

In point of view of labour market the immigration has become the major factor in recent times. The main tasks of immigration policy: compensation of labour shortages in relation with demographic and aging population problems; to satisfy the long-term demand for labour in some business sectors; to ensure the labor supply of innovation-qualified investment processes; organizing of preparation of experts from requested profession; to limit the short-term unskilledlabor immigration; creating the necessary conditions and broaden the opportunities for immigration for business use.

Vocational Education and Training for Older Workers in Aged Countries: A Comparative Study of Korea, Spain, and the UK

This study compares Korean vocational educational and training (VET) policies targeting older workers with those of European countries that have been traditionally concerned about the socio-economic effect of ageing, and through this comparison to find ways to improve policies for older workers in Korea. The analysis was based on the application of the most similar systems design (MSSD), a method for exploring similarities and differences across cases. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for policy development based on the research findings and provides suggestions for improving VET opportunities for older workers in Korea.

Building a skilled workforce: Public discourses on vocational education in Thailand

Context: Thailand is now facing skilled labour shortages, which has prevented the country from achieving significant economic progress. This paper examines Thailand’s vocational education policy discourses from 1992 to 2014 and how such policies were discussed to build the country’s skilled labour force.Approach:This study utilised a qualitative approach, using documentation analysis as a key research method. We also used data triangulation and thematic analysis to categorise the public discourses. In order to examine the vocational education policy discourses in Thailand, secondary data such as the five NESD plans (7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th) and other government policy statements were investigated and triangulated, along with data from newspaper articles, other public documents, reports from international organisations, and academic journal articles.Findings: Based on the findings of the study, we identified three key policy discourses regarding vocational education in Thailand during 1992-2014: (1) increasing the vocational skilled workforce, (2) the minor role of private vocational providers, and (3) collaboration between vocational providers and industry.Conclusion: We argue that there are five key policy themes in building a vocational skilled workforce: (1) the dedication of the government in increasing the quantity of vocational skilled workforce, (2) encouraging collaboration between vocational colleges and industries, (3) fostering a greater role for private vocational providers, (4) promoting a positive reputation for vocational education, and (5) maintaining the continuity of policy implementation.

Building a skilled workforce: Public discourses on vocational education in Thailand

Context: Thailand is now facing skilled labour shortages, which has prevented the country from achieving significant economic progress. This paper examines Thailand’s vocational education policy discourses from 1992 to 2014 and how such policies were discussed to build the country’s skilled labour force.Approach:This study utilised a qualitative approach, using documentation analysis as a key research method. We also used data triangulation and thematic analysis to categorise the public discourses. In order to examine the vocational education policy discourses in Thailand, secondary data such as the five NESD plans (7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th) and other government policy statements were investigated and triangulated, along with data from newspaper articles, other public documents, reports from international organisations, and academic journal articles.Findings: Based on the findings of the study, we identified three key policy discourses regarding vocational education in Thailand during 1992-2014: (1) increasing the vocational skilled workforce, (2) the minor role of private vocational providers, and (3) collaboration between vocational providers and industry.Conclusion: We argue that there are five key policy themes in building a vocational skilled workforce: (1) the dedication of the government in increasing the quantity of vocational skilled workforce, (2) encouraging collaboration between vocational colleges and industries, (3) fostering a greater role for private vocational providers, (4) promoting a positive reputation for vocational education, and (5) maintaining the continuity of policy implementation.

Employers placing orders and students as commodities: Swedish post-secondary vocational education and training policy

ABSTRACT Established in 2009, Swedish Higher Vocational Education (HVE) gives employers an opportunity to initiate state-funded but locally conceptualised and managed training programmes. This article investigates the system, the ideas used in policy to mandate this arrangement of vocational education and training (VET) and the institutional relations of power and control between stakeholders that it represents. Fourteen Swedish educational policy documents relating to post-secondary VET and the establishment of HVE were analysed. The findings show that policy has placed much of the power and control over HVE with employers and that both public and private education providers are dependent on employers. The system does not create any institutional relations between trade unions and HVE. Nor does it encourage employers to collaborate more comprehensively than locally regarding single programmes, to conceptualise them and their curricula. Hence, the qualifications and positions of HVE graduates in enterprises, unlike those of graduates from initial VET in upper secondary education, are not negotiated by the stakeholders in the conventional Swedish model, where national employers’ organisations and trade unions are central actors. The findings also reveal that the HVE students, in policy documents, are construed as input material that, through training, are turned into products with exchange value – into commodities.

La certificazione delle competenze come strumento di welfare attivo e inclusivo

This contribution aims to provide a snapshot of the ongoing process of structuring the National System of Competences Certification. Through a multiple case study on Regional Administrations with consolidated experience, together with the con-sultation of key witnesses and through the analysis of reports, the research has the general objective to reflect on the ability of the Regional System of Certification of Competences, to accomplish virtuous pathways of active and inclusive welfare. The reconstruction of structuring regional pathways and the expected impact of this governance system on vocational training and active labor market policies trigger a first level of reflection on a process still in progress. This process concerns, on the one hand, the critical analysis of the impacts of social investment policies and, on the other, almost 20 years after Law 3/2001, the debate on the regional fragmentation of Italian welfare.

THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING POLICY IN THE BRAZILIAN FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE BODY: THE PATH OF CORPORATE EDUCATION IN THE MODERNIZATION NARRATIVE OF THE PARLIAMENT

After the Brazilian redemocratization in 1986, the legislative institutions began a changing process derived from the assimilation of new constitutional competencies and the increasing pressure of interest groups in the development of a broad scope of public policies. The need to prepare a new legislative bureaucracy to deal with a panoply of new themes led to the creation of training centers. They began to be consolidated in broader models of corporate education, such as the Training Center from the Chamber of Deputies (CEFOR) and the Brazilian Legislative Institute (ILB) from the Federal Senate. These initial models influenced the development and diffusion of professional training policies to other legislative organizations. This paper presents an analysis of the corporate education trajectory in the National Congress to explore ‘how have professional training policies been developed in the Federal Legislative Branch?’Institutional documents, interviews, and political speeches were used as data sources to analyze the two organizations paths. As its outcome, the paper synthesizes some historical elements of the vocational training policy in both legislative organizations. In short, it contributes to encourage a research agenda in the cross area of public administration and corporate education, in the peculiar context of the Legislative Branch.

Separatist biopolitics: the dual discourse of the vocational education policy in Israel

ABSTRACTThis article offers a critical discursive analysis of the Israeli Ministry of Education’s renewed interest in vocational education. This analysis reveals three discursive practices for promoting vocational education among key participants in the field: the rhetorical transition from ‘vocational education’ to ‘technological education’; the disregard for the tracking involved in vocational education; the government’s refusal to collect or publish statistics on the ethnic and class composition of vocational schools; and a dual discourse that refers to vocational education students as ‘at-risk youth’ whose needs are minimal, to guarantee them a ‘routine’ life (‘being a person’) based on the morality of low expectations. Technological education, is described as populated by students who are the elite of excellence, promising them a rich life, an open future, and the acquisition of ‘tomorrow’s professions.’ Against this background, we proffer the term ‘separatist biopolitics’ to characterise the contemporary vocational education policy in Israel. Separatist biopolitics, offering divergent positive results (‘the good life’) to disadvantaged students (vocational education students) and elitist students (technological education students), is a tool for population management. The concept of separatist biopolitics also proposes adopting a critical reading of the vocational education policy to promote the consideration of alternative educational solutions.

Vocational training for rural workers in the context of economic restructuring in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam

Labor force development is one of the strategic solutions in the process of shifting the agricultural and rural economy to commodity production in accordance with economic restructuring. The article aims at discussing the trend of economic restructuring in Ha Tinh province in recent years, surveying vocational training needs of rural workers and vocational training results in Ha Tinh province in the context of economic restructuring. The research utilizes a binary logit model for primary data collected in a sample of 334 working-age people in Ha Tinh province to examine the vocational training needs of rural laborers in Ha Tinh. It is found that economic restructuring and state policies have a significant effect on the vocational training needs of rural workers. In addition, the change in vocational training pattern is relatively in line with the change in economic restructuring. The study also gives some recommendations for rural vocational training policy in Ha Tinh province.