ODHIAMBO: Explore new thinking to reap from TVET

In the recent selection for colleges and universities, among the 2019 KCSE candidates who scored C-plus and above, hence qualifying to enroll for university degrees, 2,632 chose to join TVETs for technical diploma courses.

This is laudable. In developing countries, TVET plays two major roles in the national sustainable development. One, to provide training opportunities and career advancement avenues for the increased school leavers and, two, to provide skilled manpower at all levels. The skills developed should lead to self-reliance in the absence of salaried employment and enhance industrialisation.

The “United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030” identifies TVET as a key action area in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of education and that of decent work and economic growth. In 2019, Unesco-Unevoc International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training is one of seven UNESCO institute organised a Global TVET Learning Forum to explore new thinking behind innovative practices and scalable solutions.

For TVET to be effective, governments have to renovate and reinvent to ensure an enabling environment nationwide. Considering the continuous complex changes and development in the global context, including competition for resources, investments and markets, it is important to ensure quality in every aspect of TVET delivery. This calls for the need to review the TVET policies for quality assurance and better management.

Innovation is key. First, there need to be substantial change in the curriculum, materials used, selection  of trainers and training to ensure TVET progressively responds to evolving labour demands. Deployment of organisational practices is crucial to support innovation in the sector, which plays a significant role, including the well-being of workers, enhanced productivity, international competitiveness and economic growth.

Secondly, proper values and attitudes must be aligned to the national ethos. TVET has traditionally been thought to be a relatively unattractive educational option compared with higher education. While this varies greatly across countries and cultures, it is nevertheless remarkably pervasive. There is a need to address disparities of esteem between TVET and general education by demonstrating to and educating the public on the benefits of the former.

TVET has a particular advantage for developing countries that are moving rapidly up the value chain as it allows for occupational change and mobility and provides infrastructure to can cope with these changes. Add to these provision of a greater degree of satisfaction at work, higher levels of self-esteem arising from increased earnings and independence of workers and more investment by employers.

Lastly, a robust system at the national level to set criteria for management of quality of courses — such as an evidence-based TVET Quality Assurance Management System to ensure employees, apprentices or trainees in enterprises and TVET institutions have the right awareness, skills, knowledge and attitudes — is vital.

Indeed, technology can be employed to deliver TVET to more people as virtual platforms become globally available

Ms Odhiambo, a strategic management consultant, is a PhD candidate of development studies at JKUAT.