 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
The Newsletter For more information on DACUM : here
Strengthening TVET and productive sector linkages in Africa Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has the potential to support full and productive employment, enhance productivity and structural transformation, and accelerate sustainable development by equipping youth and adult workers with the skills needed in fast-changing labour markets. Nevertheless, many African countries' TVET systems struggle to meet labour market demands and the aspirations of people due to a lack of effective linkages between TVET systems, institutions and social partners.
To achieve the 2063 African Agenda for inclusive growth and sustainable development, it is necessary to modernize and strengthen TVET in Africa. To this end, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) collaborated to jointly analyse TVET systems in Africa and formulated recommendations to guide increased investment in skills development and enhance stakeholder capacity to improve TVET performance. Based on survey results for 16 countries (Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia), the study identifies key recommendations supporting increased investments in skills development and in improving TVET performance. The report's findings and recommendations align with the AfDB's Skills for Employability and Productivity in Africa (SEPA) Action Plan 2022-2025 and the ILO's strategy on skills and lifelong learning for 2022-2030. The AfDB and the ILO will continue to support African Member States in implementing the report's recommendations to enhance the role of TVET systems in Africa's growth and development.
This research uses CHIP data of 2018 to examine the impact of higher education opportunities on the middle school graduates' choice between academic and vocational high schools. The findings indicate that a higher university quota at the provincial level increases the likelihood of middle school graduates choosing an academic high school, and the probability of choosing a vocational high school is negatively correlated with elite university opportunities in urban China. These results suggest that spatial differences in higher education opportunities significantly influence the type of human capital investment at the high school stage in China.
While for some people, lifelong learning is a buzzword from yet another New York Times bestseller, for others, it is a lifestyle. Learning throughout life means continuously seeking knowledge and expanding your horizons, regardless of your age or life circumstances. This mindset encourages you to never stop growing and discovering new things, whether that means learning to code or cook brownies.
The Future of VET study examined how vocational education and training (VET) has changed since the mid-1990s, and how this may influence future opportunities and challenges.
This synthesis report summarises 3 years of research involving researchers and VET experts across Europe, with discussion of findings on the content and delivery of VET, assessment practices, and the link between initial and continuing VET. In addition to connecting and synthesising the series of research papers and case studies already published, it features an analysis by country. The study provides important insights into how VET in Europe has developed over the past three decades, illustrating observed trends and developments, as well as tendencies of convergence between countries and systems.
The research has also shown that the development of VET does not necessarily form an unbroken chain leading in one direction but can be interrupted by changes of course and even reversals in policy and practice. The future of VET is still unwritten. This report aims to provide a stimulus for developing future research in this area.
The Pan African Initiative for the Digital Transformation of TVET and Skills Development Systems in Africa (‘the initiative’) was launched on 9 March 2021. The initiative’s overall objective is to create an ecosystem that will enable and accelerate the digital transformation of TVET and skills development systems in Africa.
The initiative’s overall ecosystem target is to:
Achieve a minimum of 10 targets for the African continent; and
Adopt the targets in 50% of African countries by 2030.
The initiative uses five key strategies to achieve its objective and targets:
1) Capability building: Delivering a Pan African training programme;
2) Communication: Establishing a national network for digital transformation;
3) Promotion: Establishing ‘ICTs and digitalisation in a TVET day’ in African countries;
4) New resourcing: Establishing a national centre of excellence for the digital transformation of TVET in African countries; and
5) Data sharing: Providing a sharing and monitoring mechanism for the initiative, including a platform providing continental and national reports.
This report describes how entrepreneurship competence is embedded in vocational education and training (VET) in France. It complements existing knowledge with examples of methods, tools and approaches that can help policy makers, VET providers and other stakeholders build better entrepreneurial learning ecosystems.
This report describes how entrepreneurship competence is embedded in vocational education and training (VET) in Sweden. It complements existing knowledge with examples of methods, tools and approaches that can help policy-makers, VET providers and other stakeholders build better entrepreneurial learning ecosystems.
This report describes how entrepreneurship competence is embedded in vocational education and training (VET) in Croatia. It complements existing knowledge with examples of methods, tools and approaches that can help policy-makers, VET providers and other stakeholders build better entrepreneurial learning ecosystems.
Leveraging the ILO’s microdata, an analysis of global labour market and occupational trends highlights strategies to strengthen skills development and boost the competitiveness, agility, and resilience of youth.
Higher education institutions are key players in promoting lifelong learning. By offering a variety of educational programmes in different modalities, they address the diverse needs and interests of learners. By establishing flexible learning pathways, they help ensure continuity of learning throughout life.
The International Labour Conference closed with the adoption of a new recommendation on quality apprenticeships. Delegates also passed resolutions on a just transition and labour protection, as well as adopting the standards report and the programme and budget, and a resolution on Belarus.
Technological advancements and digitalization are profoundly reshaping our work and lifestyle, business models and operations, and government policy choices. Digital transformation in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is the planned and structured introduction of automated and streamlined processes within institutions and national technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems through digital technology, with the goal of enhancing their scope, scale, efficiency and effectiveness and ultimately, driving their more sustainable development. This document provides overall perspective and five country case studies on digital transformation in TVET. Most countries studied face similar enabling factors: the digital infrastructure available; legal and policy frameworks; focused institutional change to improve the acquisition of digital skills; and the promotion of equality and inclusivity. To understand how digital transformation in TVET is occurring, the report analyses it at four levels: technical and technological development; curriculum and qualifications; teaching and learning using technology; and its contribut
|
Context: This study investigates the perspective of vocational educators on the possibility of adopting augmented reality (AR) and hypervideo (HV) technologies to support their teaching practice. Vocational education and training (VET) is particularly concerned with the learning of resources (knowledge, skills and attitudes) that are immediately transposable into conduct and procedures in the workplace. AR and HV can provide means to answer this requirement, but both technological solutions are still not so diffused in VET. The purpose of this study is to inquire into the perception of educators on the main advantages and disadvantages of using AR and HV to support teaching-and-learning.
Methods: A semi-structured interview protocol has been proposed to 73 teachers, intercompany trainers and in-company trainers in 10 professions (at least two per category within each profession). The interview was organized in two main steps: A need analysis, in which the most important and difficult operative skills are identified for the interviewee's profession; and a discussion of advantages and disadvantages of AR and HV. Content analysis was applied to the interview transcriptions.
Results: The results show that the main advantages reported in the literature for the two technologies – such as the ability to switch between 2D and 3D and carry out simulations – are also found in the VET context by educators. For HV the main technical advantages (such as the use of active points, and non-linear navigation of video content) were autonomously recognised, while the potential of the instrument to support reflection has not been clearly identified.
Conclusions: AR and HV are considered as tools able to support apprentices' procedural learning especially with regard to the operational skills which were judged by the educators to be most relevant for VET.
A key new piece of research launched this week by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) and City & Guilds has outlined the need to improve the perceived value of apprenticeships if we’re to see a rise in achievement rates. Launched at the 2023 Annual Apprenticeship Conference in Birmingham on Monday 13 March, “Raising the Standard: Sectoral approaches to raising apprenticeship achievement rates”, has been written by AELP’s Dr Chihiro Kobayashi, and Director of Strategy Paul Warner. It explores the underlying detail behind headline apprenticeship achievement rates and was commissioned following the then Skills Minister’s announcement in June 2022 that apprenticeship achievement rates should reach 67% by 2025 (up from 51.8% in 2020/21). The interview analysis within the report identifies a variety of sectoral and cross-sectoral issues around apprenticeships. This includes six major cross-sectoral themes driving apprenticeship withdrawals: English and Maths requirements; malfunction of the Baker Clause; trainer retention and recruitment; engagement with employers; challenges with end-point assessment; and job or career changes. With nearly half of apprentices withdrawing before completing their programme, this is a serious problem which compounds skills shortages in the UK. The full report contains fifteen recommendations outlining how this can be addressed, alongside further reflections on sector-specific issues that came to the authors’ attention. However, almost all of the factors and themes can ultimately be reduced to a single overarching conclusion and recommendation: much more work needs to be done by government, employers and the sector as a whole on raising the perceived benefit and value of apprenticeship study and the apprenticeship outcome. Identified benefits– such as the increase in skills and productivity, the chance to learn whilst working, the improvements in career prospects – may seem obvious, but despite this the report finds that apprenticeships are still not being widely cited as a accreditation requirement in job adverts. This was even the case in roles advertised within the skills sector itself.
Québec is mobilised to become an innovation and entrepreneurial leader in North America, giving higher education institutions (HEIs) a central role in this drive. HEIs are pivotal in developing skills and nurturing talent, connecting and contributing to their communities, including firms, public authorities and civil society. The Stratégie québécoise de recherche et d’investissement en innovation (SQRI) has placed HEIs at the fore front of the provincial innovation and entrepreneurship efforts, including with an explicit spatial approach, through the “innovation zones”. This review assesses the “geography of higher education” in Québec through the examination of ten case study HEIs. These case studies represent examples of innovative and entrepreneurial HEIs that support entrepreneurship and innovation in their communities. In particular, the case studies tell the story of the province of Québec in creating sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation, connecting actors and mobilising resources and policies. The review offers actionable policy recommendations to generate further progress in this direction.
The Sub-Saharan African region has the highest year-on-year average growth rate in the world in the number of people enrolling for professional certificate courses, a new study by a global trainer has found.
In what could position the region as the next digital skills learning hub, the survey by United States-based training and skills company, Coursera, says that demand for professional courses has been growing rapidly, at an average of 80% in the past few years.
The region, according to the 2023 Global Skills Report, witnessed the highest average growth ahead of the Asia Pacific region with growth that stands at 69%, and North America at 53%. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has enrolled 142,000 learners, behind the United States with 1.3 million and India with 654,000 enrolments.
The report reveals that learners in the region sought courses in business skills, noting that regional leaders needed to prioritise investments in technology and data science skills.
Some 4.9 million Africans with a median age of 34 years were enrolled in Coursera courses during the period under review, between 2019 and 2023. A total of 35% of this group were women, with access to the internet standing at 36%, while 60% of the learners were using mobile phones to study, the survey established.
Make your #apprenticeship programme a success with our step-by-step employer guide to apprenticeships. Find out how to choose the right training provider and the best ways of working with one so your business is supported.
This report describes how entrepreneurship competence is embedded in vocational education and training (VET) in Austria. It complements existing knowledge with examples of methods, tools and approaches that can help policy-makers, VET providers and other stakeholders build better entrepreneurial learning ecosystems.
This report describes how entrepreneurship competence is embedded in vocational education and training (VET) in Finland. It complements existing knowledge with examples of methods, tools and approaches that can help policy-makers, VET providers and other stakeholders build better entrepreneurial learning ecosystems.
This report describes how entrepreneurship competence is embedded in vocational education and training (VET) in Latvia. It complements existing knowledge with examples of methods, tools and approaches that can help policy-makers, VET providers and other stakeholders build better entrepreneurial learning ecosystems.
Microcredentials are an essential component of higher ed and must be integrated into the institution as a whole, a process not without its challenges but offering benefits for learners, the institution and industry.
The report brings together global knowledge on Technical Vocational and Education Training (TVET) reform to develop a common understanding on the promise of TVET in advancing employment and productivity. This is important in support of sustainable economic transformations and in light of challenges observed in TVET systems in low- and middle-income countries. The report also looks at lessons learned from TVET reforms, including from the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers a way forward toward more impactful and coordinated support of TVET systems in the future.
Québec is mobilised to become an innovation and entrepreneurial leader in North America, giving higher education institutions (HEIs) a central role in this drive. HEIs are pivotal in developing skills and nurturing talent, connecting and contributing to their communities, including firms, public authorities and civil society. The Stratégie québécoise de recherche et d’investissement en innovation (SQRI) has placed HEIs at the fore front of the provincial innovation and entrepreneurship efforts, including with an explicit spatial approach, through the “innovation zones”. This review assesses the “geography of higher education” in Québec through the examination of ten case study HEIs. These case studies represent examples of innovative and entrepreneurial HEIs that support entrepreneurship and innovation in their communities. In particular, the case studies tell the story of the province of Québec in creating sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation, connecting actors and mobilising resources and policies. The review offers actionable policy recommendations to generate further progress in this direction.
Microcredentials represent a fairly new avenue for training and certification within the spheres of higher and continuing education. They are frequently promoted by governments and educational institutions as a tool for workers transitioning between sectors or occupations as they can highlight how a person’s skills can be applied to emerging and growing sectors. An increasing number of institutions are offering microcredentials to workers looking to transition into different sectors. For example, in Alberta they are available to those transitioning out of the oil and gas sector.
Yet, it’s uncertain the extent to which microcredentials are recognized and valued by employers and workers, and how attitudes about their value may differ across industries. There is an opportunity to evaluate how they are understood and used in the labour market and if they are fulfilling their initial promises.
This study evaluates emerging evidence on microcredentials and examines how employers and learners assess their value as a measure of quality of work.
|
