Educational Reform and Technical Education?

[Excerpt] Even though educational reform marches under a banner of economic renewal, the school subjects that appear to be most directly related to worker productivity-- business education, vocational education, economics, computers--have received little attention from reformers. The five core subjects proposed for periodic assessment are English, mathematics, science, history/civics and geography. Yet, if competitiveness is the objective, it is not clear why geography, a subject that is not taught in most American universities, has higher priority than subjects like computers, economics, management and technology? Some of the reform reports have expressed doubt about the economic benefits of vocational education (Committee on Economic Development 1986). Indeed, new graduation requirements introduced by reformers have contributed to an 8 percent reduction in vocational course taking between 1982and 1987

An alternative technical education system : a case study of Mexico

Many developing countries have relied on the varied forms of diversified secondary technical education as the main venue for training skilled workers and mid-level technicians. But there have been numerous and strong critics against this mode of technical education. As an alternative, the Mexican government established the CONALEP system (el Colegio National de Educacion Profesional Tecnica), a new vocational and technical education system) in the late 1970's. This report tests the viability of the system by evaluating CONALEP graduates'labor market performance in comparison with other forms of education. It also supplements the scant literature on the transition from technical education to work and on the use of technical skills. Although it is a Mexican program, the special features of the CONALEP system bear policy implications for other countries as well. With globalization and the rapidly changing technology requirements of the Mexican economy, however, this alternative form of technical secondary education faces new challenges, notably adjustment of its curriculum to changing market circumstances and improvement of its external and internal efficiency.Teaching and Learning,Curriculum&Instruction,Gender and Education,Primary Education,Tertiary Education

Vocational and technical education in Peru

The relative costs of and returns to VTE (Vocational and Technical Education) and general education in Peru are investigated here. The paper is composed as follows. Following a brief introduction, section 2 describes the system of education in Peru and changes that have occurred in this system over time. Section 3 surveys the (relatively sparse) literature on comparative rates of return to VTE and general education. Sections 4 and 5 describe, respectively, the data used for this study and the model used to estimate the returns to different levels and types of education. Section 6 reports the results of the empirical analysis. Section 7 introduces data obtained from Peru's Ministry of Education on the relative costs of VTE and general education. The concluding section 8 considers the implications, if any, of the findings for educational policy.Teaching and Learning,Curriculum&Instruction,Gender and Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Primary Education

Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Italy: Structure and Changes at National and Regional Level

Even though the institutional framework is strongly centralised, Italy displays important territorial differences in the education system. Historically, such differences are interwoven with territorial differences both in economic and social development. This is the background of our analysis of technical and vocational education and training in Italy. In particular, in Section 1 we shall characterise the national education system; in Section 2 we shall outline the process of reform that has led to the present system of technical and vocational education and the main features of the regional vocational system. Within this framework, we shall present our main thesis – namely, that the system of technical and vocational education is also influenced by action undertaken at local level by the social actors who promote and fuel economic and social development. It is not possible to describe the several territorial specificities which ought to be taken into consideration if one is to speak of Italy as a whole: this because there are no systematic data to enable such analysis to be performed. In this paper, we shall therefore consider only the case of Emilia Romagna (Section 3), which is representative of areas of the Centre North having a highly developed local economy. In this context, we shall concentrate on three points: the role of technical and vocational education in the diffusion of the skills that encouraged the development of small and medium enterprises in the 1950s; the transformations in the last twenty years and, eventually, the process of adjustment of the training system within the changes both in the productive structure and in the composition of the population (age, origin). The last section draws together the threads of our interpretation of the system of technical and vocational education in Italy. Our analysis highlights three goals for a reform of the Italian education system: (1) to revise the meaning of primary literacy; (2); to fuel a social tendency towards technical and vocational education and training; (3) to bridge territorial differences in the education system. The first goal implies an education policy opposing the tendency to limit the possession of knowledge merely to a narrow minority of the population. The second goal considers technical and vocational education an essential element for activating a virtuous circle of growth, starting with a nucleus of knowledge learnt at school that thereafter is diffused and filters down in the tissue of technical and social relations. The last goal in our list calls for policy measures stressing the importance of the interweaving of social and economic sphere and education and training system The attainment of these goals requires sweeping changes involving several fronts of political, economic and social action. With regard to this, we argue that a necessary condition for a convincing start of the process of change is the redistribution of competences between the State and the local authorities. This implies redefining the role of teachers and directors of the individual schools, and the role and competences of the local authorities.Analysis of Education; Education Policy; Regional development policies; Innovation

Back to School

The Back to School of the title refers to post- school or second chance education in America. Mike Rose’s focus is on adult remedial (sic) and occupational education.  However, although he writes about America, it is hard not to read this little book without a constant alternative reading of second chance learning or Technical and Further Education in the Australian context

Reducing the Cost of Technical and Vocational Education

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

A document analysis of the visibility of sustainability in TVE teacher education programme: the case of a Malaysian HEI

There has been a global call for institutions of learning to engage in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) by leading world organisations. Although scholars advocate for an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability, the research literature shows that majority of sustainability issues are addressed through fields such as environmental and developmental education. There has also been a call for the integration of Sustainable Development (SD) in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes by various scholars and bodies such as the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The issue, however, is that Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) programmes are not yet embracing this call to integrate ESD into their programmes. Hence, it is imperative to reiterate the intersection between TVE and SD and how the former can contribute significantly to the SD agenda. Therefore, by completing a qualitative documentary analysis of a TVE programme, using a Malaysian Higher Education Institution (HEI) as a case study, this paper discusses the visibility of sustainability in TVE programmes as well as explores the overarching goal of ESD and why it is especially crucial for TVE. Findings reveal that the concept of sustainability is only barely reflected in the TVE teacher training curriculum. Recommendations for practice change and further research are presented and discussed

Issues and challenges of technical and vocational education and training in Malaysia towards human capital development

To become a high-income economy, skilled workforce is vital. Under the concept of Human Capital Development (HCD), it is vital to provide effective training and education especially in technical and vocational education. The injection of education acquisition to the trainees will increase the performance, productivity and capability which translates into a good investment. As a result, it is important to increase the enrolment in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and raise the overall training quality since TVET has become crucial in these recent years for industries and the economy as a whole. This paper will discuss the overview and the course of TVET in Malaysia. The main thrust of this paper is to highlight the challenges that overlay the implementation of TVET in Malaysia. Hence, the development of Knowledge Worker (K-worker) and human capital will be realized