Re-conceptualising VET: responses to covid-19

The paper addresses the impact of Covid-19 on vocational education and training, seeking to discern the outline of possible directions for its future development within the debates about VET responses to the pandemic. The discussion is set in its socio-economic context, considering debates that engage with the social relations of care and neo-liberalism. The paper analyses discourses that have developed around VET across the world during the pandemic, illustrating both possible continuities and ruptures that may emerge in this field, as the health crisis becomes overshadowed in public policy by the prioritisation of economic recovery and social restoration. The paper concludes that, alongside the possibility of a narrowing of VET to its most prosaic aims and practices, the health crisis could also lead to a re-conceptualisation that develops its radical and emancipatory possibilities in both the global south and north.N/

The Governance of Animal Care and Use for Scientific Purposes in Africa and the Middle East

Animals are commonly used for scientific purposes in Africa and the Middle East. However, this field is often inadequately regulated, with many countries lacking national legislation, policies, or guidelines for the care and use of animals used for research, testing, or education. This results in an essentially uncontrolled system where scientific quality and animal wellbeing cannot robustly be guaranteed, which may hinder acceptance (i.e., publication) of results by the scientific community and limit public confidence. Though accepted international guidelines and best practice recommendations exist that could be adopted or adapted to meet local needs, the responsible conduct of research and animal welfare may not be prioritized in regions that are affected by instability, poverty, disease, or malnutrition. Some notable exceptions do, however, exist in individual countries or institutions where ethical review processes, oversight of animal health and welfare, the competence of personnel, and other scientific standards are appropriately regulated and implemented. These countries and institutions represent nodes of expertise that could act as platforms of support for surrounding regions in terms of the provision of education, training, and sharing of experience and resources. To make such regional capacitystrengthening efforts sustainable will require regional cooperation, the establishment of regional networks, harmonization of policies, pooled resources, and long-term investment in education, training, and infrastructure. An overarching system is needed to oversee the efficient promotion of scientific and ethical standards and the dissemination of information on laboratory animal science in Africa and the Middle East, while each country should remain able to maintain a system of oversight that reflects its own cultures, traditions, religions, laws, and regulations. This article provides an overview of the governance of the care and use of animals for scientific purposes in different regions of Africa and the Middle East as a foundation for coordinated future advancement.</p