How Collaborations Make TVET Relevant in the Future

“Today, we often encounter fragmented and incoherent systems in quality assurance due to institutional as well as procedural reasons. We need to harmonize qualifications and increase flexibility to manage the complexity and speed of change,” said Mr. Haas of GIZ.

“I think the most pressing is that TVET systems are often very fragmented. There are different stakeholders who play different roles. Sometimes even contradicting each other. Let's say ministries or {{creation}} bodies. Sometimes or oftentimes, the private sector, the corporate world is not involved at all. And even TVET providers on the ground are not incorporated in the systems. I would say systems are fragmented. That's certainly one issue that I would find as a challenge.”

“Quality assurance (of TVET) is chronically over-governed and under-funded,” Mr. Haas added. Part of the reason is due to the low perception on TVET. Mr. Haas presented GIZ’s findings on German development cooperation and called for a new thinking on quality assurance in TVET. “To a certain extent, TVET, especially in Asia, is still often considered as a second-best option” to formal education, he said.

“The absence of a formal accreditation system at the national level in some countries and the lack of education and training standards at the regional level” hamper the quality of TVET, said Ramhari Laminchane, Director General of the Colombo Plan Staff College in Sri Lanka. A regional accreditation body is “imperative to solve problems of producing a qualified workforce, promote harmony of qualifications, and mutual recognition of qualifications.” He cited the case of the Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certificate Commission, in which he is president, set up by the Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education following an agreement in 2004 by 17 countries to establish a regional body for accreditation and certification of TVET institutions.

“With a rapidly changing economy, the technical and vocational education and training system needs to be more adaptive and train students to be more resilient,” said Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Education Services chief executive Bruce Poh. Presenting the Republic of Singapore’s experience in transforming its TVET system, Mr. Poh said in addition to investing in hardware (“creating a one-ITE system, 3 colleges” governance and education model), the state has also undertaken massive transformations in “software” (offering market-relevant courses and real environment learning facilities), as well as “heart-ware” (building a “caring culture” among staff, teachers and students). ITE has more than 120 active industry partnerships and has provided over 30 international consultancy projects in 27 countries in Asia, Africa, Middle East and Latin America.