4-emerging challenges in tvet in colombo plan region(iveta)

8/7/2019 4-EMERGING CHALLENGES IN TVET IN COLOMBO PLAN REGION(IVETA)

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TVET Response to Global Trends

in the Colombo Plan Region

Prof. Shyamal Majumdar, Ph.D.

Director General

Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education, Manila

Senior Research Fellow, UNESCO‐ UNEVOC

[email protected]

1. Introduction

In spite of great geographical, economic and demographic diversities among Colombo Plan countries,

the region share many common challenges and pose many common issues which are fundamental to

improve the quality and relevance of TVET to gain competitive edge in the growing knowledge economy.

It has distinguished itself in the past decade as the world’s most rapidly developing region.

Despite impressive economic progress, a growing body of evidence points to serious human resource

development related problems that require urgent attention if the region is to sustain its progress. First

of all a large number of Asia Pacific countries still remain mired in poverty and even in rapidly growing

developing countries, there are substantial cases of poverty and unemployment. Overall growth

throughout the region has been non ‐ inclusive.

The task of technical workforce development faces the changing realities of globalization and

competitiveness, on one hand, and the need for inclusive growth on the other. The low literacy rate and

lack of skill training of the vast majority of the populace poses a major hurdle in the journey towards a

knowledge economy. Therefore, policies to ensure higher quality education and the expansion of vocational education and skill training for greater access of the poor and underprivileged are some of the requisites for producing a new generation of educated and skilled employees who are flexible,

analytical, and can serve as driving forces for innovation and growth.

On the global scale, the twenty first Century presents a radically different economy and society, which is

likely to have profound implications on Technical and Vocational Education and Training. The

globalization of trade and commerce, rapid technological changes, ICT revolution, sustainable

development and the emergence of a knowledge economy are bringing forth new challenges around the

world in general, and in Colombo Plan region, in particular.

Emerging paradigms in TVET in the region surround many issues which this paper will focus on:

Knowledge Society, ICT revolution, Climatic Change, and Poverty Alleviation.

The paper begins with an overview of the global emerging trends in terms of economic, social and

technological changes and their impact on TVET system. The major global trends and TVET trends are

discussed with corresponding challenges and response. Specifically, five major TVET responses to global

trends are enumerated with the backdrop of the new workplace landscape and regional characteristics

in Asia and the Pacific region. It will then slowly narrow down the discussion to the new TVET directions

that are to be pursued in the Colombo Plan region. Part of the new agenda is linked with the

qualifications framework and quality assurance, which, for the purpose of this conference, plays an

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important role in defining how TVET will strategically respond to globally and regionally ‐ oriented issues

and concerns.

2. Emerging Global Trends

To understand the profound impact of the emerging trends on the TVET system in the region there is a

need to explore the details of the global trends in terms of technology, economy and social

transformations.

2.1 Technology Trend

Technological trends are sweeping across countries and regions. Continuous changes and technological

advancements are happening, and their benefits are envisioned to enhance TVET delivery and reach

sectors with limited access.

So far, the major shift in technology has been dominated by the move from the traditional focus into

emerging new technologies. The trend of new technology is moving from narrow band to broadband,

wired to wireless, Petro ‐ based to Agro ‐ based energy and finally from divergent to convergent

technologies. Such changes promote deepening of technical knowledge and raises more demand for

knowledge workers with competitive edge in performing work fit for high ‐ end and emerging

technologies.

Today’s convergent technologies namely, Information Communication Technology, Bio‐ Technology,

Nano Technology, Mechatronics Technology, have been observed to possess characteristics that

influence and define imperatives in today’s education and training systems. Some of the characteristics

noted describe these technologies as interdisciplinary in nature, oriented towards research and

development, information intensive, dynamic and require human capital with high reasoning

and cognitive skills, but has shorter life cycle. These characteristics points towards the challenge

of having to prepare graduates for technologies that have not yet been invented, for a new

work dimension that has not yet been explored.

The question is how this could be done and what strategy needs to be undertaken to cope up with the

fast ‐ changing technologies and transformations in the workplace.

One of the ways believed to aid in coping with rapid technological change is building the foundation for

a set of generic and soft skills as baseline skills set of the next generation learners.

2.2 Economic Trends

One of the major economic trends that has taken place is the changing of material value to knowledge

value with the coming of knowledge economy. The role of manual workers is fast changing to

knowledge worker. Knowledge economy places more value on the knowledge that catalyses technical



innovations and achievements which propel economic gains. This places more role for TVET to develop

necessary skills and occupational qualifications parallel to the movements and changes taking place.

The mobility and economy of trades and human resources have likewise become a commonplace in a

globalizing world. The opening of trades subsequently opened new doors for borderless demand and

supply of technology, product, services and labor, which is contributing to the expansion of economic

activities.

2.3 Social Trends

Reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development, equity and inclusive growth are key social

directions that have influenced development interventions. In many parts of the world, innovative

initiatives are actively undertaken to either directly achieve or contribute to achieving the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs).

Observed trends in the social front are mainly on the shift from mere economic growth to inclusive

growth, conventional development to sustainable development, gender inequality to gender parity and

conventional academic skills to life and functional skills.

With a dramatic economic growth, favorable economic gains and income growth are spreading

sporadically in the region. Due to this pattern, inclusive growth has never been more important than

now in the Colombo Plan region. It has essentially become a key development goal for the region due to

the growing inequality in income, which leads to a more serious concern on how the benefits of the

region’s awesome GDP growth are not being equitably shared. Given this, growth process is derailed at

the macro and micro levels.

Similarly, other shifts have made prevailing social development focus wider, more significant and long ‐

term. Consistent with this, social interventions have been characterized by provisions for life and

functional

skills,

which

have

now

gained

more

ground

than

ever,

instead

of

being

limited

to

providing

traditional academic skills that nevertheless become suddenly less functional in cases where rapid

change in the work place takes place.

3. Impact of Global Trends in TVET

Technological, economic and social trends have clearly posed profound implications on TVET systems in

Asia and the Pacific region. The changing nature of the world of work pressed by globalization,

technological, economic and social changes, require the identification of major development pockets

within these three aspects, and deeper understanding of how these changes impact upon the quality of TVET systems.

To illustrate, there are five major emerging trends impacting on TVET based on the broader sectoral

trends mentioned in previous sections.

Table 1. Global trends and their impact on TVET



Major Global Trends Trends in TVET

Knowledge Society

In the era of Knowledge Society, the role of worker has been

changed from mere manual worker to knowledge worker. To

perform the role effectively, development of Higher Order

Thinking Skills (HOTS) which include critical thinking, creative

thinking and problem solving, can augment and enhance learning

outcomes in TVET.

Rapid Technological

Change

Rapid technological changes require workers to adapt to the fast

changing technological environment. Teaching Generic Soft Skills

has become a pre ‐ requisite in effectively preparing the workforce

for the world of work. Skills including cognitive, interpersonal,

work values and adaptability are skills requirements to

complement core technical skills. Learning to Learn skills training,

for example, gear up future workforce for technologies that have

not yet been invented.

Climatic Change

Education for Sustainable Development as key agenda of the

United Nations, significantly calls upon re ‐ orienting TVET

curriculum towards sustainability while maintaining the principles

of 6Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Renew, Recycle, Repair and Rethink.

Globalization

The globalization of economies has brought in movement of knowledge workers and seekers across the world. It has opened

up new doors for technology, service, products and labor to come

freely; while emerging skills and competencies are demanded to

meet industry needs. Qualifications framework and quality

assurance has never been more important than now in TVET

sector. The influx of training providers necessitates linking

competencies and skills taught with an overall qualifications

framework that meets both industry needs and quality ‐ assured

requirements.

Poverty Alleviation

The best way to fight poverty is to empower the people with

employable skills. Modular Employable Skills and

entrepreneurship skill development have received favorable

importance to aid in fighting poverty. Entrepreneurship, Modular

Employable Skills and community partnership are largely

considered to advance poverty reduction mechanisms and create

gainful opportunities particularly in the unorganized sectors.

4. The nature of Employment in the 21 st Century



Knowledge ‐ driven economies hold up as their foremost wealth the human capital or knowledge

assets. Already more than half the wealth of advanced industrial societies is derived from

knowledge capital. Moreover, identifying the ideal 21 st century worker comes hand in hand

with defining the nature of employment in the 21 st century, which presents essentially distinct

characteristics, as enumerated below.

Greater emphasis on Employability ; rather than Employment – Possession of optimum

combination of generic and technical competencies raises the bar for any to be employed due

to the anticipated ‘ability’ to move horizontally or vertically, as may be required by the work

place.

Greater emphasis on Trainable recruits; rather than Trained recruits – The knowledge ‐ workers

of the twenty ‐ first century require the ability to jump between fields of technical specialization

and capture the key issues quickly. High learning to learn skills on scientific concepts and

processes

reduce

the

time

taken

to

master

new

areas

where

emerging

tasks

and

work

processes occur.

Greater emphasis on Learning ; rather than Teaching – Consistent with the knowledge ‐ driven

nature of today’s economies, the new workplace gives priority to learning and workers’

adaptability to processes and methods used.

Greater emphasis on Green Jobs ; rather than Traditional Jobs – With the emergence of key

climatic issues and their impact on all aspects of living, organizations are gearing up to meeting

environmentally ‐ oriented objectives. Thus, those with specialized orientation to emerging

green technologies and green jobs are well positioned to supply evolving skills and

competencies requirements.

5. Key features of the Colombo Plan region

The Colombo Plan region, now aptly called Asia Pacific region, is a vast region with economies at

different stages of growth. The diversity of the region makes greater than any region of the world in

terms of population, religion and cultures. With such characteristics, some observable features

distinguish the region from the rest. By saying this, this author can list down some most observable

features such that Asia Pacific country classifications exist in terms of economic development, there

exists predominant labor migration within and outside countries, it maintains demographic advantage of young working population, growth has been non ‐ inclusive (within and across) and informal sector still

predominant in the economy.

In this light, there is no single solution fit for all, and specific interventions essentially linked with cultural

traditions, demographic strengths, religion, belief and human resource potentials and socio ‐ economic

exposures, are suitable to face prevailing challenges on hand.



6. New TVET Directions in the Colombo Plan Region

Specific features characterize the Colombo Plan region and define the implications of emerging trends

on TVET. The region is experiencing an unprecedented growth in some sectors in the recent times. The

unprecedented economic growth in developing countries has caused an exponential rise in demand for

TVET skills to meet job requirements in the industries. Many developing countries are unfortunately

suffering from acute skills shortage, thus their inability to meet these demands.

The region however has the ability to champion key approaches in TVET. These approaches can be in the

form of making TVET inclusive, promoting generic skills, public ‐ private community partnership, TVET for

sustainable development and green jobs, ICT Integration, entrepreneurship & MES in TVET and quality

management system for TVET, as discussed below and presented in the diagram following the

discussion (Figure – New TVET Agenda).

(New diagram from PPT)

6.1 Inclusive TVET. Improving access to the unreached sector is a major challenge in delivering skills

training and provisions. Globalization has created an enormous demand for skilled workers who can

meet emerging market needs. People in the informal sector must acquire skill sets with strong labor

market links in order to exploit the opportunities created by globalization and acquire productive and

gainful employment. Approaching inclusive growth through skill development will require extending the

reach of the VET system and improving access to skill training for all. Policies conducive to providing

broader access to vocational education and training (VET) to all and capacity building as well as making

VET more market oriented are required in order to overcome the problem of skill shortage and skill

mismatch.

6.2

Generic

Skills.

While

there

could

be

difference

in

the

nature

and

details

of

generic

skills

that

needed

to be included in the TVET curriculum among the countries in the context of the development stages,

policies and priorities, there can be no disagreements about integrating higher order generic skills in the

TVET curriculum on priority basis. The integration of essential generic skills into the TVET curriculum will

require substantial change, including those that relate to new learning technologies, flexible learning

strategies and assessment practices.

6.3 Public ‐ private ‐ community partnership. The apparent divorce of the TVET system from the market,

which is also marked by the current mismatch between the skills taught and those actually in demand, is

attributable to the general disconnect between TVET and industry and the supply ‐ driven nature of government policies regarding VET. Developing public ‐ private partnerships and maintaining close

interactions with industry are necessary to overcome the skill mismatches and make TVET more market

oriented.

6.4 TVET for Sustainable Development. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is meant to set a

new direction for education and learning for all. It promotes quality education, and is inclusive of all

people. It is based on values, principles and practices necessary to respond effectively to current and

future challenges. Through education and lifelong learning, lifestyles based on economic and social



justice, ecological integrity, sustainable livelihoods and strong values towards social cohesion and

collective action are targeted to be achieved. Problems relating to threats to the sustainability of the

world impel that quality TVET must meet the needs of learners for them to cope with today’s challenges

and to find solutions. Thus, to satisfy this goal it is essential that TVET integrate the principles, values

and practices of sustainable development.

6.5 MES and Entrepreneurial Skills. The concept of MES bears particular significance for small scale

enterprises and the informal sector, as it involves providing formal skill training to the poor and

backward sections of society for whom the length and cost of usual formal training options are

impractical due to social and economic constraints. The concept of MES embodies the idea of imparting

various types of “minimum skills” that enable a person to obtain gainful employment. Moreover, the

importance of developing entrepreneurial skills is also increasing as current trends indicate that the

majority of the workforce is likely to be absorbed in the un ‐ organized and informal sector in the near

future. Therefore, encouraging workers to develop micro and small enterprises or to become self ‐

employed is likely to provide a better option for earning a livelihood than wage labor.

The flexibility of such modular credit ‐ based courses in TVET is likely to lead to skill upgrading, multi ‐

skilling, multi ‐ point entry and exit, vertical mobility and recognition of prior learning through

certification of skills acquired informally.

6.6 Demand ‐ driven TVET & LMIS. The adequate supply of employable skills is one of the consistent

requirements of emerging industries. TVET, as a continuously growing sector, should be backed up by

key strategies that will enable it to meet industry requirements for specific competencies that match the

types of work in the workplace.

6.7 ICT Integration. Preparing teachers to face the challenges of an ICT enriched teaching and learning

environment is crucial. Teachers need to be equipped with the fundamentals of ICT tools and sufficient

understanding

on

the

integration

of

these

tools

in

teaching

and

learning.

Efforts

must

be

oriented

towards changing mind set and developing positive attitudes towards ICT application in teaching and

learning to improve TVET delivery and promote quality in instruction.

6.8 QMS in TVET. New approaches to institutional management and learning are rapidly catching up and

taking over traditional management approaches. The Quality Management System movement is cross ‐

cutting every field and is given particular emphasis in the TVET sector. Improvement of internal

efficiency and effectiveness of programs and institutions allow TVET systems to respond to industry

needs and support appropriate monitoring and evaluation and quality assurance.

7. Major Focus of CPSC

Under the changed context and in the light of the implication for technical and vocational education in

the knowledge society, there is a dynamic change and link in the way CPSC embraces its role in assisting

the member countries address issues and challenges at hand.

To address key challenges and respond to trends discussed in preliminary pages, CPSC ensures that

appropriate interventions through TVET sectoral approach is undertaken.



Program thrust towards this end are relevantly focused on skills development for poverty alleviation,

generic skills, ICT in education, public ‐ private ‐ community partnership in TVET, qualifications framework

and accreditation system in TVET and Education for Sustainable Development. These thematic thrusts

are embedded in various training and capacity building programs of CPSC for the member countries.

8. Conclusion

The task of technical workforce development faces the changing realities of globalization and

competitiveness. On the global scale, the twenty first Century presents a radically different economy

and society, which is likely to have profound implications on Technical and Vocational Education and

Training. The globalization of trade and commerce, rapid technological changes, ICT revolution,

sustainable development and the emergence of a knowledge economy are bringing forth new

challenges around the world in general, and in Colombo Plan region, in particular.

The paper significantly touched upon the three major trends which have evolved through the

globalization process that has taken place. The trends in the social, economic and technology fronts

have recognized impact in TVET. Development pockets given rise by these trends greatly emphasized

the influx of knowledge society, rapid technological change, climactic change, and re ‐ focusing of TVET

agenda to address key globalization and poverty alleviation issues that falls within its areas of concerns.

An essential part of understanding the challenges brought by global scenarios is the identification of the

nature of employment in the first 21 st century. This paper enumerates key imperatives for defining the

role that TVET must play in linking education and training provisions with workplace requirements. As a

response, TVET is geared to pay attention to the evolving nature of a knowledge ‐ based economy.

Linking the challenges, issues and excellent responses being undertaken in the Colombo Plan region,

including those carried out by CPSC, with the issue of qualifications framework and quality assurance in

TVET,

this

paper

concludes

with

key

points

to

ponder,

realizing

that

different

level

of

understanding

and

appreciation are held in each country and region on the inter ‐ relatedness of the issues on hand. First,

globalization initiated greater mobility of the workforce in the region; while NQF is limited to some

countries only. Secondly, there are three pillars of qualifications framework, national competency ‐ based

system, assessment and quality assurance which; and the recognition that TVET is in varying stages of development in this region. Pertinent questions are raised, which are envisaged to be answered through

the plenary and track discussions that will take place.



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4-emerging challenges in tvet in colombo plan region(iveta)

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