Technical and vocational education and training to tackle unemployment
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) constitutes a bridge between the worlds of work and education. Its essential role in tackling youth unemployment and underemployment should be recognised by the international community. This is the main message of the Third International Congress on TVET organised by UNESCO this spring in Shanghai.
Third International Congress on TVET
The title of the congress was “Transforming TVET: Building skills for work and life”. More than 800 representatives from 117 countries and 72 international organisations attended. Many country delegations were led by ministers.
Recommendations
The attendants agreed that the importance of TVET is under-valued. Furthermore, in the outcome statement, they called on the international community to:
- ensure better visibility and support for TVET as an integral part of the post-2015 agendas for international education and sustainable development;
- give particular priority to the development of research and analysis to provide a valid and robust evidence-based foundation for policy-making and the efficient and fair allocation and steering of resources;
- align international cooperation with national needs in TVET and cross-sectoral strategies to enhance ownership of development programmes;
- give special attention to the Least Developed Countries, Small Islands Developing States and countries affected by conflict and disaster;
- provide adequate platforms for international exchange on policies, instruments and approaches.
Explosive context
This third congress took place in a context of explosive political challenges: growing youth unemployment, necessity for the international community to articulate a common vision toward the post-2015 agendas for education and development, and needs to respond to demands of new markets.
Trends and themes
The same trends and themes that are dominating the education discourse are also present in the TVET debates: the role of the private sector; harmonising the certification of qualifications (also in Africa and other regions); measuring and learning outcomes; quality of TVET teachers and trainers; “education-as-a-security-tool”, especially with regard to unemployed youth.
More information
Go to the UNESCO website of the Third International Congress on TVET