Education International Research
TVET is too often of poor quality, failing to provide students with a broad-based education and the necessary competencies for life and work Target 4.4 takes a human capital approach to TVET by framing TVET as a means to acquire relevant skills for “employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship”. However, context and uncertainty render the relationship between education, skills and economic growth neither linear nor clear. Furthermore, TVET plays a crucial role in fostering social justice, self-fulfilment and social inclusion, as well as economic development. A “capabilities approach” is therefore more suitable for understanding TVET.91 Under this approach, quality TVET should not only train students to be productive workers but also promote agency, develop competencies and reasoning skills, and prepare graduates for educational and occupational advancement. Furthermore, TVET courses must be offered in well-resourced public institutions, supported by qualified teachers. However, the reality is that the quality of TVET is often substandard, with poorly funded institutions and courses that are to narrow in scope to effectively enhance students’ capabilities and expand their choices. In Australia, for example, the AEU has seen years of reforms aimed at weakening public TVET institutions peak in the years following the adoption of the SDGs. Since 2015, the government has enforced adherence to the narrow Competency-Based Training curricular model, reduced public funding to the sector, and introduced policies to increase privatisation and commercialisation of TVET provision. Private providers now receive large profits by offering training packages, capturing public wealth,92 whilst teachers and ESPs are left under-resourced and lacking adequate professional development opportunities. Enrolment in TVET has decreased, and a failed student loan scheme has resulted in nearly $4 billion Australian dollars being lost to the system.93 In the UK, concerns about the value of some TVET qualifications have led the government to stop funding them, but the NASUWT reports that “no real alternatives have been put in place”. In the Philippines, educators are witnessing a mushrooming of corporate APEC schools, forprofit private schools that fail to provide a holistic, quality curriculum, opting instead to prepare students for menial jobs such as working in call centres.94 In numerous countries, there is still a stigma attached to TVET, which is viewed as inferior to higher education. For this to change, governments must improve the quality of TVET courses.
Government policies are insufficient to ensure equitable completion of higher education and TVET courses Completion rates in higher education can differ greatly according to students’ socioeconomic status, race and gender, suggesting that governments are not doing enough to support equitable TVET and higher education. More targeted support is needed to help disadvantaged and vulnerable students smoothly transition from school to further and higher education, and to ensure that they are able to complete their studies rather than being pushed out by an education system that does not respond to their backgrounds and needs. Worldwide, women outnumber men in higher education, yet they are still underrepresented in STEM subjects, and the number of women in doctoral or research positions remains disproportionately low.95 GRO.EI-IE
Privatisation, commercialisation and managerial reforms in TVET and higher education negatively impact quality Educators in every world region have witnessed a rise in privatisation, commercialisation and managerial reforms in TVET and higher education. Eighty-seven per cent (87%) of unions responding to EI’s Status of Teachers survey reported a growth in the privatisation of higher education. UNESCO’s 2015 Recommendation concerning Technical and Vocational Education, adopted in November 2015, reflects the broad aspirations of Education 2030, but rather than urging governments to invest in TVET, it unfortunately calls for diversified and innovative funding.
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91 Wheelahan, et al. 2019. Global Trends in TVET: A framework for Social Justice. Education International. Retrieved from: http://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/ GlobalTrendsinTVET.pdf 92 Yu, S. and Oliver, D. 2015. The Capture of Public Wealth by The For-Profit Vet Sector: A Report Prepared For The Australian Education Union. Workplace Research Centre. Retrieved from: http://www.aeufederal.org.au/application/files/9614/3315/0486/WRCAEU2015.pdf 93 AEU. 2016. Response to Redesigning VET FEE-HELP: Discussion Paper. Retrieved from: http://www.aeufederal.org.au/application/files/3514/7122/0196/ subRedesigVETFEEHelp2016.pdf 94 For more information about APEC schools, see: Riep, C. 2015. Corporatised education in the Philippines: Pearson, Ayala Corporation and the Emergence of Affordable Private Education Centres (APEC). Education International. Retrieved from: https://ei-ie.org/media_gallery/Research_C.%20Riep_APEC%20Philippines_final.pdf 95 UNESCO. 2017. Women are Missing from the Ranks of Higher Education and Research. Retrieved from: http://uis.unesco.org/en/news/women-are-missingranks-higher-education-and-research
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