Publications > Reports from research organisations

Vocational education and training in Southern Africa: A comparative study


Date posted:

2022/11/01

Publication year:

2005

Corporate author/s:

Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), HSRC Press

Person/s author/s:

McGrath, Simon; Gewer, Anthony; Akoojee, Mahomed Salim Ahmed

Output-type:

book

Format:

pdf

This volume is intended to develop and share knowledge within the southern African region regarding the challenges faced by vocational education and training (VET) systems and the responses to these challenges. Some of these challenges arise out of the history of VET in the region, whilst others relate to current international discourses about VET. The field of VET in southern Africa has been badly neglected. It is very difficult to find an article in the international journals on the topic, and it is even less likely that it will have been written by a national of the region, based at one of its research institutions. VET has also attracted little attention in the policy community for more than a decade, given the donor fascination with basic education since the World Conference on Education for All in 1990 (McGrath 2002). However, VET can play an important role in supporting social and economic development goals, and major VET policy reforms and the creation of new institutions are either underway or planned in all seven countries under study in this book. Therefore, it is my intention in this introduction to illuminate the nature of some of these changes, their origins and their likelihood of success. In so doing, I will show how VET is an important policy nexus - located as it is between economic and educational policy, between the state and the market, and between concerns with poverty and growth. Before this volume turns to examine this complexity through an exploration of the experiences of seven countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland), it is important to locate these national and contemporary debates in the historical evolution of ideas about VET. In so doing, I will look at both internal trends within Africa and the impact of external ideas.

There are no related research posts.

There is no related news.

There are no related events.

Establishing a foundation for labour market information systems in South Africa >

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the key issues and problems in establishing a labour market information system in an emerging economy. The paper is structured as follows: section one considers some of the key high-level foundat...

Chasing credentials and mobility: Private higher education in South Africa >

This books brings a different set of lenses to bear on what has become the subject of intense contestation, of 'media hype', in South Africa: the private provision of higher education. This books seeks to provide a way to move beyond any polarisation...

Developing a framework for understanding SETA performance: Monitoring and Evaluating their role in skills planning, steering and enabling supply within their sector >

The paper begins by exploring the central issue highlighted in a number of research reports on the SETAs: the absence of a shared understanding of their role. The paper argues that multiple objectives have an adverse effect on the performance of the...

What Can TVET providers and employers do to enhance students' employability? >

This anecdote illustrates the indispensability of workplace learning to occupational competence and job-readiness. Labour-market experts commonly identify four pre-requisites for getting a job in the modern industrial workplace: technical occupationa...

New TVET artisan bridging and qualifications >

This presentation highlights the new TVET artisan bridging and qualifications, including 7-System, alignment of the gamut for artisans, GTTP: workflow, knowledge modules, practical skill modules, worker experience modules, a Legend for Artisan Trade...

A catchment study around the location of TVET colleges (South West Gauteng TVET College) >

The University of Western Cape requested a study on the Geographic Profiling of TVET colleges across South Africa. The purpose of this study was to profile each college to identify business and commercial activities within a nearby vicinity. As part...

Volume 1: An analysis of international practices on funding for post-school education and training >

This international review provides a snapshot of the different institutional and funding mechanisms in place to support the post-school education and training (PSET) system across a wide range of developed and developing countries. It also raises par...

Planning with purpose: The use of labour market intelligence for skills planning in South Africa >

This report is the final product of a 17 month-long Skills Planning Dialogue, funded by the EU-South Africa Dialogue Facility, with the aim of supporting the establishment by the Department of Higher Education and Training of a 'credible institutiona...