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This chapter considers training through the medium of vocational education in the school location, and considers how the formal education system currently impacts on the informal sector, and how in the future it might have greater influence. The 1980s saw a changing perspective towards education in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. A realisation developed that education must be more relevant to the modern world of work. Concerns about the lack of articulation between school and work have been a common theme of debates about educational reform in all countries where there has been a substantial amount of youth employment. Traditionally, the concern has been with how the education system could better prepare students for employment. This chapter considers the arguments regarding 'strong' versions of vocational schooling and pre-vocational models, which refers to heavy specialisation in the vocational in quite separate schools and streams, and 'weak' versions of vocational schooling and pre-vocational models, referring to the orientation to the vocational as part of general education. The authors also consider what is a relatively new trend in developing countries, enterprise education which has emerged in OECD countries as a response to specific problems. The authors examine the relevance of this initiative in the very different cultural contexts of the developing world. In addition, they briefly look at some of the key dimensions of education that might have a direct or indirect bearing on self-employment, including career guidance, examinations, teacher attitudes, materials and decentralisation strategies. Some of the areas discussed concern vocational education, arguments against vocationalism, pre-vocational education, education with production, agriculture in schools and enterprise education. This chapter also explores the kinds of structures that need to be in place in national education systems so that reforms that relate to the informal sector can succeed.

This publication is indexed at TD/TNC 62.213. Show less

Enterprise based training has many advantages over preparation either in schools or vocational and technical institutes (VTIs). The authors emphasise that it is clear from the literature that an element of theory training is a further vital ingredient in skill development, and that there is more than one model of best practice. While there have been recent reforms in on-the-job training in many countries, such reforms have taken a variety of paths. This chapter also discusses the more general trend towards the questioning of the role of the state and a stress on the efficiency of market forces. The concern in this chapter is primarily with the informal sector. The authors argue that changes in training practices within the formal sector have had an indirect impact on the models of training which have been generated within the informal sector. When looking at the informal sector, the authors examine existing models of training which have been generated within the informal sector. They also consider attempts, with varying degrees of success, both to intervene in and to mimic such models. Finally, some interventions which attempt to develop appropriate modern models are explored. The authors discuss enterprise based training and the role of the informal sector in several developing countries including Ghana and Uganda.

This publication is indexed at TD/TNC 62.213. Show less

This chapter contributes to a critical analysis of South Africa's current skills development strategy (indexed at TD/TNC 75.378) and the prospects for successfully upskilling the population. In South Africa, a large proportion of current and future employment will occur in smaller, less formal enterprises. Skill upgrading in the informal economy will need to be a key element of a national skills strategy. The link between skills development and enterprise development strategies will therefore be of significance to South Africa's attempts to reform its skills development pathway. The author investigates whether there is evidence of policy coherence in relation to the issue of skills development for enterprise development. The analysis highlights the extent to which policy incoherence interferes with delivery and the potential to solve these issues.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/IRD 88.273. Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 82.52 to TD/TNC 82.62. Show less

This is one of a series of education papers issued by the Education Department of the Department for International Development (DFID). Each paper represents a study or piece of commissioned research on some aspect of education and training in developing countries. 'Learning to compete' was initiated in late 1995 as a cross-sectoral research project with input from DFID's Education Department and the Enterprise Development Group. The project sought to engage with the massive challenges to social and economic development faced by Africa in the 1980s and 1990s, through the collection of data in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. The final report focuses on the challenges and opportunities for these countries to respond to external pressures and for their peoples to enjoy improved livelihoods. There is a focus on 'learning-led competitiveness' and the important role played by education and training in the success of small and micro enterprises (SMEs). Show less

In many countries a very high proportion of all female employment is absorbed by the informal sector. These informal activities range from subsistence farming, petty trading and hawking, through to wage employment in unregulated small enterprises or home-based contract work for larger formal sector firms, to ownership of small business. In many developing countries there are more women than men in the informal sector. This chapter discusses women and training for the informal sector, highlighting that there has not been sufficient provision of training for women in the informal sector. The authors discuss the inequality of educational opportunity between men and women, and outline some of the many constraints which prevent women from participating in formal education and training, and then in the employment market on equal terms with men. Income generating projects for women within the area of non-formal education are discussed, and findings from a review of the literature on the training needs of women in the informal sector are presented.

This publication is indexed at TD/TNC 62.213. Show less

There have been recent calls to transform [vocational education and training] VET and to transform development. This double call leads [the authors] to ask how can skills development best support development that is sustainable for individuals, communities and the planet, and which promotes social justice and poverty reduction. In considering this question, [the authors] critique the idea of green skills for the green economy as being inadequate for achieving a transformed and transformative VET that shifts the target from economic growth to the wellbeing of individuals and that enables vocational education to play a role in challenging and transforming society and work.

Rather, [the authors] argue that we must see human development and sustainable development as inseparable, and plan and evaluate VET for its contribution to these. Such an approach must be grounded in a view of work, and hence skills for work, that is decent, life-enhancing, solidaristic, environmentally-sensitive and intergenerationally-aware. It must confront the reality that much current VET is complicit in preparing people for work that lacks some or all of these characteristics. It must be concerned with poverty, inequality and injustice and contribute to their eradication. It must be supportive of individuals' agency, whilst also reflecting a careful reading of the structures that too often constrain them. In doing all this it must minimise the costs and risks of any transformation for the poor and seek to lock them into better individual and communal lives, not out of them. Finally, it must transform skills, work and the world in ways that are truly sustainable of the people of today but also of those who are to inhabit the earth tomorrow.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

South African further education and training (FET) colleges have been enjoined to become more responsive to their external environment, in keeping with international trends in public vocational education and training (VET) reform. One mechanism for achieving this goal is to market colleges and communicate more effectively to future students, future employers and the communities in which colleges are located. This article reports on key findings of the first case studies of marketing practices in four colleges, noting very considerable variations in strategies and practices across their marketing functions. Nonetheless, we identify a common tendency to prioritise external over internal and interactive marketing. We argue that the limited understanding by marketing staff and college leaders about the state of the art of marketing practice is the product of the broader challenges of the unfinished college transformation process. We note the inevitability that the new South African colleges will gradually adopt marketing approaches as part of their wider process of evolution, but propose that there are unlikely to be simple solutions to a number of key tensions that are both internal and external to the marketing function.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The dominance of the human capital approach in vocational skills development has been increasingly questioned for being de-humanised and de-contextualised. Contrary to this trend, the discourse in health professional skills development has shown increasing enthusiasm for consolidating this existing paradigm. To debate whether professional skills development should indeed be insulated from such scepticism, this paper examines one strategy adopted by the health professions. Called ‘task shifting’, this strategy involves re-delegating professional tasks to nonprofessional cadres according to a skills-based toolkit. Challenging the context-free approach to using this toolkit, this paper presents ethnographic evidence derived from a case study of pharmacy workforce issues in Malawi. It was found that task shifting was inhibited by a perception barrier about the moral and intellectual superiority of the pharmacists. Pharmacy technicians were judged to be unfit for a professional task because of a perceived lack of professional status, power and ethics. On tracing the origin of the inherent professional prowess assigned to the pharmacists, it was found that professionalism was an ideology borrowed from external sources, inter alia, colonial legacies and global health governance. This study exposes our hidden assumption about an axiomatic transferability of Anglo-American skills development models to a postcolonial, aid-dependent context. This paper therefore suggests redefining this toolkit by bridging health research into dialogue with non-health disciplinary concerns such as postcolonialism and aid-dependence. In conclusion, it argues that professional skills development is context-laden; and in need of a human-centred approach that involves true indigenous participation - challenges not unlike those faced by the vocational skills discourse.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Firms in South Africa are challenged to upgrade their technology and to innovate so that they can become more productive and competitive in a global and national economy. At the same time, they are challenged to create more jobs for sustainable and inclusive growth in the context of high unemployment and growing inequality. This means that the nature of the education, training and skills required is changing rapidly, challenging post-school education and training (PSET) organisations to be more flexible, adaptable and responsive.

This report represents work in progress, that is, a first attempt to synthesise and highlight trends emerging from [the authors'] research, primarily to inform initial discussion and debate. [The authors] have conducted three in-depth case studies that provide a systemic analysis of capability building in a sectoral system of innovation that is regionally bounded: astronomy and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA); automotive component manufacturers in the Eastern Cape; and sugar-cane growers and millers in KwaZulu-Natal. The first three sections provide a short synopsis of each case. The fourth section begins to explore how we can ensure that PSET organisations have the will, expertise and interactive capabilities to address firm demand.

Abstract from publisher's website and excerpts from publication. Show less

This introductory chapter highlights the nature of some of the major vocational education and training (VET) policy reforms that are underway in southern Africa, their origins and the likelihood of their success to show how VET is an important policy nexus between economic and educational policy, between the state and the market, and between concerns with poverty and growth. It also looks at both internal trends within Africa and international influences. The following key themes are introduced: VET systems have evolved in a piecemeal and unsystematic way; the developments of national training authorities and national qualifications frameworks have been complex and uneven in nature; the core function of VET remains promoting employment opportunities and this has resulted in a growing focus on the need for radical curricular overhaul and better relationships with the world of work; the role of the informal economy is not well-addressed in most countries; the relationship between the state and the market is seen in trends towards the greater marketisation of public providers and a growing acceptance of private providers as a key part of VET systems; and there are concerns about equity and access in VET provision.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/IRD 88.272; individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 85.254 to TD/TNC 85.262. Show less