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This article reports findings of a study conducted in Swaziland to determine computer literacy skills of teachers of agriculture, commerce, home economics and technical studies in 16 pilot vocational schools. These teachers are expected to teach the new vocationalised curriculum of the four subjects. Findings revealed that the teachers lacked the basic computer knowledge and skills needed in the newly vocationalised curriculum that was to be mounted in the year 2000 with the financial assistance (loan) from the African Development Bank. However, the teachers indicated a strong interest in taking computer technology courses.

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The World Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Database is an online repository developed by UNESCO-UNEVOC. It aims to provide up-to-date information on TVET systems worldwide. This country profile for Swaziland (Eswatini) outlines the TVET mission, strategy and legislation and provides an overview of the TVET systems - formal, non-formal and informal, governance and financing, TVET teachers and trainers, the qualifications framework and current reforms and major projects. Show less

The purpose of the study was to determine female and male vocational instructors’ self-reported ability to perform vocational entrepreneurship skills. The study surveyed all vocational instructors in the 16 schools offering a vocational entrepreneurship curriculum in Swaziland. The findings reveal that there were no statistically significant mean differences between male and female vocational instructors in their self-reported ability to perform vocational entrepreneurship skills. It was concluded that both female and male instructors were equally capable to perform vocational entrepreneurship skills. It was found that the in-service training course in the delivery of a vocational entrepreneurship curriculum equally equipped female and male instructors. It was recommended that the delivery of high school vocational programs should incorporate entrepreneurship education.

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Descriptive survey research was conducted to determine the perceptions of vocational teachers regarding their own high school vocational programmes. Findings revealed that their beliefs about vocational education were in line with the intended purpose of introducing a vocational curriculum in Swaziland. Non-vocational teachers appear envious of vocational teachers, believing them to receive higher remuneration in recognition of the high demands and heavy workload in vocational instruction. The findings further show that parents are supportive of vocational instruction. There is a need to put in place mechanisms for the maintenance, service and repair of vocational equipment.

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In April 2013, the International Network on Innovative Apprenticeship (INAP) hosted its fifth international conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, in co-operation with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), bringing together researchers, policy makers and practitioners from 34 nations. The title of the conference 'Apprenticeship in a globalised world: premises, promises and pitfalls' points out the need for apprenticeship to deliver on its promise of workplace skills and for it to develop and change as world economies develop. This international exchange of ideas among researchers from all over the world identifies cases of good practice and helps to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and innovation, also within the frame of informal apprenticeships. This book is a summary of papers presented and discussed at the Johannesburg Conference split up equally to the five key topics: (1) introducing apprenticeship: backgrounds, changes and difficulties; (2) enabling learning opportunities in workplaces and informal contexts; (2) competence assessment and development; (4) managing transitions from [vocational education and training] VET into the world of work; and (5) curriculum design, apprenticeships and national qualification frameworks.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The contents are as follows: Keynotes: Overcoming the work-inexperience gap through quality apprenticeships: the ILO's contribution / Michael Axmann and Christine Hofmann; Apprenticeship in global, national and local contexts: can INAP bridge the gaps? / Robert I. Lerman; Rearranging the furniture?: shifting discourses on skills development and apprenticeship in South Africa / Volker Wedekind. Chapter one, 'Introducing apprenticeship: backgrounds changes and difficulties', contains the following papers: Between an inglorious past and precarious future: South African apprenticeship in transition! / Salim Akoojee; Artisanal development without a clear demand: what about the public economy? / Lolwana Peliwe; Indonesia's efforts to implement modern apprenticeship / Joachim Dittrich; Development of a further education and research network for VET professional pedagogues in Sub-Saharan Africa (VET-Net) / Friedheim Eicker and Team of the VET-Net Project; Globalising the apprenticeship concept: how far can apprenticeship systems be compared across countries and what can be gained? / Erica Smith and Ros Brennan Kemmis; Progress with the English apprenticeship / Richard Marsh; Success factors of transition in Austria: possible considerations and consequences for countries all over the world / Peter Hartel and Michaela Marterer; Introducing an apprenticeship pathway in Swedish VET: chances and difficulties in workplace learning / Ingrid Berglund; Marketing apprenticeship in the United States: the case of South Carolina / Robert I. Lerman.

Chapter two, 'Enabling workplace learning': Improving the quality of apprenticeships as learning environment / Jeroen Onstenk; To what extent do facets of the learning environment influence apprentices' motivation and learning success? / Annalisa Schnitzler and Stefanie Velten; Correlates and predictors of apprentices' perception of their workplace as learning place: an analysis of the first three years in apprenticeship / Christof Nagele; An assessment of the effectiveness of VET workplace learning via the VET-WL factor model: a study in the Barcelona area / Pilar Pineda-Herrero, Anna Ciraso-Cali, Berta Espona-Barcons and Carla Quesada-Pallares; A typical experiment of cooperation between a vocational college and enterprises: a case study of Guangzhou Electromechanical Technician College / Ke'an Zhang and Caifeng Chen; COMET learning tasks in practice: how to make use of learning tasks at vocational schools / Thomas Scholz and Lars Heinemann. Chapter three, 'Apprenticships in informal contexts': Lessons learnt from informal apprenticeship initiatives in Southern and Eastern Africa / Ashwani Aggarwal; Linking informal apprenticeship and formal education in South-Eastern Nigeria through market/mechanic village schools / Benjamin Ogwo; Benin: experiences avec deux certificats formels / Roger Adanhounzo [in French only]; Upgrading informal apprenticeship in Egypt: a formalized approach with off-the-job learning / Mohamed F. El Fateh Moussa; Policy options for improving informal apprenticeship: experiences from Ghana / Dan Baffour-Awuah; Vocational skills formation in the informal economy in Tanzania / Gunilla Hojlund; Informal collaborative learning opportunities at Mozambique's [technical and vocational education and training] TVET institutions and industry / Daniel Dinis da Costa and Brigida O. Singo; Youths between urbanisation and poverty: livelihood opportunities and challenges of informal apprenticeships in Ghana / Benjamin Schraven; Transitions in informal apprenticeship: results from ILO research in several African countries / Christine Hofmann and Wendy Okofo; Les examens de fin d'apprentissage traditionnel (EFAT): un accelerateur d'amelioration de l'apprentissage traditionnel au Benin / Cyr Davodoun [in French only].

Chapter four, 'Competence assessment and development': 'Between a rock and a hard place': structural dilemmas of workplace trainers in German apprenticeship training / Anke Bahl; Competence development of pre-vocational and vocational teachers / Klaus Jenewein; Creating matrices of learning situations as a didactical possibility to fabricate an internal differentiation for action-oriented vocational education / Ralph Dreher; The influence of work process oriented learning context on learning outcomes in VET / Yingyi Zhou and Zhiqun Zhao; The influence of apprenticeship systems on occupational-biographical orientations: findings of a qualitative comparative study of the VET in England and Germany / Erika Edith Gericke; Competence measurement and development in TVET: result of the first COMET test in South Africa / Ursel Hauschildt, Hefen Brown and Zolife Zungu; Applying the COMET competence measurement and development model for VET teachers and trainers / Felix Rauner; Changes to artisan status and identity: implications for apprenticeship development / Angelique Wildschut and Salim Akoojee; A competence analysis and competence creation tool to integrate employees in subsidized contracts / Martin Kroll. Chapter five, 'Managing transitions from VET into the world of work': Does promoting permeability decrease social inequality in VET?: promises and pitfalls of a widespread idea / Jakob Kost; Why apprentices quit: a German case study / Ursel Hauschildt and Dorothea Piening; Successful educational outcomes after early apprenticeship contract terminations: the effect of learning experiences / Barbara E. Stalder; The application of COMET model in automobile maintenance technician personnel training / Donglian Gu and Changwen Cai; The transition from school world to authentic work world: a model of integrating work into learning in Chinese TVET colleges / Bin Bai; School-to-work transition: explanatory and predictor variables for self-employability of high school pre-vocational agriculture graduates in Swaziland / B. S Mndebele, Mpendulo L. Mngomezulu and Barnabas M. Dlamini.

Chapter six, 'Curriculum design, apprenticeships and national qualification frameworks: does VET fit into NQFS?': 'Apprenticeship' in contemporary Britain, Italy and Germany / Lisa Rustico; National Qualification Frameworks (NQFs) as a foundation to gaining more transparency and a better international recognition of professional qualifications including VET qualifications / A. Willi Petersen; Connections between the recognition of non-formal and informal learning and National Qualification Frameworks: consequences for VET / Silvia Annen; Apprenticeship and NQF: do they fit together or compete with each other?: the case of Switzerland / Philipp Gonon. Chapter seven, 'Open session topics': The connection of school improvement and school-intern further teacher education in the Canton of Zurich / Silke Pieneck; The effect of labor market regulations on training behaviour and quality: the German labor market reform as a natural experiment / Anika Jansen, Mirjam Struplef Leiser, Felix Wenzelmann and Stefan C. Wolter; Productivity of apprentices: the impact of school-developed key competencies / Anika Jansen and Harald Pfeifer; Case study on cost, benefit, and quality of apprenticeship in China / Junlan Chen, Zishi Luo, Haoyan Mai and Qiming Yang. Show less