Although the TVET curriculum has been developed to reflect the needs and requirements of the labor market through the competence-based approach, the TVET system is still not without challenges. The major challenges identified through interviews with college administrators and program coordinators are presented below.
2.4.1 Training in many occupational areas leads to resource constraints
In polytechnic TVET colleges, training is offered in many occupational areas – ‘hard skill’ areas such as construction, mechanical engineering and electrical fields, and ‘soft skill’ areas such as business, human resources, office operations, and so on, with different specializations within each occupational area in all levels of training (levels I-IV). Training in multiple occupational areas demands huge resources. In this regard, the TVET teachers and administrators interviewed stated that “there are shortages of training materials in many occupational areas; engaging each student in practical work in the workshops is a critical problem”. One of the interviewed TVET administrators also said that “in some cases, materials are not available in time mainly due to shortage of finance to address the requests of different training programs on time”. Interviewed administrators reflected that the increase in enrollment and the shortage of materials and facilities have resulted in TVET institutions operating under stringent conditions. Interviewed teachers stated that such resource constraints have a direct effect on the competence development of the learners because of insufficient practical learning.
2.4.2 Introducing curriculum changes
The interview responses of teachers and TVET administrators and information from documents showed that there are frequent changes in curriculum and program delivery. According to the interview conducted with administrators, for example, students who had
completed their first-year training in the former curriculum in 2009 were forced to train again in the new curriculum, with no consideration of their time and financial resources. In this regard, one of the interviewed public TVET college administrator stated that “TVET students were ordered to register for new competences even after completing their training; otherwise their graduation would be delayed”. The Private TVET Providers Association (PTPA) has also complained that the curriculum change was so swift that “TVET providers were ordered to introduce the change immediately without considering the status of the incumbent programs and batch of trainees” (PTPA, 2011, p.5). The same document stated that the curriculum change applied not only to new entrants but also to those who had already enrolled in the previous curriculum, and that the curriculum in one area of training “changed twice in a year” (PTPA, p.5). One of the interviewed training coordinators in one of the public TVET colleges said that such occurrences are “usual phenomena in TVET institutions”, expressing the condition as a “state of confusion”.
2.4.3 Teachers for competence-based education and training
Most of the TVET teachers who were to implement competence-based TVET were products of “teacher-centered” approaches with little or no practical experience in the real world of industry/business. Teachers were teaching in the non-competence-based curriculum considered as “input-based” with traditional delivery practices. Many teachers were trained to teach in “time-and-calendar-dominated programs”, which are not in line with the main tenet of the competence-based approach: “given time, all students can learn” (Bouslama et al., 2003, p.204). TVET teachers will have to be trained to free themselves of traditional delivery practices.
In addition, the TVET administrators in Addis Ababa interviewed indicated that the turnover of knowledgeable and experienced teachers, especially in industrial and construction areas, is increasing because of attractive salaries in the private sector. According to the interviewed administrators, “the turnover may continue to be a serious challenge for the TVET system”. The TVET system appears to be unable to retain its experienced teachers, let alone bring in practitioners from industry.
2.4.4 The status of cooperative training
As stated in the 2008 TVET strategy, the apprenticeship-based industrial attachment scheme in place prior to 2008 was not effective due to “lack of cooperation of the employers, as they
were not consulted during the planning process” (MOE, 2008, p.30). A cooperative training scheme has therefore been included in the formal TVET programs in the form of “workplace internships” with the “involvement of a broad range of stakeholders from the private and public sectors as of 2008” (MOE, 2008, p.7). TVET proclamation 391/2004 states that partner enterprises shall receive and provide apprenticeship training to trainees, assign apprentices to places appropriate to their training, and ensure that apprentices acquire proper work experience. The enterprises are also obliged to evaluate, and to forward their opinion on the apprentices’ performance to the concerned organ. The Ministry of Education (2010) claimed that enterprises were involved and benefited from cooperative training. Nevertheless, as interviewed administrators indicated, the cooperative training is not practiced as envisaged in the TVET system.
An interviewed TVET coordinator stated the following regarding the attitude of enterprises to the cooperative training:
Although there are a number of enterprises who do volunteer, a significant number of enterprises selected are not willing to accept trainees; even if they are accepted, the enterprises don’t seriously follow up the trainees.
On the same issue, an interviewed TVET administrator said:
Companies are less willing to collaborate with TVET institutions and those few collaborating companies do not adequately supply materials during training. It is usual practice to see trainees placed in activities that do not match their training.
With regard to the enterprises’ assessment of the trainees’ workplace practice, one coordinator of the cooperative training scheme stated that:
The credibility and fairness of the enterprises’ assessment of trainees is questionable because most of the enterprises reported that the trainees had mastered all competencies (scoring 100% in all competencies), which is unrealistic.
2.4.5 The perception of parents, teachers and students regarding TVET
The attitudes of parents, students and teachers to TVET are not favorable. During the interview-based discussions with parents of grade 10 students, parents stated that they wanted their children to join college preparatory schools that lead to university education, not TVET. Parents considered university education a “better alternative for a better future”. Grade 10
students were asked in a questionnaire to indicate the purpose of their learning and whether TVET or university education is better for their future. Regarding the focus of their learning, about 67% responded that they study to enter preparatory schools. With regard to the contribution towards their future, 54% said that university education is better than TVET for their future, whereas 20% disagreed and 17.5% opted to agree somewhat.
In relation to the question on the nature of high school teachers’ advice provided for grade 10 students, about 64% of the students responded that teachers mostly advise them to go to a college preparatory school. Interviewed TVET administrators and program coordinators were also asked where they prefer to send their children after completing grade 10. Their common response was that they want their children to join preparatory schools. Overall, parents, students and teachers seem to view TVET as a low-status alternative to college preparatory education. The perceptions of students and teachers regarding TVET have serious implications for the quality of the training because perception influences the motivation and commitment to learn and teach.
2.4.6 National occupational assessment for certificate of competence
The National Occupational Assessment was instituted in 2008, following the implementation of CBET. The aim is to establish whether TVET graduates have developed the level of competence envisaged in the occupational standards. The assessment results partly reflect the training situation in TVET colleges/institutes. Despite the effort made to improve the TVET system, the results obtained so far are below expectation. For example, the Occupational Competency Assessment Certification Center of Addis Ababa (OCACCAA) (2012) reported that, out of 3,743 candidates who took the national occupational assessment in the third round, 1,342 (35.6%) were found competent. In the fourth round, 13,375 were assessed and only 2,921 (22%) were declared competent. Out of the 9,193 candidates in the seventh round in the same period, only 1,590 (17.05%) were declared competent (OCACCAA, 2012). The overall pass rate in all seven rounds was 17.3%. Although the number of applicants increased across rounds and the pass grades vary from one area to another, most of the candidates were marked as “not yet competent.”
National Occupational Assessment results on 3 occupations with 17 specializations at a TVET college in Addis Ababa in the first quarter of the 2011 budget year, before the level-based assessment began, revealed the same. Out of the 4,158 candidates for national occupational assessment in the period mentioned, only 808 (19.4%) were found competent. For
occupations with many candidates, for example automotive, out of 113 candidates only 35 (31%) were found competent. In business, out of 3,952 only 740 (19%) were found competent. In construction only 33 (35%) out of 93 candidates performed well. In the case of specializations, for example, out of 1,409 level IV accounting and 295 purchasing candidates, only 121 (8.6%) and 140 (47%) respectively were found competent (OCACCAA, 2012). The extent to which the level-based assessment improves candidates’ performance in national occupational assessment will be seen in the future.
2.4.7 Placement of trainees in the TVET system
In the current Ethiopian TVET system, those who score high in the grade 10 completion national examination (in 2012 2.7 and above on a scale of 4) enter college preparatory education, and those who score lower enter TVET. For example, the cut-off point to join level IV TVET in 2012 was 2.57 for males and 2.29 for females (Addis Ababa TVET Agency, 2012). The streaming system is tantamount to officially recognizing that TVET is for the “less able” or the “academically weak”. In general secondary education, no courses are offered to orient and guide students on occupational choice and future career development. Most high school students (84%) reflected that the school administration did not provide information on TVET as an alternative for their future career development. Although the Federal Government TVET proclamation 391/2004 (p.16) stipulated that the “inclination and the will” of students be considered for placement, students were neither asked about their interests and future career development nor engaged in activities that raise their interest in different occupational opportunities.
2.6 Discussion and conclusion