Global Partnership in Technical and Vocational Education and Training: A Pathway to Sustainable Development

Introduction

Since the last three decades or more, Sustainable Development (SD) has gained increased dominance in public policy discourses, with respect to sustainability issues in developing countries of the world, especially after a definition of SD was been introduced by the “Brundtland Report” in the year 1987. SD is defined as a “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p. 8). Since the “Brundtland Report” was published, which has established a landmark in activating the awareness for sustainability issues and challenges, SD has increasingly gained dominance to become one of the most salient developmental discourses today.

In September, 2015, the U.N. General Assembly launched a global SD agenda, with the theme: “The 2030 Agenda for SD”, together with a set of 17 Goals, 169 sub-related targets and 230 detailed indicators, which serve as a reference point for reaching every country and community across the globe, from developed to developing countries and from rural to urban areas (UNESCO, 2020; Weiland, Hickmann, Lederer, Marquardt & Schwindenhammer, 2021). From 2015 to 2030, we are all mandated to develop our respective communities’ and countries’ building upon each of the 17 broad Goals, 169 sub-related targets and 230 detailed indicators, which serve as a blueprint for SD. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), together with their sub-related targets and detailed indicators aimed to tackle key economic, social and environmental issues (e.g. skills gap, unemployment, dropout, insecurity, poverty, gender gap, etcetera) facing developing countries of the world. These issues and challenges are intertwined and, therefore, tackling one area can affect outcome in other areas (Nilsson, Griggs & Visbeck, 2016). Tackling each of these challenges and issues is not identified as an end to itself but as an essential catalyst for SD of developing countries.

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET), together with entrepreneurship education and training (EET), has been identified by the U.N. 2030 agenda, as represented by Goal 4 (Quality Education). Goal 4 aimed at ensuring all learners (male and female inclusive) acquire the foundational and higher-order skills (HOS); have greater and more equal chances to continually access skills training and experience core values to function effectively within the society and contribute to SD (U.N. 2017). This means that a well-implemented TVET programme would equip recipients with HOS, provide equal opportunities for all learners to continually acquire the HOS to enhance human well-being, self-esteem and freedom from social servanthood. In order to realize these obligations, there is need to adopt a different type of education programme, where all major stakeholders such as employers of labour, parents, international donor agencies and international financial institutions, among others voluntarily agree to work together to achieve a common goal.

Before and after the SDGs were launched in 2015, TVET has been facing some issues and challenges. For instance, research have shown that inadequate funding is the greatest challenge facing TVET programme in developing countries (Oviawe, 2018; Onwusa, 2021; Ramadan & Xiaohui, 2019; U.N., 2019). Governments in developing countries claim to be incapable of providing the required funds for the management of TVET (UNESCO & ILO, 2018; ILO, 2011, 2020). The argument put forward by governments concerning their inability of providing the required financial resources for the management of TVET programme is the competing demand for funds from other sectors (Akaranta, 2014; Ziderman, 2016). The financial responsibility of governments that cannot be met by mingre resources has made governments to review their involvement in funding TVET (Aryal, 2020; Center for Research and Development Services, 2018). Governments claim to be incapable of bearing full the responsibility of financing TVET programme because of its capital intensive nature (Edokpolor & Imafidon, 2017, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, 2017).