Current Trends and Issues in TVET

5. Articulation and Assessment

Articulations can be done horizontally andor vertically. Horizontal articulation is done at the same level of education by recognizing or matriculating credits of courses from one school to the other, e.g. matriculating courses from secondary TVET institutions to secondary academic schools or vice versa, from postsecondary TVET institutions to postsecondary academic institutions or vice versa. Vertical articulation is done between lower level TVET institutions to a higher level. This type of articulation is occurring in several countries in the region. To encourage students to enrol in TVET and to avoid repetition of courses, the approved courses and credits from the lower level of education can be transferred to next education level according to matriculation mechanisms. The TechPrep initiative in Malaysia, which was originally from the U.S., recognizes some of the courses taken in secondary level to be matriculated at the higher level. The 2+2+2 programme offers students advantages because the TVET courses taken during the last two years in high school plus 2 years of participation in postsecondary vocational and institution will qualify the students to receive a diploma certificate, and if they continue for two more years of education in the university level they will qualify for an undergraduate degree. Brunei Darussalam is introducing changes in the TVET framework which includes the introduction of a 3-Tier TVE: National Skill Certificate, Diploma and Technical Degree. Thailand is also introducing similar arrangements. Assessment and certification are other issues that all member countries share similar concerns about. They are not only focusing on how to assess students but also the possibility of expanding the transferability and recognition of the certificates. The idea of Regional Skills Recognition are being studied and discussed by multi-lateral agencies including ILO, ASEAN, and SEAMEO VOCTECH. The initiatives to pilot some areas of employment, such as in Hospitality and Tourism in limited number of countries, have been undertaken but it is still a long way to go to fully implement the Skills Recognition Arrangement at the regional level. 6. Research and Development In the information era, the SEAMEO member countries are moving at different speeds towards knowledge societies where educational policies and practices will be supported by data, facts, andor research findings. The awareness of having research-based policies and practices is very strong but obstacles are still ahead especially on enhancing the staff’s capability in the conduct, manage, and use research activities. Research activities are still fragmented and isolated. Networking and partnerships to conduct research and to share the findings should be strengthened not only among the institutions within the country but within the region as well. 7. Access and Equality Increasing enrolment in TVET through easing access and encouraging minority participation in TVET is the trend in the region. Brunei Darussalam, for example, through Sistem Pendidikan Negara SPN 21, puts more emphasis on TVET. The enrolment in Institute of Technical Education ITE in Singapore is also increasing and image of TVET has improved dramatically. In Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines TVET is also gaining momentum that more youths are more interested in enrolling in this type of education. Indonesia is even more ambitious; the Directorate of Management for Secondary Technical and Vocational Education of Indonesia is planning to increase enrolment ratio between general schools to vocational schools students to 30:70 by 2015 that was revised recently to 33:67. To follow up the initiative, the government is continuously supporting facilities and promoting this programme to communities. Some practical programmes managed by the DSTVE includes building and workshop renovation, developing new vocational schools facilities in the remote area, offering scholarships based on merit, and scholarships based on poor disadvantages people DTVE, 2006. This proportion is very high compared to other countries in the world, except Belgium and Austria, see Table 1. 73