Partnership between tvet institutions and business - industry community in developing countries

RESEARCH, EXCHANGE 38 . Volume 63 - No.12/2018 PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN TVET INSTITUTIONS AND BUSINESS-INDUSTRY COMMUNITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES MAI VAN TINH 1 Email: mvtinh@gmail.com 1 Mai Van Tinh , Policy Research & Analysis Department Association of Vietnamese Universities & Colleges Abstract The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions play a signicant role in providing skilled workforce required for the development of all developing nations. In order to remain competitive in the world market, any organization should have highly skilled workforce that can keep them to be economically viable in a global economy. An effective School-Industry partnership in TVET can be a useful strategy in providing workforce training and maintaining knowledgeable employees. With the fast changing requirements and demand for manpower on newer trades and higher levels of skills a large number of business-industry sectors are unable to recruit appropriately trained skilled workforce required in the industries. This results in lacking employability for many TVET graduates who are remaining unemployed. The major reason of this employability gap is the inability of the TVET institutions to adapt or update their curricula and training programs according to the need and demand of the job markets. Various studies have revealed that this gap is primarily due to lack of linkages with the business-industry community and understanding of their requirements. With this in mind therefore the TVET providers in many developing countries are now giving much attention to this aspect and some of the TVET institutions have made signicant progress in establishing partnerships with business-industry community for sustainable development of their TVET programs and in order to enhance their TVET student’s skills and make them career ready. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a research work in Africa to explore existing School-Industry partnerships within TVET institutions in the Republic of Kenya and uncover the impacting challenges and prospects taking into cognizance that while partnership between TVET institutions and business-industry community differ in their complexity and breath, there are certain commonalities that emerge (1). Keywords: TVET institutions, Business- Industry sectors, partnerships Introduction Like many other countries in Africa, the Republic of Kenya is a slowly developing economy with a population of about 40 million. After independence (1963) the education system in Kenya was segmented along socio- economic lines with the rich taking their children to the former European and Asian schools while the poor took their children to the former African Schools. While the former European and Asian schools were well endowed with facilities, the African schools were ill equipped. Currently, Kenyan schools tend to be ranked by parents and students according to their perceived ability to guarantee education and social mobility. The classication corresponds with the structural features so that the well-endowed schools rank highest in public estimation and entering them is very competitive. Class structure corresponds to the distribution of better-qualied teachers, availability of facilities and better performance in Kenya Certicate of primary Education. Learners in Kenya can be divided into three major socio-economic categories: high, middle and low socio-economic statuses. (2) RESEARCH, EXCHANGE Volume 63 - No.12/2018 . 39 In Kenya policy documents have identied provision of accessible, quality and relevant education as a key foundation for development and social cohesion. Formal TVET programmes in Kenya are school-based and are offered at both schools and technical training colleges. The TVET sector in Kenya has experiencedmoderate growth over the last 40 years. The TVET sector continues to produce the needed middle level human resource for the national economy. The Kenya vision 2030 emphasizes the need to provide critical skills required to drive the various sectors of the economy. However, the Vision 2030 has placed special demands on TVET as the leading engine that the economy must essentially rely upon to produce adequate levels of middle level manpower that will be needed to drive the economy towards the attainment of the vision. TVET is targeted to impart technical and vocational skills which are expected to impact on employment, poverty reduction and by extension social cohesion. Despite the growth in the TVET sector, both in enrolment and funding, the sector faces a number of challenges including poor perception that has made the sector branded as a choice of last resort for those who fail to attain test grades required to join university education. These include: an insufcient number of high qualied trainers with pedagogical competency, inadequate number of TVET centres, limited availability of customized teaching and learning materials, limited industry participation and inadequate research support services (3). Other challenges include the fact that the supply-end -push for enrolment is prevalent instead of the desired market-end- pull for enrolment in TVET and relatively, industry is offering few employment opportunities for TVET graduates. There is also a mismatch between training offered and the actual demands of business-industry community. Linking of the private sector and the education institutions is a major rising concern in many developing countries. In Kenya, TVET is the pillar in facilitating the much needed industrial transformation and development and linking with Industry the key to achieving this. Partnerships between TVET providers and business-industry community can be a mutually useful strategy in providing workforce training and in maintaining knowledgeable employees. Adequate and effective collaboration between TVET institutions and industries would lead to provision of relevant practical skills for industrialization and modernization of the country. TVET in countries that have witnessed signicant economic transformation have dynamic industry-institution linkages. According to the Republic of Kenya (1999), technical institutions should have close linkages with the world of work to solicit support from business-industry community for enhancing their practical training. Industry linkages in Kenya are weak and to address this, the country’s TVET Policy (2012) proposes the following reforms and strategies for Industries participation to be enhanced in TVET: (a). Develop school-industry collaboration guidelines to support the development of competence standard, modular training, and curriculum review; (b). Trainer industry links to enhance quality of contracts being a key performance indicators; (c). Link student projects with industry with clear performance indicators. (4) & (5) In order to remain competitive in the world market, organizations should have highly skilled workforce that can keep the organization economically viable in a global RESEARCH, EXCHANGE 40 . Volume 63 - No.12/2018 economy. The nurturing of linkages between TVET providers and industry is essential for the provision of adequate and relevant skills development (6). Partnerships between TVET providers and industry can be a useful strategy in providing workforce training and maintaining knowledgeable employees. Better mutual adjustment between school-based and workplace learning leads to better integration of practical and theoretical learning and promotes holistic learning. Both knowing about and how to do things is likely to expand skill capabilities of vocational learners and provide a proper match between supply and demand for skills. According to Obwoge, Mwangi and Nyongesa here is no feedback from the employers to training institutions leading to a supply driven training skewed in favour of technologists (7). In Kenya the technical graduates lack hands on experienceand have poor work attitudes and are inexible to change (8) yet according to World Bank (9), the reputation of TVET institutions is dependent on their ability to produce qualied young people who will be immediately operational in the work place. Over time the industry demands have evolved as the structure of the economy has changed to both labour intensive and skill intensive industries and yet the formal technical and vocational education and training system is based more on getting a qualication rather than on acquiring skills and competencies for successfully integrating the world of work. This creates the need for TVET-industry partnership and engagement in order to infuse the skills needed in the market to the trainees. In this way, the socio-economic relevance of TVET can be enhanced. TVET and Industry The Kenyan education system is largely characterized by theory-oriented curricular and lack industry “touch” as they are simply “academic”. The Kenya Youth Employment Program funded by the World Bank assessment conrmed that the second largest barrier to youth employment is the skills mismatch- what the youth are getting from the TVET colleges and universities do not match what the employer/industry need. This is further compounded by lack of industry exposure/ apprenticeship as much of what they learn in college is theory. Partnership is dened as “a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specied and joint rights and responsibilities”. A partnership can exist in many forms: formal and informal, public or private, large or small, individual or organisational. In order for a partnership to be successful, both parties have to cooperate with one another and they have to share the successes and the challenges that occur over the course of the partnership. As technology advances in today’s workplace, there is an increasing demand for well-trained and skilled workforce that matches the changing technology hence the need for TVET and industry partnership.Creating a partnership between two entities of institution and industry that may have different goals can be a challenging process. Success depends on nding common goals and negotiating plans that pay off for both parties. The industry and the TVET institution/provider have to work together to dene the relationship, determine methods of collaboration, and establish shared goals, so that both organisations can reap the mutual benets from the partnership. RESEARCH, EXCHANGE Volume 63 - No.12/2018 . 41 Methodology Field research was adopted to investigate the status of partnership between TVET providers and industry sectors in Kenya. The paper also sought to establish the obstacles/ challenges faced by TVET institutions that hinder industry partnerships. The study used data from a sample of TVET institutions and business- industry sectors. A range of secondary data was reviewed both in print and information published on the internet The target population was TVET providers, in this case TVET institutions, and industry sectors. A sample size of 17 TVET institutions out of the current 48 was used, giving a sample size representation of 35%. Out of these 17 institutions sampled, only 14 responded giving a response rate of 82%. The sampled institutions that responded cut across the country and these included: 1) Gusii Institute of Science and Technology 2) Technical University of Mombasa 3) Niteyemi Youth Polytechnic 4) Rwika Technical Training Institute 5) Kisauni Youth Polytechnic 6) Kiambu Institute of Science & Technology 7) Eldoret National Polytechnic 8) Kiirua Technical Training Institute 9) Mombasa Technical Training Institute 10) Sangalo Institute of Technology 11) Bumbe Technical Training Institute 12) Railway Training Institute 13) Nyeri Technical Training Institute 14) Nkabune Technical Training Institute The respondent institutions included 2 Vocational Training Centers, 3 Institutes of Technology, 7 Technical Training Institutes, 1 National Polytechnic and 1 Technical University. Ten industry sectors within Nairobi and Kiambu Counties were sampled according to type of industry. The sectors sampled included: 1) Building construction 2) Electrical (Power) 3) Hotel 4) Baking 5) Research Institutions The research instrument used was a questionnaire that included both closed and open ended types of items. Structured questions were used in order to elicit as much information as possible in an unconstrained manner. Descriptive Statistics were employed in the presentation and analysis of the results Findings Majority of the institutions (93%) said that they were in partnership with industry. In regard to how long the TVET institution have partnered with the industry, the responses were: - majority of TVET institutions have partnered with the sugar, hotel, building & construction, carpentry industry the longest (20 years). This is followed by the power generating industry (15 years) - the least sector partnered with in terms of number of years is the “Jua Kali” sector (5 years) RESEARCH, EXCHANGE 42 . Volume 63 - No.12/2018 Table 1: Length of partnership with industry Most of the TVET institutions (85.7%) indicated that they initiated the partnerships directly as an institution. Majority of the TVET institutions (35.7%) indicated that the duration of the partnership was mostly dependent on the length of a specic program; 28.6% said the duration was long term; 21.4% said the duration was short term while 7.1% said the duration was unspecied. In regard to the extent of government involvement in promoting TVET-Industry linkage, the responses were as follows and as is illustrated in table 2 below: - 35.7% of the respondents were of the opinion that the government is not involved at all - 42.9% said that the government is somehow involved - 14.3% said that the government is very much involved Table 2: Extent of government involvement in promoting TVET-industry linkage RESEARCH, EXCHANGE Volume 63 - No.12/2018 . 43 All the TVET institutions were in agreement that the industry sectors play role in the development of skilled workforce. In regard to the level or stage at which the industry can be involved with the TVET institutions: -57.1% of the respondents said that this can be during the development of curricula; -7.1% said during employment (on-job training); -21.4% said during the trainees attachment period in the industry; -14.3% said during the development of curricula This is illustrated in table 3 below. Table 3: Level/stage of industry involvement Challenges in TVET - industry partnership Challenges existed for both TVET institutions and industry sectors. Key among the challenges pointed out included: 1) poor policy making by the establishments 2) cost involved in skill transfer 3) constant change of technology 4) Many rms in the industry do not want to get into a formal engagement with the institutions 5) Institutions lack the technology and machinery in the industry for training Prospects in TVET - industry partnership The prospects that were highlighted from the data collected include: 1) Job opportunities for trainees 2) Industry practitioners training as guest speakers in the institutions 3) Rich pool of trained manpower for the industry 4) Industry involvement in curriculum development 5) Development of infrastructure 6) Increased student enrolment in TVET institutions 7) Staff skill upgrading to match industry needs RESEARCH, EXCHANGE 44 . Volume 63 - No.12/2018 Benets in TVET - industry partnership The key benets mentioned include: 1) Students gain industry experience & exposure 2) Job opportunities 3) Industrial attachment placements 4) Staff training 5) Collaboration in research and development 6) Development of infrastructure and training facilities 7) Scholarship opportunities for students Discussion and Conclusion The economy of any nation does not solely depend on the educated population, but partly on having a large pool of skilled workers that can handle the rapidly changing demands of the labour market. Providing for the needs of the actual industry is central in the development of vocational education since it is the work place with its needs and demands that dominates the development. Although the industry sectors have wide range of opportunities, there still exists a shortage of skilled personnel. TVET-industry partnership will help in the upgrading of technical capability of TVET graduates who nd it difcult to adjust in a very difcult and fast changing job market. From the industry sectors sampled, most of them indicated that there is no formal linkage in place with TVET institutions. This may be attributed to lack of initiative by TVET institutions and also the poor response from the industry sectors. A close link has however been forged between TVET institutions and industry sectors to promote the attachment of students on internship for a 3 month period. The results showed that all sampled TVET institutions partnered with industry mainly for industrial attachment of students. Weak linkages were noted in regard to staff exchange and attachment/industrial experience and research collaboration. The non-existence of other linkages leads to a big gap between training and the labour market skills demanded. This may be the reason for many rms retraining their new employees immediately after recruitment. According to Asare-Bediako (2005) and Amu, Komla M.E and Offei-Ansah C. (2011) vocational education should recognize the constantly increasing demands upon industries for more and better goals as well as the diminishing supply of well trained workers (10) & (11). Although none of the TVET institutions responded in the afrmative in regard to the industry being involved in the training sessions, this is viewed as one of the ways that industry can be engaged and used as an opportunity to evaluate the mismatch in the training curricula p Literature: 1) Christine Mutua and Muriuki N. Muriithi,- “Status of partnership between TVET providers and Industry sectors in Kenya”. In PROCEEDINGS OF THE CAPA GHANA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, DECEMBER 2015.- Commonweal Association of polytechnics in Africa; 2) Course hero: ht t ps : / / www.co urs e he ro .co m/l e / p130oob/After-independence-the-education- system-in-Kenya-was-segmented-along- socio/). 3) Kinara P. (2014). Determinants of technical efciency of technical training institutions in Kenya; 4) TVET Act 2013 - Republic of Kenya (2012). Technical, Vocational Education and Training Policy, Nairobi, Government Press; 5) Kenya’s Sessional paper no. 14 of 2012 (reforming education and training sectors in Kenya); RESEARCH, EXCHANGE Volume 63 - No.12/2018 . 45 6) Misko, J. (2001). Developing Industry Linkages: learning from practice. Kensington Park: NCVER. 7) Obwoge M.E, Mwangi S. M, and Nyongesa W. J (2013). Linking TVET Institutions and Industry in Kenya: Where Are We? 8) Republic of Kenya (2012). Technical, Vocational Education and Training Policy, Nairobi, Government Press 9) World Bank (1991). Vocational and Technical Education and Training. A World Bank Policy Paper. Washington, DC: World Bank. 10) Abdullah, H. (2013). The role of VET providers in training partnerships with industry in East Java, Indonesia. In: TVET@Asia, issue 1, 1-14. Online; 11) Amu, Komla M.E and Offei-Ansah C. (2011). Linking tertiary institutions to industries: Evidence from the Vocational and Technical Education Department of the University of Cape Coast