The Changing Demands of the 21st Century: Challenges to Technical and Vocational Education.

Overview & Synopsis

Technical and vocational education and training should be considered within the more comprehensive concept of human resources development. To ensure that both the human and the professional aspects of vocational education are addressed, two major dimensions should always guide the design of training and human resource development: education and work. The educational dimension caters to individual needs and human aspects, whereas the work or economic dimension caters to societal needs and labor market requirements. The challenge to vocational education practitioners is to integrate these two dimensions. Three major factors are involved in the economics of vocational education systems: funding; costs, efficiency, and effectiveness; and evaluation and assessment. The social status of vocational education in any society is, to a great extent, a reflection of the status of work values in that society. A rational and balanced approach can be realized if work activities are assessed both by their material and economic returns on the individual and society and by their social and humanizing influences. Although approaches to and systems of vocational education have developed along national lines, vocational education is no longer only a national concern. Globalized economies make the provision of vocational education a worldwide concern, and the integration of the human and market-driven aspects must be assessed in each culture. International agencies in the field of vocational education need to address the issue of the two perspectives of vocational education so that preparation of workers and citizens can be as integrated as possible. (KC)