Search Results for
"Vocational education"

In Ethiopia, technical and vocational education and training is predominantly a post-secondary program aimed at producing a competent middle-level workforce. Despite its steady expansion in recent years, both anecdotal and empirical sources criticize it for failing to effectively address the needs of trainees and the labor market. Above all, graduates often face unemployment, regardless of their competence. This study, therefore, aims to explore the underlying factors contributing to the mismatch between graduates’ competence and their wage employment opportunities. In particular, it focuses on participants’ perceptions of the competence of agro-food processing graduates and the reasons behind the inverse association between their competence and wage employment opportunities. The study employed a phenomenological research design, purposefully selecting 83 employed and unemployed graduates, along with 16 training providers and employers. Data were collected through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Findings revealed that most graduates lacked competence due to a shortage of both human and material resources in training delivery as well as weak cooperative training practices. Additionally, issues such as nepotism, cronyism, and bribery significantly affected competent graduates’ access to wage employment. These corrupt practices also contributed to the observed negative relationship between competence and wage employment opportunities. The combination of poor graduate competence and corrupt employment practices has undermined the utility of the agro-food processing occupation, potentially posing far-reaching implications for the relevance and value of occupational competence and causing obstructive spillover effects across the broader labor market. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This paper explores the scope of industrial training in school education in India. Industrial training learning combines academic learning with practical work experience, providing students with relevant skills and knowledge applicable to real-world scenarios. vocational training has been envisioned in India's school education system. Indian education system faces several challenges, which include a lack of understanding about work-integrated learning, rigid traditional education structures, a gap between the skills taught in schools and those demanded by the industry, insufficient infrastructure, a shortage of well-trained teachers, and the digital divide. The consequences of these challenges to incorporating industry training are significant and are increasingly recognized as crucial in equipping students with essential skills for industry. Doubtless, considerable progress has been made in recent years, driven by government initiatives, policy reforms, and stakeholder collaboration. The New education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasizes holistic development, skill enhancement, and flexible learning approaches. The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan focuses on improving infrastructure and teacher training. However, a multi-faceted approach must be adopted to improve the quality and inclusivity of schooling. This includes strengthening teacher training programs, reforming assessment methods, bridging the digital divide, promoting inclusive practices, and integrating vocational education and skill development programs into the school curriculum to link education to industry requirements and enhance students’ employability prospects. Collaboration between stakeholders and the effective implementation of policies is crucial for realizing the vision of an equitable and inclusive education system in India that successfully integrates work-based learning. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.

The quality of workplace training in firms is a key factor in both apprentices’ development of skills and the prevention of dropouts in corporatist dual vocational education and training (VET) systems. This article addresses the governance practices at the micro level of VET in a French-speaking Swiss canton by examining how the legal framework for quality inspection is put into practice. Based on interviews with cantonal inspectors who control and promote quality training in firms, the article focuses on how they adapt the legal framework to their conditions of action. Due to the high workload, inspectors seldom visit firms regularly enough to address problems and conflicts at an early stage to prevent dropouts. Empowering apprentices, who are often reluctant to defend their rights and ask inspectors to intervene, is thus an important measure. Given the trainers’ lack of both qualifications and time for training, inspectors also prioritise guidance over control. Withdrawing a firm’s training licence is rarely initiated, however, as it is an arduous process and often not feasible. The article highlights the impact that actors, such as inspectors, have at the micro level of VET and how coordination with trainers and apprentices defines how a legal framework is implemented. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Introduction: vocational students often struggle to diagnose EFI systems due to the abstract nature of the concepts and limited digital skills. Conventional teaching methods fall short in fostering creativity for solving complex technical problems. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a Problem-Based Learning model integrated with Digital Literacy (PBL-DL) to enhance students’ creativity in diagnosing EFI systems. Method: using an adapted Borg and Gall development model, the study involved 176 participants, including teachers, students, and media/material experts. The research proceeded through four stages: preliminary study, design and development, user response testing, and effectiveness testing. Data collection instruments included questionnaires, expert validation checklists, and creativity observation sheets. Analyses used descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and independent t-tests. Results: the PBL-DL model significantly improved students’ creativity in diagnosing EFI systems. Indicators such as fluency, originality, and elaboration showed statistically significant increases. The integration of digital tools also enhanced students’ access to and engagement with learning materials. The model shows potential for broader application in other complex vocational learning contexts. Conclusions: integrating digital literacy into problem-based learning strengthens students’ creative problem-solving and classroom engagement. The PBL-DL framework contributes to more effective vocational education while supporting the development of essential 21st-century skills. © 2025; Los autores.

education equips individuals with valuable skills to protect them against employment risks associated with the digital transition. As scholars debate whether vocational education and training (VET) or general education better insures against technology-induced employment risk, we ask how this type of risk, as perceived by individuals, shapes their education preferences. Our analyses, based on a survey of over 11,500 respondents across seven European countries, show that VET is regarded as a safe haven by those perceiving heightened risk. This relationship remains robust when controlling for various alternative explanations and is consistent across countries. Subgroup interactions indicate that men, high-income earners, respondents with tertiary education, and those politically on the right more strongly favor VET in response to subjective technology risk. Hence, our study suggests that VET's practical, job-oriented focus is perceived as better protection against the growing uncertainty over skill demands in the twin transition than general education. © 2025 The Author(s). Regulation & Governance published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Online job advertisements (OJAs) have become a significant data source for analyzing labor market dynamics, offering insights into shifts within occupations, industry sectors, skills, and tasks. This paper investigates the cross-lingual and cultural differences in OJAs and their impact on the transferability of Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods and research scope. By analyzing OJAs from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US, we point out substantial variations in document length, diversity metrics, syntactic structures, and content features such as salary information. These differences underscore the challenges in applying NLP methods universally across languages and cultures. Our findings emphasize the need for tailored approaches in NLP research and offer a starting point for developing standardized pipelines for analyzing text genres across different languages. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.