Limitations and implication for research and practice

Although this study has shown the status of TVET teachers’ participation in competence- based TVET strategy and curriculum development and its relations with teachers’ perception, it is not without limitation. The study did not explore the impact of the teachers’ participation in competence-based strategy and curriculum development directly on their performance in the teaching-learning process and their motivation to work; rather it was based on inference from the teachers’ reflection on some key aspects of the TVET program, such as national assessment, student placement, the focus of TVET, and so on. The involvement of a small

number of TVET administrators also narrowed the perspective of the administrators on the implementation of CBET. Future research needs to be carried out to measure the impact of teachers’ involvement in the design and implementation of new educational reforms along with other variables on teachers’ motivation towards their classroom work.

Chapter 4

Realization of Competence-based Education and Training: Teachers’, Students’ and Graduates’ Perspectives

Abstract

Ethiopia is implementing a competence-based curriculum in TVET based on labor market needs. Whether the TVET curriculum implementation is competence-based, and the relation between the competence-based training and graduate performance in the market, have not yet been investigated in light of the principles of competence-based education and training (CBET). This study therefore investigates the realization of CBET and to what extent that influences graduate job performance. Data were collected through questionnaires completed by TVET teachers, students, and employed graduates of four polytechnic TVET colleges in Addis Ababa, as well as job supervisors of the employed graduates. The results show that competence-based TVET is practiced in the TVET system in Ethiopia and that this is recognized by teachers and students. However, TVET program implementation in polytechnic TVET colleges is not fully performing in accordance with the principles of competence-based education and training. The Ethiopian TVET system is therefore between “partially- competence-based” and “largely competence-based” levels of realization. A positive relationship between the ‘competentiveness’ of a TVET program and graduates’ job performance in employment has also been observed. The overall rating of graduates’ performance in the market appears to be satisfactory. Building a competence development- focused strong learning environment and monitoring progress by involving teachers, students and graduates to improve the ‘competentiveness’ of programs through constructive interventions are critical in competence development and significantly influence the quality of the TVET outcome.

4.1 Introduction

The need for a competent labor force that can productively participate in realizing national development goals is one of the reasons for reforming educational systems based on competence-based education (Mulder et al., 2007). The goal to produce a competent labor force has prompted different countries to adopt competence-based education in their vocational education in the past decades (Biemans et al., 2004; Seezink, 2009; Struyven & De Meyst, 2010; Wesselink, 2010). The quest for good quality vocational education that reflects labor market needs has been considered as the driving force behind competence-based vocational education (Seezink, 2009). Thus, the shift to CBET aims to make educational programs relevant to job requirements by incorporating new developments in the marketplace (Baartman et al., 2007), and to bridge the gap between education and job requirements (Le Deist & Winterton, 2005).

With the aim of making TVET training relevant to workplace requirements, Ethiopia is implementing competence-based curricula in TVET based on labor market needs (MOE, 2008). National occupational standards were developed as a basis for curriculum development and assessment, followed by the Ethiopian National TVET Qualification Framework (NTQF) in 2010. The NTQF provides training outcomes defined and verified by occupational assessment against the occupational standards that lead to formal certification (MOE, 2011). The NTQF stipulates the occupational qualifications ranging from level I to level IV with varying complexity, the workplace level of competence, and rules for horizontal and vertical mobility (MOE, 2011). The Federal and Regional TVET Agencies provide guidelines on assessment, curriculum development and training materials to support implementation. Regional and institution-based assessments with theoretical and practical components have been put in place to measure students’ competence. The TVET system also incorporates a “cooperative training” scheme where students are placed in companies for practical experience supervised by workplace trainers (MOE, 2010).

From what has been stated above, policy (e.g. NTQF), regulatory (e.g. Federal TVET Proclamation 391) and supportive mechanisms (e.g. curriculum development guides, counselling, teacher training) are available and implemented. Given these mechanisms, the conditions under which the competence development process takes place in the TVET colleges have implications for the graduates’ level of competence after completion. Thus, it is important to examine the extent to which the competence-based TVET program has been

realized in light of the competence-based principles. In addition, TVET graduates’ reflection on their job performance in light of their capability, coupled with job supervisors’ reflections on graduates’ job performance, could also show the realization level of the competence-based curriculum, and whether that enhances graduates’ job performance.

This study examines the extent to which the competence-based TVET curriculum in Ethiopia has been realized in light of the principles of CBET as perceived by teachers, students and employed TVET graduates, and its relationship with TVET graduates’ job performance. The results of the study may serve as an input to analyze the strengths and pitfalls of realizing competence-based programs for making constructive interventions to improve the competence development process in TVET colleges.

4.2 Theoretical framework

TVET aims to produce a competent labor force and, by its very nature, is about building competence. Competence is conceptualized as “the capability of a person or organization to reach specific achievements comprising of knowledge, skills and attitudes, necessary for performing tasks, solving problems and more generally, functioning in a certain profession, organization, position or role” (Mulder, 2001, p.152). Thus, competence embraces the integration of knowledge, skills and attitudes applied to perform complex tasks to the level of proficiency required in professional situations (Kraker, Launsu & Dam-Mieres, 2007). Various other authors have proposed similar conceptualizations, but they all circle around the notion of being capable to perform (Klink, Boon & Schlusmans, 2009) and dealing with future and unforeseen situations (Illeris, 2009).