Context
The requirements of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and the environments in which it is carried out are subject to constant change worldwide, and are becoming more and more complex. In the context of political change, globalisation and its effects, and technological developments, there is a need to constantly re-examine TVET. TVET is also incorporated in various economic and/or sociopolitical strategies. In addition, new tasks are emerging in this sphere as a result of international agreements signed by the German Government, and due to dialogue with other donors. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) therefore considers it important to position TVET more strongly as a key component of German development policy in international cooperation.
Objective
BMZ’s strategies and approaches in the field of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) have been developed further and are being promoted at all levels of German and international development policy.
Approach
One of the programme’s core tasks is to provide advisory services on all TVET-related topics to the Education and the Digital World Division at BMZ. The sector programme’s methodology and activities are directed towards the further development of BMZ’s TVET strategies and approaches, and their improved positioning within German and international development policy.
The programme builds on the knowledge and experience gained from the national and international dialogue on TVET, and draws on lessons learned from previous and ongoing projects in this area. Existing TVET networks are being used to facilitate this work. The findings are collated and developed into relevant strategic recommendations and innovative sectoral themes. Current sectoral themes include TVET as a component of integrated education approaches, TVET and rural development, and TVET in fragile contexts. These themes are flanked by strategies to improve the image of TVET and train actors in the informal economy. Other topics include training TVET professionals and making TVET more inclusive. The basic strategies, approaches and sectoral themes developed are then introduced into TVET projects in the partner countries, for example through advice during the appraisal and preparatory processes for new projects.
Results
Promoting TVET has been a high priority of German bilateral development cooperation for the last fifty years. Work in this field has increased steadily over recent years in particular. BMZ has strengthened its position with regard to TVET at both national and international level. This has been achieved on a national level through complementary action between the different ministries, within the scope of the German Government’s strategy for international TVET cooperation. Through the TVET team, cooperative relationships with the German implementing organisations, the business community and churches, foundations and non-governmental organisations have been established and consolidated. On an international level, Germany’s position has been strengthened within a number of multilateral and international processes. Examples of these are the post-MDG discussions as well as harmonisation and donor coordination with the Agence Française de Développement, LuxDev and the Belgian Development Agency, among others.
The sector programme has developed various application-based concepts for addressing current topics in TVET. One example is the toolkit ‘Learning and working in the informal economy’, which has been used to support the work of BMZ, non-governmental organisations, implementing organisations and employees at international organisations. These approaches are also being integrated into TVET projects, thereby improving their design and implementation.