Increasing Student Enrollment in Technical Vocational Education and Training Programs in Mauritius

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Monday I)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Designed for equity: implementation and efficacy of educational access platforms, policy, and practice

Proposal

This paper aims to present the theoretical concepts that support an analysis of factors that have historically led to the perception of technical and vocational education training (TVET) as a “second-best” option to general secondary and post-secondary university education in Mauritius. A comparative framework was used to draw on best practices from other similar TVET contexts and to identify potential solutions that could be adapted to the Mauritian context. The methodology consisted of conducting preliminary research remotely, using publicly available data and reports on Mauritius’ TVET system to analyze the objectives of the National Education Reform in comparison to the progress on implementation, thus identifying root causes of poor perception, and consequently, low enrollment in TVET.

Based on OECD’s comprehensive review of vocational education and training “Learning for Jobs”, we examined Mauritius’ existing TVET programs considering existing best practices and focused our policy recommendations on two underlying causes for low enrollment: inadequately qualified vocational teachers, and lack of occupational mobility. Several policy alternatives were evaluated based on potential impact, administrative feasibility, and financial feasibility.

The rapidly - and often unpredictably - changing labor market needs of the 21st century demand job seekers to possess two types of skills: specific job skills that fill employers’ immediate needs, as well as varying “career and cognitive competences” that will enable individuals to adapt to “changing jobs and career contexts” and “sustain their learning capacity” (OECD, 2010, p.14). Strong core academic skills build a crucial foundation for lifelong learning, and support long-term occupational mobility. Mauritius needs to incorporate a systematic assessment of literacy and numeracy skills of those entering the TVET system in order to identify learning gaps that then can be addressed within the vocational track. Mauritius should further identify lifelong learning competencies relevant for its economy that then can be implemented in vocational curricula. Incorporating elements of workplace learning will enable students to acquire soft skills crucial to lifelong learning.

Requirements for vocational teachers are more complex, as they not only need to possess pedagogical competencies and practical experience in the occupational subject matter to successfully deliver content, but in order to stay relevant, their expertise needs to evolve with rapid technological advancements of the modern workplace. Promoting flexible pathways of recruitment to ensure hiring vocational teachers with relevant and recent workplace experience, which includes hiring industry practitioners mid-career and enabling them to teach part-time while continuing to work in the industry. Other proposals to ensure vocational teachers possess relevant and up-to-date knowledge are based on partnerships with the private sector: professional development organized by employers who are interested in hiring graduates with relevant knowledge and skills, teacher internships in the industry, and teachers’ involvement in apprentices’ projects in the workplace.

To better understand the stakeholders’ challenges, perspectives, and possibilities for collaboration a multi-stakeholder analysis was carried out via interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups in Mauritius. The information collected in-country helped narrow the focus and served as foundation for recommendations that could address the root causes of poor perception and low enrollment in TVET. The paper is organized introduces the Mauritian educational context in light of the current education reform, it then analyzes the issue of low enrollment and the root causes for poor perception of the current TVET system and presents recommendations for different policy alternatives and their implementation.

Authors

• Lucy Kruske, Harvard University

• Angela Hernandez, Harvard University

• Alisa Currimjee, Harvard University

• Leena Zahir, Harvard University