Skills Development: Vocational Education
in the Islamic Countries
9
CHAPTER ONE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter is mainly concerned with providing a conceptual derivation about the current
status of vocational education and its impact on skills development in any country. The chapter
includes the importance of vocational education for eradicating poverty from young people of
poor socio-economic background. It further provides information of how the donor agencies
may contribute towards improving vocational education. In order to achieve these aims the
following sub-sections will be designed.
1.1. Skills Development through Vocational Education and Training (VET) to
Eradicate Poverty and Social Inequality
Section Focus: In most of the developing countries, the level of poverty and social inequality is high
resulting in associated adverse psychological, social and financial effects. This section presents
some of the skills developed through Vocational Education and Training (VE), and analyses why
these skills are not utilized or under-utilized and proposes ways of utilizing the skills to eradicate
poverty and social inequality among the citizens. The sections also highlights means of eradicating
poverty from students from poor socio-economic background through Technical Vocational
Education (TVE).
1.1.1. Introduction
Vocational education and training (VET) is an integral part of skill development. Formally, VET
refers to the skill-based programmes that focus on specific trades and impart practical skills to
individuals to help engage in a specific occupational activity. It includes education and training
programmes designed for, and typically leading to a particular job or type of job (Agrawal &
Agrawal, 2017, p.1).
Skills development via VET, and positive attitudes towards workplace are central to current
industrial job requirements for employment (Hartl, 2009). VET primarily focuses on providing
skills to the young citizens in the formal and informal sector. These young people are the major
workforces in any industrial activities and thereby contributing to national economic
development. Therefore, VET system can contribute in equipping youth for occupation,
providing necessary skills of adults and meeting the industrial requirements for economic
growth (Agrawal & Agrawal, 2017). This way, successful VET system is playing an important
role in poverty eradicationwhich has direct link with eradicating social inequality and reducing
the income inequality gap between the rich and the poor.
Many countries, world organizations and different stakeholder, therefore, have invested a lot of
resources in skilling the youth so as to combat poverty. This can be evidenced in a country like
Pakistan where over USD 410 million have been invested to establish 381 new institutes with
the aimof training 1million individuals annually (Janjua, 2011). Similarly, many countries along
with OICmember states around the world arrange training on vocational skills for their citizen
in different sectors ranging from agriculture, Tourism and hospitality, metal craft andwielding,
Nano-Technology, Science and Technology, and many other trades with the aim of promoting
national economic development and transformation which directly and indirectly contributes
towards eradicating poverty and social inequality.
Poverty in the broadest sense is the inability of an individual to access basic needs for life, for
example: food, clothes, shelter, education andmedical care. These basic needs t poor people are