Skills Development: Vocational Education
in the Islamic Countries
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sub-Saharan Africa are young people, mostly in the informal economy(UNESCO, 2017b). TVET
is considered to contribute highly to economic sustainability and to ensure development of the
nation. In line with this notion, J. Fien and Wilson (2005) consider technical and vocational
education and training as themaster key that will alleviate poverty, conserve environment, help
achieve sustainable development, promote peace and improve the quality of life for all youth. In
a nut shell, vocational education has a great implication to the socioeconomic condition of any
nation.
In Europe, TVET has been seen to play a significant role in uplifting the economic status of
deprived regions through reducing skill mismatch betweenworkers and enterprises (CEDEFOP,
2011a, p. 18). The same study highlighted the importance of TVET in development of
socioeconomics condition of Sweden, Denmark and Germany. It showed that 83 per cent of
graduate from TVET institutions were already in employment or running their personal
businesses. While Germany, TVET had contributed in shaping individual professional skills in
addition to their individual and social aptitudes. As of Denmark, graduates were reported to
have higher levels of jobmobility. According to this study, it could be concluded that TVET plays
an important role in enhancing social mobility, building profession skills and increasing
employability among TVET graduates.
Using Kenya as a case study, in 2015, Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) estimated
that in January 2016, over 200000 candidates would not join secondary school as a result of
failing to attain the set cut-out of 200 marks (Aduda, 2016). This resulted in a widespread exam
plagiarism implying nullification ofmany students' results. This projected that manywhowould
not manage would continue living in poverty. As KCPE exam is based on academic basis, most
students lack the basic skill to join labour force and as of this regard it will implicate that the
failed student would still remain in poverty. Unlike general education, TVET graduateswho are
equippedwith hands-on skills stand a higher chance of either being employed or self-employed.
Thus TVET sector grants a student the skill set he/she requires to fight poverty at individual
grounds.
It has been observed that majority of the youth have attested to having acquired social
development, fromTVET courses, in form of life skills. According to Sigu (2017), over 83 percent
in Kenyan TVET graduates had gained skills on self-awareness, 81 percent on effective
communication, about 60 percent on stressmanagement, over 75 percent on timemanagement,
with 72 percent interpersonal relation and 63 percent in problem solving. According to Sigu
Key Terms
Employable Skills
In this section, employable skills are used to refer to knowledge, skills and
competencies acquired by TVET trainees which will enhance their qualification in the
competitive world of employment.
Socioeconomic Empowerment
This refer, according to this article, to a state of positive social and economic
transformation that is linked to improved individual self-esteem, social acceptance and
personal income.