First Published in the Nation Mirror news papers South Sudan, on Thursday 30th /October/2014
Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is defined by UNESCO as: "Those aspects of the educational process involving, in addition to general education, the study of technologies and related sciences and arts, together with the acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, understanding and knowledge relating to occupation in various sectors of economic life"
TVET thus equips people not only with vocational skills, but with a broad range of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are now recognized as indispensable for meaningful participation in work and life. These knowledge, skills and attitudes combine to become "competencies" such as communication, problem-solving, co-operation and entrepreneurial abilities.
The establishment offering this kind of education in South Sudan is either named Technical School, Vocational Training Center, Commercial School or Agricultural School. The technical schools usually offers four years program and are more academics due to the fact that about 80% of their syllabuses are theoretical subjects and the practical/technical subject constitute 20% only. Therefore, the graduate of technical school may not compete in the world of work. Instead he/she could opt to go for Higher Education to become an engineer within specific area of Engineering.
Vocational Training Centers (VTCs), offers wide range skills trainings and the duration varies depending on the nature of the course. Usually it can range from 3 weeks, 3 – 9 months up to 2 years of training. The focus of the VTCs is provision of skills for employment and self reliance. Due to this, the training on practical skills constitutes 70% while academic subjects are about 30%. The graduate of Vocational Training has better chance for either employment or starts his/her own business. A well-trained labour force could play an important role in the South Sudan labour market. Additionally, vocational training is associated with real needs and practical labour use. It helps create local jobs, contributes to economic structure transfer, and labour restructuring in rural areas, thus contributing to poverty reduction. In other words, vocational training is closely connected to production and business labour use.
To achieve South Sudan economic and social transformation through TVET, there is a need for balanced education, there is a need to build awareness nationwide about its importance. Technical and Vocational Training is widely regarded as kind of education for those who have not competed or dropped out from general education. Thus attitude has badly damaged the image of this valuable aspect of education and skills development and reduced the enrollment rate. Sadly enough this attitude is being confirmed by some of the so call academician as well as some politician and decision makers. When it comes to budget allocation general education is allocated much higher budget compared to TVET.
There is a hug demand for skilled South Sudanese to deliver sustainable services, such as running water, constant power supply, roads, transports, hospitality as well as access to better health services etc. It is widely believed that knowledge and skills are important, first, to improve food production, nutrition, hygiene, and health care, and second to acquire skills for earning the money necessary to improve the quality of life and emerge from poverty.
The History of TVET in South Sudan is as early as 1970s and it has been in the mainstream of skills training offered at Vocational Training Centers (VTCs) and Technical Secondary School (TSS). The skills training offered in these establishments include Building and Construction, Carpentry, Welding and sheet Metal Fabrication, Automotive, Electrical Installation, Tailoring and food processing etc. The training durations varies from 3 - 9 months, and up to 3 years. VTCs and TSS, among others, were Juba, Malakal, Wau, Lanya, Torit, and Amadi. Unfortunately some of these establishments are either destroyed during the war or underfunded to execute their mandate.
Vocational Training is being offered currently by the public government institutions, and private sectors. The total number of vocational training centers and vocational training providers is not yet known due to lack of official documentation. However, the Directorate of Vocational Training at the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development manage and supervise five public vocational training centers, namely, Multiservice Training Center, Juba, Malakal, Wau, Maban, and Aluakluak.
The emphasis on Vocational Training is that of providing relevant skills training for the South Sudanese, for reconstruction and development. In this context, the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development (MoLPSHRD) continues to develop and review policies and programs, which enhance the rate of human resource development to meet targeted social and economic growth.
On the other hand the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MoEST) has embarked efforts to revive TVET in various dimensions, currently there are few number of TSS and VTCs Under its supervision. Last month the MoEST conducted TVET Secondary Technical Schools Curriculum Development Workshop. The objective of this workshop was to Make a statement of the role of TVET schools within the overall system, Recommend a structure and balance of the TVET school curriculum, Define the subjects that should be core to this curriculum and how these should fit with the syllabuses of academic schools, among others.
It worth mentioning that there are some others line ministries offers some sort of skills development such as, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, as well as Ministry of Gender among others. There are also ranges of NGO, NNGO and Faith Based Organization offers some sort of Vocational Training however, this also needs to be regulated to meet with quality and standards.
All these efforts are being made to skill South Sudanese with the necessary skills for nation building and economic prosperity. Much more there should be strong political will and commitment to invest on skills development.
The currently operational TVET institutions with the support of the Government and the development partners have relatively done well but not enough in building the skills of South Sudanese much more should be done to achieve economic and social transformation in South Sudan. Still there are a lot of challenges need to be address such as lack of machineries, tools and equipments, low human resource capacity and the absence of policies and regulations to assure quality deliverance of skills training etc.
As the negotiation goes on in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, we are optimistic that peace for sure shall prevail in our beloved South Sudan soon or later. The concerns are many among others, there is a need for people with the Skills and knowledge of how to do construct and rehabilitates the physical infrastructure, another area of concern is the status and the future of the huge numbers of youth holding guns of which majority are illiterate and lacks the basic requirement for making a living. Given this challenge their reintegration in the society to my understanding shall be the trickiest part.
Written by
Daniel Ruben Ateng
TVET researcher
