Transcript The Challenge of TVET Reform in MOZAMBIQUE

The Challenge of TVET
Reform in MOZAMBIQUE
Goals, Options and Constraints
Introduction
 Mozambique provides an example of steady economic
recovery and social reconstruction after a prolonged period
of war. Since 1992, the country has sustained a period of
rapid economic growth and marked poverty reduction.
Between 1997 and 2004, GDP growth averaged 9.4
percent, one of the highest growth rates in sub-Saharan
Africa. Key factors in the recovery include a combination of
external aid and large foreign investment projects,
commonly referred to as the mega-projects. Economic
forecasts indicate buoyant growth prospects for most
sectors, but particularly in mining, transport, tourism,
construction and services.
Introduction
 Over the same period, equally important
achievements were recorded in human
development indicators and poverty reduction.
From 1996 to 2003, the proportion of people living
in poverty declined from 69 percent to 54 percent
and inequality, measured in real consumption,
diminished across provinces and regions.
However, notwithstanding the gains in poverty
reduction, more than half of the country’s
population of 20 million still lives in poverty.
Introduction
 It is estimated that Mozambique has a total work force of
9.6 million of which the vast majority (70%) are engaged in
the agricultural sector, primarily working as subsistence
farmers in the informal sector, followed by the trade and
services sector which account for another 18 per cent. The
manufacturing, mining and construction sectors,
account for only about 5% of the total workforce.
 Overall, only 5-6 percent (520,000 people) are actively
engaged in the formal sector. About 80% of the total
formal sector employment is made up of trade and services
(including public administration, education, health and
social services) and with more than half geographically
concentrated in Maputo city and Maputo province.
Introduction
 The technical education and vocational training
system, which is responsible for shaping the skills
profile demanded in the labor market, has been
slow to respond to changing labor market
demands in the formal sector. Employer surveys
and labour market studies in formal sector
enterprises point to a mismatch between the
labour supply and the evolving needs of labour
market, which require more skilled workers.
Provision of TVET in Mozambique
 TVET in Mozambique is primarily offered through
government schools and training centres managed by a
diverse number of different Ministries. More recently, some
private training providers have entered the market and offer
specialized training programs for their private sector clients
(mostly new foreign investors), but these programs still
only accommodate a minority of students in the TVET
system. Accordingly, unlike other education sub-sectors
which are managed and supervised under a single Ministry
the TVET system involves a number of government
Ministries and private sector partners that need to be
drawn together under a single planning framework to give
the system coherence and uniformity.
CONT.
 The actual system also offers little flexibility to stimulate a
continuous upgrading of skills to respond to changing
labour market needs or production innovation
opportunities. The centralized decision-making structure in
the formal TVET system, coupled with a generally weak
management capacity at school and training institution
level, contribute to the inefficient use of resources and limit
public training providers from responding to the specific
requirements of target groups and the needs of the local
economic environment.
 The TVET system is almost entirely dependent on
government resources
Categories
 Technical Education
 The largest single provider of TVET courses is the
Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) which
offers full time pre-employment technical
education course programs to children of schoolgoing age through a network of 47 technical
schools in which enrolment was about 45,000
students in 2005. This amounts to about one per
cent of total enrolment in primary, secondary and
technical education combined although, more
significantly, it is about 15 per cent of the total
secondary level student population
Categories
 Vocational Training
 In addition to the technical education
courses provided by the MEC, there are
also other providers of vocational training
courses for employed and unemployed that
are offered by various other Ministries and
the private sector. The largest provider of
vocational training is the Institute of
Employment and Training (INEFP).
Government’s TVET Strategy
Response
 In a Memorandum of Understanding of July 2004,
the Ministers of Education, Labor and Higher
Education and the Confederação das Associações
Económicas de Moçambique (CTA) agreed to
incorporate current and/or future interventions in
the sector into an integrated TVET reform
program. This partnership laid the foundation for
the establishment of an Inter-ministerial
Commission for TVET Reform (CIREP) and a
National Public-Private Commission for TVET
Reform (COREP) which was created by a
government decree, in August 2005.
Government’s TVET Strategy
Response
 The Board is supported by a full-time secretariat which is
responsible for preparing policy advice, plans, guidelines
and proposals for reforming the TVET system and for
implementing its decisions. The Secretariat also acts as
the project management unit for the first implementation
phase of the TVET reform process (known as PIREP)
during the period 2006-2011, which is financed by the
World Bank and the Netherlands Cooperation with
supplementary technical and financial support provided by
GTZ, Spanish Cooperation and a number of other
Cooperating Partners.
PIREP’s Development Objective
 PIREP’s Project Development Objective is
to facilitate the transition to a demandled training system and provide the
beneficiaries with more market relevant
skills and improved economic
opportunities.
COMPONENTS
PIREP has four components:
 A – Development of an Institutional
Framework
 B – Standards-based Qualifications and
Training System
 C – Quality Improvements in TVET
Institutions
 D – Skills Development Fund (FUNDEC).
PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES
The scope of the TVET reform process in Mozambique
should not be underestimated. While there is an
undisputed urgency to implement these reforms, many
physical, financial, human and policy factors mitigate
against the early implementation of the reforms, some of
which are presented below.
 The Provision of Adequate Functioning TVET Facilities
 A new Competency Based Curriculum
 A critical shortage of competent teacher/trainers
 Institutional Capacity and Readiness to support the
Reforms
Conclusions
 The first steps towards transforming this
system have now been taken
 Questions still remain on whether the new
arrangements are financially sustainable in
the longer run after the financial support
from the Bank and the others CPs are
withdrawn.
 Government needs to develop a viable plan
in cooperation with the donor community.