Policy Reforms in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET): Lessons for the Nigerian Government towards Sustainable Industrial Growth

Anene-Okeakwa J. E., Ph.D; Chukwurah, M. O.; Ikenga, E.E.

Anene-Okeakwa J. E., Ph.D
Chukwurah, M. O.
Ikenga, E.E.

Keywords: Policy reforms, TVET, systematic review, Sustainable industry.

Abstract

Systematic review was conducted to explore policy reforms in technical and vocational education and training (TVET): Lessons for the Nigerian government, towards sustainable industrial growth. This systematic literature review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). A search of multidisciplinary scientific electronic databases such as worldwide science and ERIC, together with manual searches of journals, were conducted in locating articles published in journals from 2007 to 2018. The search strategy included terms for education, policy, African, Nigerian, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems, and covered countries such as Singapore, Europe (British, German, and French) and Eurasia region (The Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Georgia), Chile, Sub-Sahara African (SSA) (Kenya, Ghana, and Botswana) and China. Articles included met the following criteria: 1) focused exclusively on TVET; and 2) described policy reforms in TVET. The search yielded 200 records and the full text of 20 studies were screened for evidence summary. After full text screening, six studies met all criteria. The findings of this study revealed among others that reforms undertaken by some developed and developing countries of the world, centered around enhancing relevance of TVET, expanding access and improving quality and equity in TVET, developing TVET pathways; strengthening governance and expanding partnerships, increasing investments in TVET and diversify financing, as well as advocating for TVET among the populace. The study recommends that Nigeria follows themes as common in the reforms undertaken by the various countries under review, and as outlined by the International Center for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (UNEVOC), for reforms in her TVET policy, towards sustainable industrial growth