Workshop on TVET systems organised by the AHC in Nairobi and Sustainable Skills
Project title: Workshop on TVET Systems, Competency Based Training, Governance, Monitoring and Evaluation
Timing: June 2019
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Client: State Department for Vocational and Technical Education, Ministry of Education, Kenya
Sponsor: Australian High Commission in Nairobi
The background
The Australia’s competency based Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system is highly recognised worldwide largely due to its strong focus on industry demand, skills application, and to its scalability and flexibility. Thanks to the reputation Australia has in this area, the Ministry of Education in Kenya approached the Australian High Commission (AHC) in Nairobi asking for assistance in the TVET sector. The Kenyan Government indicated TVET Governance, Monitoring and Evaluation as top priorities for an initial training workshop.
The opportunity
Sustainable Skills was appointed to prepare and deliver the workshop by the AHC in Nairobi thanks to its experience providing innovative services that build TVET capacity in developing countries by sharing international best practice, and shaping and maintaining TVET systems and frameworks in Australia and around the world. Sustainable Skills senior TVET consultant, Bob Paton, who has many years experience in a range of roles in Australian and international VET-focussed projects, was selected to undertake the work.
The solution
Based on advice from the AHC, Sustainable Skills designed a workshop program aimed at providing an overview of the Australian TVET experience, as well as investigating the current TVET arrangements in Kenya and how they could be improved to gain efficiencies and improve effectiveness.
Held at the Australian High Commission in Nairobi on 24 – 28 July 2019, the workshop was delivered to 20 local TVET coordinators selected by the Kenyan Ministry of Education.
There were two consistent themes promoted throughout the workshop presentations:
- the central role that industry plays in VET in Australia; and
- the singly quality and regulatory framework for all Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) in Australia.
Most topics included a group activity where the participants broke into small groups to discuss a series of questions and an evaluation survey was undertaken after the workshop.
The benefit
The workshop on TVET Systems, Competency Based Training, Governance, Monitoring and Evaluation was successful and feedback indicated that the activity was well received. Participants engaged in discussion and there was a strong appreciation of key features of Australia’s VET system, including the value gained from deep industry engagement and leadership as well as the consistency achieved through the VET quality framework and RTO regulation.
In the evaluation questionnaire, participants identified a number of areas and TVET topics where they think Sustainable Skills could help in future.
