State monopolies of technical and vocational education and training are a thing of the past. They lack any connection to the labour market or to economic reality. Moreover, the state cannot single-handedly finance vocational training on a longterm basis. Structural adaptation programmes and increasing budgetary restrictions exacerbate this situation. In many cooperation countries, however, accredited technical and vocational education and training is administered and conducted almost exclusively by the state.

That is why more and more cooperation countries now concentrate on establishing a national qualification framework for all types of training. In this case, technical and vocational education and training acts as a link between the labour market and general education. A qualification framework of this kind serves as a state-supported reference for lifelong learning. Business and civil society thus acquire the transparency necessary to have a say in training design.

It is only the cooperation between public and private sectors and civil society which makes it possible to finance technical and vocational education and training and makes it relevant to employment. Here, all actors must assume responsibility for the areas in which they have the greatest competence. In this way, training courses will be designed to meet the needs of the labour market. This relieves the burden on the national budget and ensures the economically sound use of funds.

Accordingly, all actors must be involved in formulating appropriate strategies. This can be brought about by shifting relevant responsibilities to a lower level in an institution (deconcentration), by transferring tasks, resources and responsibilities to other institutions which have a closer relationship to the subject (decentralisation) or by privatising training or services in the labour market. Moving decision-making power out of a centralistic state bureaucracy is often a step towards greater relevancy to practice. The basic principle of social market economics reserves the functions of quality assurance and regulation for the state. The result is technical and vocational education and training that maintains a balance between the economic interests of the corporate world and the social interests of people and their societies.

In reorganisation processes of this kind, we offer expertise in selecting the appropriate methodological procedure, whether it be to analyse the frame conditions, the readiness of institutions to change, or the structuring of change processes. We also advise on reorganising management levels and resolving the concomitant human resources issues.

Further Information

• Decentralisation and privatisation in TVET
  Factsheet
  gtz2009-en-decentralisation-and-privatisation-in-tvet.pdf, 0.16 MB (English)