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TVET in The Context of COVID-19 in Nepalby Dr. Ramhari Lamichhane
Managing TVET During COVID-19 Pandemic (Video)
Distance Learning during COVID-19 with Experiences of Pakistanby Engr. Abdul Ghani Rajput
The society is facing an unprecedented crisis due to threats of a global health pandemic. At the beginning of 2020, an unprecedented blow due to COVID-19 has affected the health of hundreds of thousands of people. It continues to claim the lives of people in many parts of the world. Perhaps this is the biggest crisis of the 21st century, with a high number of recorded deaths. As a result, there is a widespread learning crisis due to the school closures in many countries. According to UNESCO Global monitoring of schools closures caused by COVID-19 188 countries are affected by school closures. As a result, 1.54 Billion learners are unable to attend school and learning activities. The scale of impact is also reflected in the TVET sector. With a sudden halt in normal running of technical and vocational schools and training institutions, students, trainees and apprentices, are systematically unable to continue planned learning and training processes.
Figure 1. Global monitoring of school closures. Source: UNESCO
In efforts to mitigate the short term and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have deployed strategies and approaches corresponding the preparedness of countries to tackle the issue in different fronts. For example, efforts are in place to promote self-isolation of people at home, social-distancing, the closing of shared frontiers, the strict observance of sanitary measures, the restriction of some labour activities, accelerated testing, the closing of schools, universities and prevention of social gatherings All these urgent measures are applied to prevent the worsening of the state of pandemic. However, long-term measures also need to be commenced to manage the serious consequences on the economy, society, culture and education worldwide.
Education and training systems around the globe have started to respond to the situation. Under the circumstances, TVET, an important subset of education and which takes place in secondary, post-secondary and tertiary levels, including work-based learning, continuing training and professional development , cannot be a silent spectator. The essence of how TVET can play an important role in the time of crisis, is discussed in this paper.
How TVET institutions are responding to the crisis
Broadly speaking, the response of education and training systems to the crisis carries two levels of responsibility. The first one acts upon the urgency of the situation (emergency) to avert the occurrence of more serious crisis, with immediate negative effects such as learning interruption that can delay education targets, and systematic entry to the next level of learning or the labour market. The second one acts upon the situation with some stability evidenced in the way temporary measures are working and there are more long-term solution in sight to be developed, to mitigate the far-reaching impact of the crisis. Either way, systems are expected to reach a level of stability with the employed measures, whether they are temporary or long-term to appreciate if the right solutions are meant to stay in place for a long time. In the context of varied developmental structure with specific economic, social and cultural characteristics, the degree of response of institutions is a reflection of their ability to discern the urgency and stability of approach, capacity, the readiness of systems and institutional actors, and availability of resources that suit emergency situations.
- How to bridge the ongoing interruptions of learning due to the closure of schools
- How to prepare for mindset changes in the post COVID-19 recovery
- How Vocational Excellence approaches are validated even in the time of COVID-19?
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Dr. Ramhari Lamichhane is the first Nepali and the 11th Director General of CPSC. He is also the concurrent President of Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission (APACC). He has 30 years of experience in TVET starting as an instructor up to becoming the CEO of Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) in Nepal. He served as Project Manager in ADB projects and Program Coordinator in Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) funded projects. He was a key member in formulating the TVET Policy of Nepal in 2007 and 2012.
He is a dynamic leader, certified project assessor, strategic planner, experienced project manager, TVET Institution Quality Assessor, TVET Expert, and a seasoned manager, attested by the awards received such as the Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu IV from the Late King Birendra Bira Bikram Shah Dev and Global Educational Leadership Award by the World Education Congress; scholarship from Ryutaro Hashimoto Foundation, Japan; and Humphrey Fellowship from Fullbright Foundation, USA.
He has presented papers in a number of international conferences and meetings on TVET. He has authored and co-authored publications on TVET in various thematic areas - accessibility, greening, entrepreneurship, financing, equality, and image building. Dr. Lamichhane earned his PhD and MPhil in Education Leadership from Kathmandu University in Nepal. He has a degree in Educational Administration, Planning and Policy from Peabody College/Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, USA.
Engr. Abdul Ghani Rajput is currently working as a Faculty Specialist in CPSC. He is a experienced and visionary TEVT expert with more than 12 years diversified experience in making TEVT/HRD policies, institutional framework and implementation of skills development plans with local and international organizations. He has developed a first ever training manual on Industrial Revolution 4.0 in TVET sector as well as manual on Instructional Design for E-Learning Courses. He is a certified Competency-Based Training and Assessment Trainer and Vocational Counselor. His experties inculde Capacity Development of TVET Stakeholders, Employers Engagement and Project Management.
He was the Director (MIS) of Sindh Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority (STEVTA) and worked as a Focal Person for TVET Sector Support Programe, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Pakistan. He has been playing key roles in policy and institutional development with NAVTTC and training providers for making TEVT demand led. He has been interacting with various local & international organizations including ILO, World Bank, GIZ, British Council, MTC International USA, Skills International and City & Guilds, UK etc. He has transformed existing supply-based system to demand-driven through Competency-Based Training (CBT) at STEVTA. He presented a paper on "Curriculum Delivery in line Industrial Reveloution 4.0" as keynote speaker in 3rd International Conference and 17th National Conference of PACUIT - Leading the 21st Century Generation Towards a Globalized Industrial Technology on 25 April 2019, Manila Philippines.
He served as a Technical Advisor, Human Resource Development for the GIZ TVET Sector Support Programe for five years. He was responsible for supporting the relevant training providers and enterprises in the selected sector to establish a coordination framework for planning and delivering training under the framework of the National Qualifications Framework (NVQF). He has been playing a key role in the implementation of training for principals, teachers, instructors, assessors and certification of Sindh Trade Testing Board (TTB).
Engr. Rajput is a Professional Engineer of Pakistan Engineering Council and earned his MSc in Information System Engineering from the University of Twente, Netherlands (2009-2011). He studied Master of Engineering in Communiation Systems Networks from Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan (2005-2007) and his bachelor in Computer System Engineering (1999-2002) from Hamdard University, Karachi Pakistan.
