Rethinking the role of TVET in Future Work and Lifelong Learning, in light of Digitalization and the 4IR

This report provides a general snapshot of the digitalization of TVET and skills systems in a set of countries. The primary data are derived from a desktop literature review on 8 countries, namely Angola, Gabon, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda and Uganda and a set of questions administered through a questionnaire to experts and practitioners in the TVET sectors of Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda and Uganda.

The report demonstrates that TVET has not been given sufficient recognition by African countries despite their declared commitment and some consequential progress. Various characteristics point to that direction: Insufficient funding, generally poor quality facilities (infrastructure and equipment), inadequate facilities for females and vulnerable people and persons with disabilities, lack of competent trainers, lack of CPD for trainers and Management of training Institutions, lack of training capacity, outdated curricula, skills mismatch, low self-esteem, amongst others. In brief, the TVET system in many African countries has been operating generally on a supply mode designed for the previous generation. In addition, the East-Asian model of focusing on labour-intensive and exportoriented manufacturing to capitalize on labour-abundance and labour-cost advantage is rapidly losing ground to the current disruptive technological changes and its impacts on global production and trade.