Competency Based Approach to TVET Institutions

The TVET is non-academic technical study and / or practical training that develop the skills and knowledge of technical employees and trainees working in different sectors of industry and TVET Institutions. The TVET is the part of the education system that rovides courses and training programmes related to employment. It is applied to training and development of students attending vocational institutes as well as those who dropout from secondary schools.

The TVET is best applied when industrial enterprises and vocational education institutions give full attention to the performance of the employees and students (trainees) by applying both Competency Based Technical and Vocational Education and Training TVET as well as Competency Based Employees Assessment and Assurance Quality Management Systems. These systems are applied by the management of different sectors of industry and TVET Insinuations with a view to have reasonable assurance of meeting their business objectives by assuring that their employees and students (trainees) are well trained, assessed verified and proved to be competent.

Taking consideration of the above, we should stress that technical vocational schools are applying Competency Based Training CBT, Competency Assurance Quality Management System CAMS to provide guidelines that will enable management to set valid and reliable controls in place to ensure students are trained, assessed and competent and that they can discharge their responsibilities in a safe and effective manner when joining work locations.

A student in a formal school is studying subjects scheduled to last during one year. Because the progression through the various subjects in the school is time-based, at any given time during the year the teacher is expected to be at a specific point in the textbook or course content. While not every student may progress at the same rate, the schedule typically requires everyone to move at the same rate as the teacher. Tests
(Assessments) in formal schools are administered periodically to ensure students understand the concepts and principles. Test scores often are compared to determine the grades of the students. Unfortunately, when a student does not do well on a test (assessment) there often is little time for individual assistance as the teacher / instructor must move on in order to adhere to the established time schedule.  While traditional, time-based approaches to education have met with varying levels of success over the years, it is an ineffective system when the goal is to train individuals to perform specific, job-related skills at work locations (On-the-Job Training OJT / In-Service Training) under TVET.

For example, will a Fitter student / trainee, attending the full course in a technical vocational school to learn how to operate, maintain and repair a certain pump,  can effectively maintain and repair such machinery on site (at work location)? Of course not! If the Fitter is unable to attend part of the course; does this mean he can not maintain and repair the pump? Probably not. If the Fitter does poorly on a written test (assessment) conducted during the course, should he immediately fail the full course or
should his gaps identified, a ‘Specific Elimination Programme’ developed and the Fitter is re-trained, and re-assessed with a view to eliminate his identified gaps. If the Fitter can pass all written assessments (tests), does this indicate that he can operate, maintain and repair the pump? Of course no, as the Fitter has to demonstrate his awareness, knowledge, skills and mastery at work location (Observation) and not only through
written tests (assessment) and he has to provide evidences that he acquired the required competence(S) at the required competency level (standard). Do the tests (assessments) have to be administered periodically to ensure vocational students understand the concepts and principles? Of course not! The tests (assessments) are carried out on continuous basis and the students are assessed when a certain task or group of tasks are completed.

Obviously, the time-based educational system used in educational schools is not appropriate when conducting TVET. A more appropriate approach is Competency Based Training CBT and which is performance-based.

In a traditional school educational system, the unit of progression is time and it is teacher-centered. In a CBT system, the unit of progression is the performance and acquiring of specific competencies at awareness, knowledge, skills and mastery level (standard) and it is trainee-centered.

The traditional schooling bench marking and grading system is suitably applied only for the Basic Training I.e. Of-the-Job Training through modular courses / curriculum.

For the On-the-Job Training OJT in technical vocational schools, we should use the above continuous assessment. Such above Fitter student / trainee who passes a certain OJT task is considered to be “Competent”. If the Fitter does not pass, he is “Not Yet Competent” and his gaps have to be identified, a Specific Gap Elimination Programme is to be developed and he is to be re-trained and re-assessed. We can set a criteria for how many times the trainee can fail and be re-trained.

Finally it is very essential that industrial enterprises take part of the responsibility as custodian of training, not only from the time the fresh graduated students join the enterprise, but from the time they start their TVET in the vocational institutions in what we all know as Dual TVET i.e. students study few days of the week in the educational institution (Basic Training) and remaining days in the enterprise (OJT).

by Moustafa Wahba

Competency Assurance & TVET Consultant

UNESCO-UNEVOC e-Forum, http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/e-forum, March 3, 2010.