92. The issues discussed throughout this Report are drawn together here into two groups, with associated recommendations. The first group examines those measures which might be undertaken to reduce the current costs of technical and vocational education by improving efficiency - a series of efficiency strategies which improve the ratio between measurable inputs and outputs. The second group examines ways of making technical and vocational education more effective by improving the quality of its outputs, and by focusing more closely upon the central purposes of that training - a series of effectiveness strategies. This distinction is spelled out in the model below. An important proviso must first be made. The extensive literature and field survey undertaken as part of this project have emphasised the differences between countries. Although some broad distinctions can be made between low-income and middle-income developing countries, the differences within these groups repeatedly point to the difficulties of generalisation. The approaches suggested below, therefore, need to be adapted to the distinctive educational and financial situations of particular countries.
INPUTS
efficiency
strategies
TECHNICAL/VOCATIONAL TRAINING SYSTEM
OUTPUTS
effectiveness
strategies
OBJECTIVES
ECONOMIC & SOCIAL NEEDS
Figure 1: Efficiency and Effectiveness Strategies and their relationship to training systems.
Efficiency strategies
93. The Report has indicated a number of ways in which internal measures within technical institutions might reduce costs or increase the efficiency of technical/vocational provision. These include the obvious increased productivity measures achieved through better management of staff and space. Human resource management measures to increase staff productivity include:
- larger classes;
- improved staff:student ratios;
- more efficient use of teacher time on activities geared directly to student learning;
- longer teaching hours;
- compensation packages to provide incentives to cut costs or raise output;
- labour substitution with more technicians and assistant instructors; and
- removal of artificial staff recruitment barriers.
94. Better space and assets utilisation policies include:
- more flexible timetabling;
- longer working days, including double shifts;
- year-round institutional availability;
- centralised space allocation procedures to promote more intensive facilities utilisation;
- simple space utilisation measurement;
- the establishment of more rigorous maintenance and repair procedures;
- materials recycling systems;
- mobile technical training facilities;
- production and student service delivery to generate income for materials etc.;
- curriculum analysis to minimise expensive equipment needs; and
- more emphasis on work-based learning and uses of employer equipment.
We recommend that an increased productivity element should form a part of initial project preparation procedures, and that this should include both human resource and assets (space, equipment and materials) management.
95. The relationship between provision of materials and equipment and the taught curriculum is complex, and is made more so by institutional ambitions to upgrade or diversify their provision leading to requests for equipment more sophisticated and expensive than is strictly needed. More complex equipment also tends to create greater maintenance and repair problems. Project investment in a curriculum analysis process which seeks to identify the simplest, lowest cost and (if possible) locally made equipment to serve precisely identified training needs, could facilitate investment in both the use and even the production of such equipment.
We recommend that ODA experiments with some limited provision as indicated above, possibly as part of a broader package of support which includes:
- spare parts provision;- staff training in and incentives for regular maintenance and repair procedures, and in simple self-help strategies;
- management training and environmental enhancement.
96. Further, though less tangible, productivity gains can be achieved by organising student learning so that it reflects more closely the different needs and abilities of individual students. A focus on improving access to technical/vocational education for groups of students ill-served by existing provision - particularly women - can lead to both social and economic benefits. Such strategies are also valuable where decreasing enrolment to technical courses is increasing unit costs. This requires the careful analysis of:
- the skills, knowledge and competences needed in order to undertake specified tasks;
- the pre-conditions necessary for the acquisition of those skills and knowledge;
- and the learning strategies whereby they might most efficiently be acquired.
We recommend that ODA experiments in encouraging the adoption of competence-based learning strategies, in order to reduce the time taken to complete training programmes and accelerate the progress of some students through those programmes.
97. The evidence does not enable certain forms of technical/vocational provision or certain national policies to be readily identified as more cost effective than others. Although the unit costs of private sector and employer-based training are generally significantly lower than those of public sector institution-based education, the two forms of provision are not really comparable. Comparison is further complicated by the absence of information concerning the career progression of graduated students into work placements, and of the relevance placed by employers upon the certification acquired as opposed to the skills learned. It is very difficult to estimate the added value of certification both as a means for attracting able students and as a means of entry into occupations and career routes.
We recommend that reverse tracer studies be used to identify career routes into specified jobs and their relative training costs, before investing in the enhancement of a particular institutional training route, particularly if this involves out-of-country training.
98. This Report has emphasised the importance of thorough, accurate, but low-cost needs analyses in the project preparation and development phases. The availability of comparative cost data is an urgent requirement in many systems. Unless the likely costs and potential benefits of possible actions can be estimated, it is impossible to target investment on those aspects of technical/vocational provision which are likely to yield greatest dividends. This is not to argue for sophisticated (and computerised) cost-benefit analysis systems, but rather the improvement of institutional and national information and planning systems so that relevant data can be collected, stored and analysed. These require both data concerning the internal efficiency of the providing institutions, including comparative data between institutions and over time; and data concerning the labour market, its changing needs, and institutional responsiveness to those needs. The latter is considered below: the former often requires little more than the more intelligent use of data currently collected for administrative rather than management purposes.
We recommend that ODA encourages the collection, analysis and comparison of cost data within and between training institutions in ways which are compatible with existing administrative systems, and do not demand more sophisticated computerised management information systems.
Effectiveness strategies
99. Evidence from a wide range of studies emphasises that the unit costs of vocational and technical education are high when compared with the costs of general education. The reasons for this include the requirements for equipment, specialist facilities and consumable materials; the lower staff; student ratios, particularly in workshop learning; and the higher salaries of technical/vocational teachers in many countries compared with primary and secondary teachers. In seeking ways of reducing technical and vocational education's costs, therefore, a prime question remains whether investment might more appropriately be made in general primary and/or secondary education. Technical and vocational provision is commonly handicapped by the lack of basic literacy, numeracy and science education of its entrants. Large numbers of technical/vocational students are unable to find work and so make use of their skills in appropriate employment when completing their studies. There is, therefore, a strong case for examining the benefits which might be obtained if governmental or project investment were focused upon general education rather than on the technical/vocational sector.
We recommend, therefore, such analysis as part of the initial project appraisal process, which scrutinises potential blockages to project success because of inadequate entry capabilities.
100. The significance of the relationships between the labour market and the providers of technical/vocational training cannot be over-emphasised. Where such training is cost-effective - in that its graduates get appropriate jobs on completing their studies - links with employers are closer than in economies where graduates fail to obtain such work. Employers as well as students and teachers work to maintain these links because it is in all their interests to achieve an efficient transition from school or college to work. This Report has suggested a number of ways in which links might be improved. But for these to work, employers as well as providing institutions need to want to improve these links; and this will only occur where employers need the skilled outputs of the institutions. While this argues for relevant curricula, well-trained staff, students who are appropriately prepared at the start of their studies, and satisfactory facilities and equipment, none of these are sufficient if the local or national economy is unable to absorb the students when they complete their studies.
We recommend that experiments with institutionally managed labour market signalling be monitored and, where possible, initiated; and that a simple guide outlining the basic techniques and strategies be commissioned.
101. The quality of vocational education and training depends centrally upon the quality of its staff. In too many systems artificial barriers restrict teaching posts to graduates without practical experience, and some even constrain the recruitment of higher technical education graduates in favour of university graduates. If institutions are to improve their links with industry they must be staffed by people who understand those links. The removal of qualifications barriers and the recruitment of staff on the basis of practical and theoretical competence would be a major step forward for some systems. Few developing countries have established a cadre of workshop technicians in addition to teachers and instructors. Teachers and instructors need to be able to handle both practical and theory teaching, and the practical work is likely to include the capacity to service and repair relevant equipment, particularly where technician appointments are not feasible. Pedagogical skills are also important, with staff able to manage a wide range of classroom and workshop instructional modes. All this argues for improving both recruitment and staff development procedures. Such well-qualified staff are likely to demand salaries higher than those currently paid - and certainly more than are paid to teachers in general primary and secondary schools. The extra costs can be accommodated if accompanied by the higher productivity measures indicated above - including more teaching hours, a longer working year and larger classes. These staff can effectively be complemented by the use of part-time instructors from industry, who also allow greater flexibility of timetabling and course scheduling.
We recommend that staff development investment should include emphasis on maintenance and repair skills, and on enhanced pedagogic skills.
102. Research into technical/vocational education reinforces other recent educational research in highlighting the significance of good management and leadership for effective provision of education and training. The economies of scale gained when providing a wide range of provision within one institution are only achievable when it is well-managed. The complexities of managing large, multi-site technical and vocational institutions demand high calibre management skills, which in turn create training and development demands. Investment in improving the quality of institutional management is one of the most obvious ways of reducing the costs of technical/vocational education. Any reforms needing implementation at institutional level will only succeed with support from top management. The ability to promote curriculum change, labour and facilities productivity and employer linkages, together with the political links essential for a public sector institution, all demand sophisticated management skills. These are unlikely to be acquired unless relevant management training and other forms of development are provided. Investment in in-country management development centres as specified centres of excellence can offer a cost-effective route for the achievement of this objective.
We recommend that initial project appraisals include an analysis of local capacity for such management development, and an appropriate investment in such capacity where it is seen to be lacking.
103. A world-wide trend can be identified towards greater institutional autonomy, largely to facilitate greater responsiveness. The importance of close links with the labour market suggests that technical/vocational institutions can take advantage of that autonomy to operate in a market environment, responding without central constraints to local needs. However, in many developing countries public sector controls severely constrain the responsiveness needed in such an environment. The caution with which many governments approach institutional autonomy can be well-founded if those schools and colleges do not have the planning and management capabilities to manage their own affairs. Governmental regulations also inhibit the competitiveness which might otherwise lead to greater efficiency in systems where training providers have proliferated, particularly where the Ministries of Education and Labour have both invested in technical and vocational provision, and where schools and post-school institutions come under different Ministries. The option of 'withering on the vine' as market forces select the most effective providers is not usually acceptable. This argues for a re-evaluation of those constraints on institutional autonomy and competition. National training agencies might withdraw from the detailed regulation of individual institutions, in return for a heightened quality improvement and resource bargaining role. Institutions might welcome greater autonomy even if it incorporates the freedom to fail and close.
104. All this points powerfully to the crucial importance of sound, robust planning mechanisms at both institutional and national levels. National planning mechanisms need to draw upon labour market, economic and social objectives in order to plan for human resources which match national needs. This means that artificial barriers between the planning activities of separate ministries and national agencies need to be removed. The objectives of the education and training institutions need to reflect national priorities and needs. A natural tendency to acquire distinct institutional goals which bear little relationship to the initial national priorities the institutions were created to achieve must be resisted. This requires planning mechanisms which tune national and institutional goals, and review the institution's achievements against agreed targets. Resource bargaining within such a planned context enables institutions to prepare strategic plans within which intended achievements can be specified in terms of the necessary resource provision. The achievements can be in terms of agreed performance indicators, including student success rates (more in job than in examination success), staff and space productivity, income generation, curriculum development initiatives, and closer links with industry and business.
We recommend that ODA gives high priority to the enhancement of both institutional planning capacity and the planning framework of the national training agency within which institutions operate. Experiments with resource bargaining and incentive systems should be undertaken to encourage a more responsive relationship between training institutions and national agencies.
Summary of Recommendations Efficiency measures
Staff productivity agreements, incentives and improvements.Improved utilisation of space and facilities.
Equipment provision linked to spares, staff training and establishing a maintenance infrastructure.
Comparative cost analyses.
Effectiveness measures
Analysing relative impact of investment in general education.Introducing labour market signalling by institutions.
Improving local management development and planning capacity.
Enhancing institutional autonomy.
Encouraging inter-institutional competition for resources and students.
Re-aligning the planning responsibilities of national training agencies.
Experiments with resource bargaining and incentive systems should be undertaken to encourage a more responsive relationship between training institutions and national agencies.
