A capability approach to understanding the role of informal apprenticeship in the human development of informal apprentices

How to strengthen informal apprenticeship systems for a better future of work?

“…Employment outcomes -independent of whether they are formal, informal or self-employment -also need to be measured against apprentice aspirations, and whether informal apprenticeship is able to meet these. While available results do not allow the comparison of aspirations with actual outcomes, they can at least confirm that starting a business is a desirable outcome for many apprentices, a finding confirmed also by Alla-Mensah and McGrath (2021). In Zambia, 44.8 per cent of apprentices aspired to start their own business and in Malawi around 50 per cent.…”

“…Informal rules, traditions and customs define the social system in which apprentices and master craftspersons operate. More than in formal training, apprentices learn "to be" rather than only "exert" a profession and hence develop an occupational identity (Alla-Mensah and McGrath, 2021). These underlying social rules in a society, in communities and families, broadly determine how things are done, rather than how they are defined by law or formally established rules.…”

Vocational Educations and Training (VET) Adoption at Science Techno Park (STP) in the Field of Maritime to Promote Business Incubation and Community Empowerment in Indonesia

“…In developing nations, VET provides a comprehensive reference source for the newest literature on maximizing the implementation of curriculum development and instructional design methodologies [39] VET can help a country's development by providing young people with job-market-relevant skills based on non-academic technical education and practical, informal training that develops skills and knowledge [40], [41] empowering [20], [31], [42] and promoting economic growth [21]. [43] suggested that a VET strategy combined with STP can be utilized to carry out entrepreneur incubation, encompassing pre-incubation, technical training, and business support activities.…”

Transitioning Vocational Education and Training in Africa

“…In much of Africa, they have been relatively small in scale and scarcely better at reaching the mass of youth than more formal modes of vocational learning. Moreover, although it is often seen as a space for learning opportunities of those with limited formal education, we need to remember that educational levels are actually quite varied (Alla-Mensah, 2021), and that it is also a site of exclusion on grounds of gender, ethnicity, disability and so on. While there are sites of excellent practice, there are also cases where very little learning goes on, and, more seriously, arrangements that are little more than indentured labour.…”