TVET Systems’ Response to COVID-19

Abstract

This note 1 focuses on the role of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) 2 in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides guidance on reducing the adverse impact of the pandemic on TVET provision and enhancing the contribution TVET can make to mitigating the health, social, and economic impact of COVID-19. Main messages:1. While facing disruptions, TVET can play a critical role in the different stages of the COVID-19 crisis:(i) in the coping phase, when schools and many businesses are closed and the health emergency is at its peak; (ii) in the intermediate phase, when schools and businesses gradually reopen, ; and (iii) during the recovery period, when opportunities open up to re-imagine, reset and redo workforce training. It is important to recognize that significant uncertainty remains about the timeline for each of these phases, and that this will differ by country and region, as will the ability of the TVET system to implement responses to the crisis. 2. TVET can be well-placed to develop important skills needed to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has emphasized the crucial importance of many practical service sector jobs. These essential workers include, inter alia, health care professionals, child and elder care workers, grocery store employees, logistics workers, and ICT support staff. TVET's focus on practical skills, and its potential to deliver short-term, targeted and modular training can be harnessed to rapidly upskill workers in essential sectors and to reskill individuals to engage in the emergency response. TVET's focus on work-readiness could also imply that TVET students could relatively easily be engaged in the emergency response. TVET's focus on practical skills creates certain challenges for distance learning during both the crisisand the gradual re-opening of training centers, but there are also some opportunities to acquire relevant skills via work-based learning during the pandemic. Since most educational institutions, including those in TVET, have closed due to COVID-19 measures, teaching and learning has moved from classrooms to remote means, facilitated by the internet, television, radio, or print materials, but the degree to which learning can still take place outside the classroom is constrained by many factors, which can be most binding in low-income contexts and for vulnerable students. The hallmark of TVET -its focus on practical skills and work-readiness -makes remote learning particularly challenging,1 This note was prepared by Margo Hoftijzer (Consultant), Victoria Levin (Skills Lead, Education Global Practice), Indhira Santos (Skills Co-Lead, Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice), and Michael Weber (Skills Co-Lead, Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice). For further information, please contact SkillsGSGLeads@worldbankgroup.org.2 For this note, TVET is defined as the technical/vocational orientation within secondary education (ISCED 2 and 3), post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4), and also including youth ...

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