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TVET as an important factor in country’s economic development

Article  in  SpringerPlus · December 2014

DOI: 10.1186/2193-1801-3-S1-K3 · Source: PubMed

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Pavlova SpringerPlus 2014, 3(Suppl 1):K3
http://www.springerplus.com/content/3/S1/K3
a SpringerOpen Journal

KEYNOTE SPEAKER Open Access

TVET as an important factor in country’s

economic development
Margarita Pavlova
From Practical Social and Industrial Research (PSIR) Symposium 2014
Wanchai, Hong Kong. 5 December 2014

Education and training for productive employment is importance of transitions towards greener economies has
vital for economic and social development in Asia and been recognized globally, by both regions and separate
the Pacific. Technical and Vocational Education and countries (e.g. The Europe 2020 Strategy [4]; The Central
Training (TVET) is viewed as a tool for productivity People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China,
enhancement and poverty reduction in the region. As 2011 [5]). Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the
there is a strong correlation between the proportion of Pacific (ESCAP) [6] concludes that government policies
TVET students at the post-secondary level (tertiary, that are directed towards strengthening social and envir-
non-degree, ISCED 5b) and per capita income [1] many onmental pillars of sustainable development could serve
countries have taken steps to strengthen policy guidance as “the solution to improving the quality of growth in the
and regulatory frameworks for technical and vocational region” ([6] p.62). For Asia and the Pacific, the develop-
education and training and to improve partnerships ment of the “green economy” that recognizes the “impor-
with private sector and employers. However, there is a tant interlinkages between the environmental resource
difference between developed and less developed coun- base, economic systems and social development” [7, p.50]
tries in terms of their first priorities regarding TVET. could lead to investment and capacity development in
The first group of countries emphasize quality improve- such areas as renewable energy resources, green manufac-
ment, monitoring and evaluation of TVET, the availabil- turing sectors, urbanization, food security, sustainable
ity of national development plans, but the second group agricultural practices and biodiversity. China, for example,
of countries focus on the cost of enrolment and imple- identified the aim of developing a circular economy as
mentation of TVET [2]. Although skilled human one direction of their current Fifth year plan [5], the
resources are the primary asset of many countries in the economy, where ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ at every stage
region, an inadequately educated workforce is still of production and consumption are promoted. The Gov-
among the most problematic factors for doing business ernment of Hong Kong SAR has invested strategically in
in many countries in Asia and the Pacific [3]. innovation and technology as drivers for economic
This presentation brings together a number of areas of growth and competitiveness as due to environmental
strategic development for Hong Kong stated in the 2014 challenges, “faster and broader innovation of new tech-
Chief Executive’s Policy Address; namely economic devel- nology is critical for achieving a sustainable future, [parti-
opment, innovation and technology industries, vocational cularly], “the development of green industries” [8].
education and environmental protection. High perfor- Economic changes caused by green restructuring
mance in increasingly competitive global economies com- should be supported by human resource development
bined with the need to address global challenges posed that results in significant impact on skills. This presenta-
by climate change and carbon emissions, environmental tion examines how TVET can contribute to green eco-
degradation and pollution, health, and poverty, require nomic restructuring in the region through developing
successful countries to adapt innovation-driven strategies effective approaches towards formulation of green
for growth that should be supported by TVET. The skills (technical skills, knowledge, values and attitudes
necessary for worker for the transition to an economy
Correspondence: [email protected] with a reduced negative impact on the environment) [9].
UNESCO-UNEVOC Centre (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Institute of Education, It also evaluates greening of TVET in several Asian
Hong Kong

© 2014 Pavlova; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly credited.
 Pavlova SpringerPlus 2014, 3(Suppl 1):K3 Page 2 of 2
http://www.springerplus.com/content/3/S1/K3

countries and argues that green innovation supported

by governments could play an important role in tran-
sition towards a greener economy that in turn results
in inclusion of green skills into a competence-based
TVET.
The presentation is based on the results of several
research projects that were focused on different aspects
of identifying, developing and including green skills in
TVET to support transition to greener economies. As
research in developing Asian countries demonstrates,
although inclusion of new green competencies both gen-
eric and specific into curriculum has been observed, it is
not enough on its own. There is a need for a holistic
framework for greening TVET that includes develop-
ment of values and attitudes (Pavlova, in press). While
industry is slow in re-orienting itself towards greening,
government is playing a crucial role in (i) adjusting
TVET towards the needs of economy (both current and
future), individuals and societies, and (ii) supporting
green innovation development and diffusion for stimu-
lating market demand in green skills that is particularly
important for curriculum development in a compe-
tence-based TVET.

Published: 4 December 2014

References
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and the Pacific. Manila, Philippines: ADB; 2009.
2. CPSC: A study of the challenges of TVET in the CPSC member countries.
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CPSC; 2010.
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Economic Forum; 2012.
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prices [Internet]., c-2012[cited 2014 September 5]. Available from http:// Submit your manuscript to a
www.unescap.org/pdd/publications/survey2012/download/Survey_2012.pdf.
8. Hong Kong’s Information Services Department: Gov’t keen to nurture journal and benefit from:
green industry [Internet]., c-2013[cited 2014 September 5]. Available from
http://www.news.gov.hk/en/record/html/2013/12/20131204_125609.shtml. 7 Convenient online submission
9. Pavlova M: Green skills as the agenda for the competence-movement in 7 Rigorous peer review
TVET. In Competence-based Vocational and Professional Education. Springer; 7 Immediate publication on acceptance
M Mulder and J. Winterton . 7 Open access: articles freely available online
doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-S1-K3 7 High visibility within the field
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