TVET and entrepreneurship education (EPE)

By Clive SIACHIYAKO

We are currently living in the ‘knowledge era’ of human history. Knowledge societies and knowledge economies are the main characteristics of the knowledge era, but more important is the ‘knowledge mindset’ of individuals. The knowledge mindset helps individuals to navigate today’s uncertainties and tomorrow’s unknown developments, not only in labour markets but in all aspects of life. Twenty-first-century citizens, regardless of their occupation, must be well equipped to navigate oceans of fast changes and developments. It is the responsibility of TVET to equip individuals to meet current and future challenges and expectations. This is a huge responsibility, but one that must be fulfilled. Education is the main vehicle used by societies to develop their new generations, and education reforms should be oriented to providing students with a knowledge mindset. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and entrepreneurship education (EPE) have a particular role to play in this context.

Time is ripe for integrating education aimed at helping individuals acquire occupation-related technical skills through TVET with those for instilling transferable skills through EPE. The growing trends towards many career changes in the course of people’s lives add to the importance of them acquiring good generic transferable skills. Because of this growing awareness of the role of entrepreneurship in growth and employment, issues of redefining entrepreneurship, and consequently entrepreneurship education and training, have become prominent in the 21st century.

Entrepreneurship education (EPE)
Initiatives to use the power of education to enhance individuals’ entrepreneurial mindsets, and raise awareness of entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to paid employment, gave rise to educational programmes that can be grouped together under the heading of entrepreneurship education and training. EPE has existed for decades and a wide variety of courses have been introduced in many systems of education around the globe.

Special EPE programmes are tailored to job seekers, to unemployed people, and to scientists, engineers and researchers to encourage them to commercialize their intellectual property. EPE is often a link in a chain of support offered to those who decide to explore self-employment and establish a small enterprise. Other links of the chain include technical, legal and administrative support, as well as incubation, franchise and networking support services.

The first decade of the new millennium witnessed the birth of a broader concept of entrepreneurship as a generic skill for everyone, and not just for exceptional entrepreneurs. In that vein EPE was adopted in many regions, but the new concept is still in its infancy. The new concept of EPE is closely linked to innovation and knowledge-based action, thus it stimulates the ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ of learners. In this new sense, it is advisable that EPE start early in the lives of learners.  It is envisaged that introducing entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurship education early at all levels could go very far in nurturing a culture that rewarded prudent risk-taking.

TVET and EPE: where we stand today?
There are new trends and developments in the concept, coverage, policies and modalities of both TVET and EPE. To meet the growing demand for skills, many education systems are adopting policies that clearly focus on skill development and TVET as means to ensure that people were more employable and more productive once they were employed or employed themselves.

TVET strives to prepare tomorrow’s workforce for competitive labour markets, most of which are dominated by small and micro enterprises (SMEs). In many countries SMEs amount to more than 90 per cent of the total number of enterprises, and employ more than two-thirds of the labour force.

 

Innovation in SMEs is crucial to their success and sustainability. Enterprises characterised by innovation are more likely to survive in the market than enterprises that do not innovate. Innovation should be the responsibility not only of entrepreneurs but of all employees, particularly in high-tech enterprises where many are typically TVET graduates.

EPE for SMEs to complement TVET
One of the challenges for educators and policy-makers working in TVET is to assess the extent to which their programmes are preparing students for the whole spectrum of working life, including paid employment, work in cooperatives, self-employment, setting up businesses, family work, social work and voluntary work. Currently, most TVET programmes are basically designed to prepare people for paid employment and many focus on employment in large enterprises.

Public Private Partnerships could help TVET planners and providers to improve the relevance of offerings, by ensuring that the private sector viewpoint is heard and considered in skills training. EPE was also needed to ensure that students learn entrepreneurship. A combination of entrepreneurship skills and occupation-specific skills should act as a major tool in mitigating unemployment and opening opportunities for self-employment and SME development. Therefore, EPE is needed alongside TVET to address the challenge.

TVET and EPE have traits of real-life experience which help expose learners to the reality of entrepreneurship, and to see self-employment or starting up a business as a viable employment alternative. Secondly, some of the occupations for which TVET programmes provide training lend themselves particularly to self-employment and the establishment of SMEs. Thirdly, many TVET programmes and activities already include some of the main EPE skills, such as working in teams, problem-solving and thinking innovatively.

TVET students with practical work experience are already familiar with the rules of preserving the work environment (that is, with occupational health and safety) and the wider environment (being aware of issues such as pollution and the degradation of natural resources), as well as having some awareness of the sustainability of work opportunities and the economy in general. For these reasons (and many others) EPE is crucial to TVET students, trainees, and equally important to their teachers and other educational personnel.

EPE and TVET are two types of education that aim directly at increasing the employability of students and trainees in two major types of employment: self-employment (which includes establishing and developing SMEs) and paid employment. Both types of education directly link the educational programmes to the labour market, widen the scope of choices for students and graduates, optimise the utilisation of individuals’ potential, and contribute to the comprehensive development of society, both economically and socially. 

 EPE is a major cornerstone in promoting the establishment and development of SMEs. It can usefully be provided at secondary and tertiary education levels, and to graduates, the unemployed (including both the never-employed and those who have been laid off as a result of economic difficulties) and many other groups.

The current emphasis on Entrepreneurship Education reflects the fact that entrepreneurship has never been as important as it is today when the world is confronted with big challenges that extend well beyond the global economy. Entrepreneurship is a tremendous force that can have a big impact in growth, recovery, and societal progress by fuelling innovation, employment generation and social empowerment.

EPE as generic skills for all is best started early in schools
If generic Entrepreneurship Education was offered to students as part of the basic education cycle, entrants to TVET would normally enroll in the programmes on a sound basis of appropriate labour market information and an accurate analysis of their own abilities and interests. Their education choice of TVET would ensure their motivation lead to better achievement of the required skills, both personal and technical, and increase their opportunities to enjoy satisfaction in their jobs and life.

With such a background, during their programme of study, learners would continue to use their acquired entrepreneurship skills in mastering skills and acquiring knowledge that would enable them to become self-employed, establish their own business, or become more productive in paid employment. EPE would help them become more mature employees and possible entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, EPE is not part of the education system in most education systems in the world.

 

EPE should be an integral part of life-long learning
Life-long Entrepreneurship Education would mean that students and trainees enrolled in TVET, at any level and age, would continue to receive relevant support to master entrepreneurship skills. Addressing TVET and EPE in an integrated way, for example using a multidisciplinary team teaching approach, would allow students and trainees to organize what they learn, in terms of skills, knowledge or attitudes, in a way that facilitates recalling and using it, as appropriate, in different types of employment. It would also help them to think about using these competencies in an innovative way in their work and in their life more generally. Courtesy: UNESCO