> The Future of Technological and Vocational Education: UNESCO> '> s Perspective
> HE Dr. Adnan Badran
> Deputy Director-General of UNESCO
> Your Excellency Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology;
> Distinguished Participants;
> Ladies and Gentlemen,
> It is my great pleasure, on behalf of Mr. Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO, to address the opening session of TEND 97. The Director-General very much wishes to be here himself for this important event. Unfortunately, other United Nations commitments have made it impossible for him to attend this conference personally. He asked me to convey his regrets and he wishes TEND 97 great success.
> Your Highness,
> Your Excellency,
> Ladies and Gentlemen,
> UNESCO highly appreciates and supports the initiative taken by the United Arab Emirates and its Higher Colleges of Technology to organise TEND 97, a conference that examines the impact of technological education on national development. This significant event is taking place at a crucial moment, when we are at the threshold of the new century and when all countries are facing serious challenges posed by the globalisation of the world economy and the rapid development of technologies.
> Last year, the international Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century, chaired by the former European Commission President, Jacques Delors, prepared and published its report entitled: "Learning: The Treasure Within." Referring to the advancement of technology and its impact on education, the report stated:
> ...> in a world increasingly dominated by technology, emphasis must be placed on ways both to use technology in the service of education and to prepare people to master it for living and working. Getting the reform strategies right, by a broad-based dialogue, and by increasing responsibility and involvement of stakeholders at every level, will be a crucial element of educational renewal.
> Fortunately, TEND 97 is providing us today with an exceptional opportunity, an international forum, to discuss and exchange our views on future strategies for further development and renovation of this important sector of education.
> What is the impact of the globalisation of the world economy and the development of technologies on industry and what we do to improve technological and vocational education in order to cope with this new phenomenon? I should like to share some of our perspectives with you-perspectives that are drawn from the rich and varied experience we have gained along with our Member States.
> To be competitive in the global economy, a country has to educate the bulk of its citizens up to a significant level, providing appropriate technological and vocational education so as to make its work-force at all levels highly skilled. Modern technologies have helped to establish, in many countries, comprehensive production system> s based on highly qualified work, complex job assignments and teamwork structures. Competent personnel are essential in handling such modern and flexible production technology. They are required to solve intricately complex problems. Specialised knowledge limited to one workplace is no longer sufficient. Capacity and flexibility, along with willingness, are now decisive skills. Technological and vocational education should, therefore, provide more generalizable skills in order to prepare the labour force for the rapidly changing world of work. The skills developed will be used by people who have particular sets of values. Therefore, any development of technological skills must
be paralleled by the development of people as people: their attitudes, values and levels of appreciation. In this connection, the concept of key competencies has received increasing attention. These competencies may include, collection and analysing information, planning activities, working with partners, using technology, and so forth. Such development is an important component of the concept of l> ife-long education, which is a key theme of UNESCO.
> Technological and vocational education should be provided in the most flexible manner together with the new information and communication technology, which offers means to make it possible. Today, technological and vocational education and training can be obtained in school, at the work place or even at home. However, the school population should not be the only target group. In both the developed and developing countries, several disadvantaged social groups exist, such as unemployed youth, school drop-outs, demobilised soldiers (in post-conflict nations), and so on, who undoubtedly are in great need, and should be in a position to accede to technological and vocational education, for the sake of the country> '> s socio-economic development.
> In order to reach them, education and training have to be offered through both formal and non-formal settings. As flexibility is in such high demand, the curricula of technological and vocational education, in many countries, tend to be modular, suiting the specific individual> '> s needs and employment circumstances.
> The rapid advancement of technology also greatly affects the delivery system of technological and vocational education. The utilisation of new informatics technology has made the access to this education easier and training possible. Technology will be more and more powerful, both hardware and software will be more convenient to use, and have more functions. Standardisation will mean faster and cheaper development of learning materials. The move from analogue to digital will increase the possibility to exchange and transmit learning materials through the computer network. We, therefore, have to plan for an intelligent use of the new information technology in order to improve the access to technological and vocational education as a life-long learning process. This implies a considerable amount of effort from all parties involved. Decision-makers have to know how to make decisions related to investment in new technologies. The teacher> '> s role will change considerably and will be that of an integrator of
learning activities. They have to be trained or re-trained accordingly. Learners will have to become more active in the learning process, helped by teachers and by new technologies in their new roles. Technological educators will also have to work closely with software manufacturers constantly to offer easy-to-use teaching/learning materials and programmes. To a large extent, the new information technology will contribute to the development of both the necessary attitudes and educational opportunities for life-long learning. We have to be well prepared for this rapidly advancing upheaval.
> To be productive and demand-driven, in order to meet the changing needs of industry and the society as a whole, the organisation and management of technological and vocational educational systems need reform. No more than a decade ago, technological and vocational education was mainly delivered by public providers. In recent years, reviews of technological and vocational education systems were undertaken in many countries in the light of attempts to create a demand-driven market situation with both public and private providers involved.
> To make the system more responsive to the real needs of enterprises, several approaches have been proposed including, on the one hand, to support with government funding, private providers, and on the other, to give individual institutions more autonomy to enable them to compete with each other for students and funds. The secret of success in such a new order will be offering the needed service to clients. Needless to say, that to what limit this reform should go will have to depend on each country> '> s understanding of the role of the government in technological and vocational education. In our opinion, the government should be encouraged to make an even stronger commitment in developing policy, allocating resources and monitoring performance, which will keep technological and > vocational education moving in the direction the country requires.
> Technological and vocational education, by its nature, has to be connected closely with the world of work, in particular, the industry and enterprises. The relationship between technological/vocational education and industry has traditionally, in many countries, not been a close one. This is in the process of changing. Companies are now well aware that their competitiveness depends upon the level of skill of their employees. They are taking a much closer interest in what suppliers of technological and vocational education have to offer. Many approaches have been identified to strengthen the link between industry and technological/vocational education-such as apprenticeship, involvement of industry in the operation of technological/vocational education institutions, national and regional industry training bodies. This trend will continue and governments should be encouraged to provide the impetus for the establishment of such linkage.
> Your Highness,
> Your Excellency,
> Ladies and Gentlemen,
> As with most changes, ideas from one part of the world very quickly become, through global communications and meetings such as this, part of a changed agenda in another. UNESCO, as an international organisation promoting intellectual exchanges, has been active during the past several decades in facilitating international co-operation in the field of technological and vocational education. It is noteworthy, here, to mention two documents in this field: The Revised Recommendations Concerning Technical and Vocational Education (1994) and the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education (1989). Our Member States have greatly benefited from these two international standard-setting instruments.
> Aiming to enhance UNESCO> '> s contribution to the development of technological and vocational education in its Member States, UNESCO, in 1992, launched its International Project on Technical and Vocational Education (UNEVOC). The Project was designed firstly, to foster international exchange of ideas on policy issues; secondly, to strengthen national research and development capabilities; and thirdly, to facilitate access to information through networks.
> During the past five years, the Project provided sufficient documents on existing technological and vocational education systems in various countries for international comparisons and offered forums for discussing national policies and practices in this field. A large number of national and regional training activities and joint projects were supported through the Project in order to improve the national research and development capabilities in the Member States. The application of new training technologies has been receiving additional attention in this process. An international network composed of 140 institutions in 100 countries was established to strengthen international co-operation. Efforts are being made to connect these institutions by the current information technology available, while extensive information and relevant data are being disseminated through this network. Since it was launched, the UNEVOC Project has received enthusiastic support from UNESCO> '> s Member States. More than 130 countr
ies have participated in the Project activities in one way or another.
> Ten years ago, UNESCO organised the First World Congress on Technical and Vocational Education in Berlin, Germany (1987). Since then, many Member States have expressed their desire to have another opportunity to discuss the future of technological and vocational education, at this crucial turn of the century. Answering this call, UNESCO is planning to organise the Second World Congress. The Government of the Republic of Korea has already offered to host this Congress in Seoul in 1999. This initiative demonstrates yet another contribution that UNESCO is very keen to make towards the reform of technological and vocational educational and national development of its Member States.>
> Your Highness,
> Your Excellency
> Ladies and Gentlemen,
> On behalf of Mr. Federico Mayor, I wish TEND 97 every success. I may say that the outcome of this important event is awaited with greatest interest. The impetus emanating from TEND 97 should benefit many countries by providing national policy-makers with fresh perspectives on the role of technological education in national development. We, in UNESCO, will also examine the conclusions of TEND 97, and will draw from them all that can be learned with a view to preparing UNESCO> '> s future programme in this field.
> Thank you, the United Arab Emirates and the Higher Colleges of Technology, for this initiative and its excellent organisation.
> http://crm.hct.ac.ae/events/archive/tend/002badran.html
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