Background, Conference objectives, Conference contents, Participants

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Background

More than ever before, extraordinary technological expansion and the issues connected with economic and social development are posing serious questions for access to knowledge and vocational skills within the context of technical education and vocational training (TVET) :

• what are the objectives of TVET, economic, social and individual?
• how should TVET be positioned in the current environment with its knowledge-based and global economy? How should it connect with general education, higher education and life-long training?
• who are the TVET players? What are the methods? What are the means of financing?

The Conference

Representatives from 29 countries and numerous national and international organizations met at the CIEP in Sèvres December 16-18 2003 to discuss these issues.

The audience included :

• government and senior administration officials.
• officials from socio-economic organizations (employers and labor unions).
• officials and experts from international organizations.

Conference Objectives

For the first time, countries with highly different economic and social conditions assembled on this topic, in order to :

• review the main problems connected with TVET in secondary education;
• report on and analyze recent experiments and studies carried out by various organizations relating to the reform of secondary education;
• allow experts and decision-makers to engage in exchange;
• lay down the foundations for an exchange and research forum on TVET.

Conference Contents

The Conference Program, speakers’ backgrounds, abstracts, PowerPoint presentations are available.

The three-day event showcased :

• case studies (Chile, Nigeria, Tunisia),
• regional studies (sub-Saharan Africa, for example),
• presentations on specific themes (validation of experience, professional agricultural training, problems faced by minorities, etc.)

Throughout the conference, the one hundred or so participants highlighted the difficulties inherent to training for young people, which must simultaneously:

• ensure access to employment,
• prepare for technological change,
• train responsible citizens.

The “knowledge-based economy” requires, throughout the world, that a new position and new forms be defined for education, with difficult choices on the horizon in terms of educational strategy, funding, involvement of economic and social players and teacher training. In addition to those ground issues, the poverty and inequalities existing in many countries also need to be taken into account.

Participants

The wealth of information gained through the description of various experiments conducted across the world was enhanced further by the many experts from the conference’s partner institutions, ILO representatives, European Commission, OECD, Council of Europe and French Ministry of Agriculture, who shared their thoughts on the subject and provided regional perspectives on the issues addressed.

By way of conclusion…

The conference ended with a two-voice summary that left open the prospect of extending the event by publishing the proceedings, setting up an exchange forum on the Web, and preparing other similar events, as has been suggested by many participants.

Participating Countries

• Bosnia Herzegovina
• Brazil
• Cameroon
• Chile
• China (absent)
• Colombia
• Egypt
• Germany
• Hungary
• Lebanon
• Madagascar
• Mali
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Morocco
• Nigeria
• Norway
• Palestinian Authority
• Poland
• Republic of Korea
• Russian Federation
• Senegal
• Sudan
• Thailand
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Uzbekistan
• Vietnam
• Yemen

Partner institutions:

• CIEP
• The World Bank
• UNESCO
• European Training Foundation
• Ministry for National Education, Youth and Research (France)
• Ministry for Foreign Affairs (France)

Participating organizations, other partners:

• Council of Europe
• European Commission
• OECD
• IIEP
• ILO
• African Development Bank
• Asian Development Bank
• French Ministry for Agriculture

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