VET systems in Africa are seen as small and weak, with very weak employer linkages and very small on-the-job training (McGrath et al., 2019; Allais, 2020). And yet, skills are believed to be crucial for both national economic growth and development, and individual’s abilities to get a job or create work for themselves, and there is enormous focus from donors and development agencies on reforming TVET systems—and the idea is to make them more responsive, ‘demand-led’ (Mastercard Foundation, 2020; UNESCO, IIEP and IFEF, 2020; ILO, 2021). This includes a focus on vocationalization of school curricula as well as on reforming vocational education and training (VET) systems. The assumption is that different knowledge and skills will solve individuals’ current difficulties in getting jobs and sustaining livelihoods (Allais, 2021). A number of ‘rules and tools’ are proposed and supported by donors: sector skills councils, qualifications frameworks, competency-standards, occupational standards. Sector skills bodies, usually called sector skills councils, sometimes industry skills councils, as structures that are created for engagement between stakeholders, with a key role for employers. Formally, these structures are intended to bring the world of work and the world of education and training together. In some instances, they are seen as structures that advise government and education and training providers; in others they are seen as structures to oversee the development of qualifications and occupational standards; and sometimes they play a quality assurance role. They have become a focus of policy attention in many countries because it is believed that they can ensure industry involvement in TVET systems and policies, to ensure greater responsiveness and relevance to employers’ needs. Competency-based training reforms, both of VET and school curricula, as well as the development of occupational standards and qualifications frameworks, are also seen as key interventions. This paper provides an analysis of these systems across the African continent, with a view to understanding how they work, and their effectiveness in achieving the policy goals of creating ‘demand-led’ VET systems. Drawing on the analysis of what is happening in Africa, we argue that improving educational preparation for work requires both an analysis of the economy and labour markets, and the ways in which credentials, qualifications, and skills interact with the economy and labour markets, as well as an understanding of the complexity of knowledge in relation to work and educational preparation for work.

The research consists of surveys, interviews, and document analysis of key policy documents. Document analysis included a focus on skills and VET policy as well as industrial policy, where available online. Three surveys, administered in English and French, aimed to obtain information from employer associations, union federations, companies, and trade unions in African countries, with a view to obtaining their perspectives on linkages between technical and vocational education and training and the productive sectors. An additional survey, administered in English, French, and Portuguese, of TVET stakeholders on the continent, was developed to gain insight into a range of aspects of new qualifications and competencies in sub-Saharan Africa. This includes where (in terms of sectors) stakeholders perceive a demand, how such identification happens, how occupations are related to qualifications, and the extent to which and ways in which curricula are developed and modified in response to new qualifications and competencies. Finally, 21 in-depth interviews in with key roleplayers and experts in 13 countries—Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe. We focused on ministries, government authorities, TVET institutions, and qualifications authorities.

The ‘rules and tools’ pushed by international organizations, such as occupational standards, qualifications frameworks, and part qualifications, are being developed and used (to some extent) for forward planning, system improvement, and curriculum design. Employers and industry associations are playing a role (although this is uneven in different countries). And yet, there is no indication that TVET systems are improving, either in terms of status or the quality and relevance of graduates. Competency-based training reforms and qualifications frameworks both depend on and aspire to create employer engagement, with employers in the role of customers specifying products. They also undermine the complexity of curriculum development, and the ways in which knowledge and skills need to be acquired for work. There is little differentiation between processes and systems for understanding current and emerging economic demand for skills on the one hand, and those for medium to longer term skills anticipation on the other hand. Further, skills anticipation systems show a belief in linearity that is impossible in practice. Systems do not appear to support meaningful engagement with employers, and do not enable the meaningful engagement with current and emerging skills required, nor do these help to differentiate between what we need for now and what we need for the future. There is little indication of industrial policy and economic development strategies seeing skills as part of how they are planning and conceptualizing transformation in the sector. Instead, policy systems appear to be driven by the logic of employers as customers, instead of employers as co-creators of skill. The distinction is important because otherwise it appears as if there is good employer engagement—but employers are involved at the level of qualification design, instead of being embedded in the skill formation system with an ongoing relationship with providers that enables real responsiveness.

Allais, S. (2020) ‘Skills for industrialization in sub-Saharan African countries: Why is systemic reform of technical and vocational systems so persistently unsuccessful?’, Journal of Vocational Education and Training, pp. 455–472. doi:10.1080/13636820.2020.1782455. Allais, S. (2021) ‘Livelihoods, Sustainability, and Skills’, in McCowan, T. and Unterhalter, E. (eds) Education and International Development: An Introduction. 2nd edition. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 237–256. ILO (2021) A Resource Guide on Sector Skills Bodies. Geneva: International Labour Office, Skills and Employability Branch. Mastercard Foundation (2020) Secondary Education in Africa. Toronto, Ontario Canada: Mastercard Foundation. doi:10.15868/socialsector.35972. McGrath, S. et al. (2019) ‘Vocational education and training for African development: a literature review’, Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 72(4), pp. 465–487. doi:10.1080/13636820.2019.1679969. UNESCO, IIEP and IFEF (2020) Competency-based approach to technical and vocational education and training in Africa Study based on seven African countries: Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, and South Africa. Synthesis report. Dakar: IIPE- UNESCO.