Cross border activities to strengthen technical and vocational education and training systems in the information era

Hong Kong Conventional & Exhibition Centre

This presentation aims to consider issues of cooperation in the international arena which are raised by the premise that technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is a critical and integral component of lifelong learning. The paper outlines the objectives and strategies of UNESCO’s UNEVOC Network and challenges the audience to consider what strategies they can encourage in their own countries and regions that will facilitate international cooperation and subsequently strengthen TVET systems. Issues which will be discussed will include maximising national capabilities through training and cooperative activities such as articulation and recognition of courses across national borders, identifying competencies which are common across countries in regions, and identifying possible cooperative training activities etc. Informing the presentation are the outcomes and recommendations of the UNESCO Second International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education (Lifelong learning and training: a bridge to the future) held in Seoul, Republic of Korea in April 1999. These recommendations are the basis and the core of the UNESCO International Program on Technical and Vocational Education and Training which the General Conference of UNESCO authorized the Director-General to launch in November 1999 and fall into three key areas: improving Member States’ TVET policy-making capacity, assisting Member States’ institutional capacity-building and enhancing international co-operation.