Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has multiple purposes. Governments across the world market TVET as the solution to youth unemployment and self-employment. The African Union (AU) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) strategic plans advance this double TVET objective narrative.
Namibia’s legal frameworks underscore this two-pronged TVET purpose. The VET Act of 2008, Namibia’s Vision 2030, NDP5 and Harambee Prosperity Plan, all identify self-employment as the main reason for investing in TVET.
Critics argue that the narrative that TVET qualifications lead to self-employment is flawed and misleading. A global view shows that in three quarters of African countries, some independent for more than five decades, youth unemployment swings around 45%. In the SADC region, while successive governments loudly parrot the same narrative, grassroots evidence contradicts political statements.
For three decades, Namibian policymakers across different political spectrums have religiously sold this dream. Evidence suggests that to date two-thirds of TVET graduates since Namibia’s independence have never been entrepreneurs. Similarly, of the 10% TVET graduates who might have been entrepreneurs during the past three decades, 90% of the small businesses did not survive beyond five years.
The vexed question is “why has TVET failed to generate massive self-employment opportunities as ambitiously articulated in the national strategic plans of African governments?” Stated simply, does a TVET certificate guarantee graduates self-employment? Small business management experts worldwide contend that “it depends” whether TVET graduates have both intangible and tangible resources to be self-employed.
Small business management experts worldwide contend, “it depends” on two things, namely intangible and tangible resources.
First, evidence shows that to be successful entrepreneurs, TVET graduates need self-confidence, creativity, knowledge of market assessment, business management and leadership skills, and a risk-taking mindset.
Secondly, they also require access to finance, official permits, and licensing, including land and buildings. Recent evidence indicates that with the rapid technological changes, creativity is more important to the success of a small business than a permit.
Collectively, this information thus suggests that a certificate alone cannot turn TVET graduates into self-employment. Graduates, for instance, may successfully pass their trade exams with cum laude, but that achievement alone will not translate into self-employment. Robert T. Kiyosaki (2013) provides two reasons why this is the case.
One, schools teach trainees how to be successful as employees in government or corporations rather than how to start their own businesses. Two, children go to school to get a job. Most schools continue to perpetuate these beliefs.
And many Namibian public schools suppress creativity. It is therefore deceptive to expect an education system that rejects creativity and problem solving to produce creative graduates that can generate good, high-paying jobs. It requires a miracle for that to happen!
Why? Mainly because the skill sets of an employee and an entrepreneur are different. Thus, if Namibian education establishments continue to promote rote learning, TVET will never contribute to self-employment as envisioned in the country’s strategic plans and legislative frameworks.
On one hand, it is possible that two out of ten TVET graduates may want to become entrepreneurs. But the unfriendly climate of the financial sector undermines some graduates’ entrepreneurial spirit in Namibia. Sadly, Namibia’s public sector has no interest in promoting youth self-employment beyond political speeches. The demise of the SME Bank in 2017 is wellknown. Ironically, the bank that was founded on pro-poor economic principles became a welfare bank for the political elite!
For all the aforementioned reasons, if policymakers want TVET graduates to enter self-employment, fix the following five issues. First, transform the current TVET curriculum. Second, align the legal framework with the 21st-century skill sets.
We may not be able to predict the future with certainty, however no politician, I guess, believes that the current legislative framework will still be relevant in 2060. Third, transform the teaching style in our education and training institutions.
Fourth, re-think learning and assessment. The current focus of education and training institutions on cramming information harms graduates’ abilities to turn their qualifications into self-employment.
Five, policymakers must put their money where their mouths are. Talk is cheap, thus only your actions will prove the true value of your work. For decades, we have used the same TVET curriculum and legislative framework to achieve self-employment. What has been the result?