Vocational and Technical Education and Training Initiatives in the Southeast Asia Region: Its Socio-Cultural Pitfalls

Abstract

Numerous initiatives on Vocational and Technical Education and Training (VTET) have been undertaken in the Southeast Asia region. The initiatives rest on the assumption that they are a panacea for modernising a country's economy and achieving higher levels of per capita income. Great diversity of organisation, financing and delivery modes have been in place to promote such initiatives. In fact, not many countries in the region have been able to make their initiatives more relevant to the world of work and increase its effectiveness. Whereas, other countries tend to have placed too much burden on this single policy instrument to address very complex issues and too much weight on intuitive logic rather than consulting the reconciliation between national directives and local aspirations, as well as between donor and recipient requirement/needs. Future initiatives, therefore should ensure the balance between identification and ownership through the maximisation of participation.