Supporting the Development and Implementation of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) National Policies in Francophone Countries
Abstract:
The state and government leaders of countries having French in common, gathered at the 8th Francophone Summit (Moncton, September 3-5, 1999), have adopted the Conclusions of the Assises francophones de la formation professionnelle et technique (Bamako, May 26-29, 1998), co-organised by the CONFEMEN and the Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie. These meetings have brought to light the necessity of developing suitable and flexible mechanisms for the exchange of information and documentation, in order to reinforce thc capacities of observation and diagnosis of training needs, to promote the international exchange of expertises and the sharing of educational resources.
The Agence intergouvernemental de la Francophonie has implemented an international partnership process for each of the Francophone regions. This process started with a Trans-national Seminar reuniting the major TVET stakeholders in the countries of the targeted region. The countries have reassembled into six groups: Countries of Western Africa, Countries of Central Africa, Countries of Maghreb and Machrek, Countries of Asia, Insular Countries of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Caribbean, Countries of Central and Western Europe. In all, 50 countries have participated in these seminars.
As a technical partner of the AIF, the experts of the Department of Vocational and Technical Training of Quebec's Minister of Education have developed a conceptual framework to be used as a presentation and structuring tool for the seminars in four distinct workshops. They have also prepared four thematic notebooks which deal with the four phases of the proposed re-foundation process. The work focuses on the elaboration and implementation of a national TVET policy (workshop I), the engineering of training strategy management (workshop II), the development of competency-based study programs (workshop III), and the local management of education and training (workshop IV).
The country delegations have expressed their common willingness to mutually support the development of their educational systems. The work has resulted in the outlining of the main priorities of the international cooperation and the defining of an international partnership process. The project must not only be a means of vitalizing the national policies on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, but also a means of follow-up and evaluation of the measures undertaken by the countries for the re-foundation of their educational systems.
Authors:
Serge Côté
Dennis Laroche
Hervé Teissière