This article analyses the development and implementation of policies that aim at improving the 'recognition of prior learning' (RPL) in the vocational education and training (VET) systems of Sweden and Switzerland. It argues that the evolution of RPL policies and schemes needs to be analysed in relation to educational expansion, which creates…

In 2018, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority amended its regulatory framework in order to formally recognise micro-credentials. The rules provide a definition, credit value limits, and permission to publish on the NZQA website. The rules apply to Tertiary Education Organisations, leaving universities to establish their own micro-credential…

There have been repeated attempts to establish mathematics qualifications for lower attaining students aged 16 years and over on vocational pathways in England. In 2004, the Tomlinson Report proposed Functional Mathematics and this paper examines the trajectory of this qualification (later Functional Skills mathematics) through analysis of policy…

This article contributes to a better theoretical understanding of the social processes underlying the development and implementation of schemes to improve the recognition of prior learning (RPL) in vocational education and training (VET). It traces the global diffusion of RPL, and then analyses the formulation of RPL policies and design and…

Established in 2009, Swedish Higher Vocational Education (HVE) gives employers an opportunity to initiate state-funded but locally conceptualised and managed training programmes. This article investigates the system, the ideas used in policy to mandate this arrangement of vocational education and training (VET) and the institutional relations of…

Country profiles are compiled from a variety of national and international sources and have been informed and validated by UNEVOC Centres in the country or other Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) national authorities. This profile discusses Lao P.D.R.'s: (1) TVET systems; (2) TVET strategy and key policy documents; (3) governance…

Country profiles are compiled from a variety of national and international sources and have been informed and validated by UNEVOC Centres in the country or other Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) national authorities. This profile discusses Mongolia's: (1) TVET system; (2) TVET strategy and key policy documents; (3) governance and…

Country profiles are compiled from a variety of national and international sources and have been informed and validated by UNEVOC Centres in the country or other Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) national authorities. This profile discusses Qatar's: (1) TVET system; (2) TVET strategy and key policy documents; (3) governance and…

Country profiles are compiled from a variety of national and international sources and have been informed and validated by UNEVOC Centres in the country or other Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) national authorities. This profile discusses Timor Leste's: (1) TVET systems; (2) TVET strategy and key policy documents; (3) governance…

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the change in the vision of vocational education within the scope of the "Modernization of Vocational and Technical Education Project" (MTEM) and "Strengthening the Vocational Education and Training System" (MEGEP) financed by the EU, which was concluded by the Ministry of…

Skills-based education can provide a way forward to sustainable development in a developing country. It is a hopeful scenario that more than 60% of the population of Pakistan is less than 30 years of age and almost half of them are under 15 years of age. It is important for the policymakers and planners to learn from the societies where human…

The study discusses how vocational education changes in Estonia have been perceived by vocational teachers. Vocational teachers have been challenged in terms of making sense of and adapting to the educational changes triggered by reform policies introduced in recent decades. As reforms have often not been implemented as planned, it is essential to…

This paper presents an analysis of the examination of Portugal's education policy conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1987 as well as of its role in the legitimation of a new vocationalism. In particular, the focus is on the key recommendation put forward in the examiners' report regarding the…

This paper argues that the recent policy reform of occupational qualifications in South Africa is not substantially different from previous qualifications composed of unit standards and learning outcomes. The transition to democracy in the 1990s saw the introduction of a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for post-school education. The…

State policies regarding workers' education and the education and training of adults and communities have been hugely influenced by the political and ideological perspectives and approaches that have informed such policies from the onset of the post-apartheid period. These approaches have had pervasively negative effects on especially workers'…