Vocational education is a program that gets students ready for careers as technicians, tradespeople, or artisans. Vocational education can also be thought of as the type of education provided to a person to prepare them for gainful employment or self-employment with the necessary skills. Depending on the country, vocational education is known by a variety of names, including career and technical education, and by acronyms like TVET (technical and vocational education and training) and TAFE (technical and further education).
A sort of educational facility created expressly to offer vocational education is a vocational school. The apprenticeship system may be impacted by vocational education that occurs at the post-secondary, higher education, or further education levels. Highly specialized trade schools, technical schools, community colleges, colleges of further education (UK), vocational universities, and institutes of technology (formerly known as polytechnic institutes) frequently offer vocational education at the post-secondary level.
Overview of Vocational Education
In the past, practically all vocational education took place in a classroom setting or on a job site, where qualified professors or seasoned professionals taught students about the theory and practices of their respective trades. But as online vocational education has gained popularity recently, it is now simpler than ever for students, even those who may reside distant from a typical vocational school, to study different trade skills and soft skills from seasoned professionals.
In the application of TVET and skill development globally, trends have evolved. Several governments started putting more emphasis on the value of education in helping students get ready for the workforce starting in the late 1980s. The “new vocationalism” school of thought prioritized discussions on the goals of public education around the skills requirements of the business. To promote economic growth in general and combat youth unemployment in particular, TVET and skills development were seen as crucial elements.
The skills that many adults and teenagers needed to find employment in the industry were not effectively developed by general education systems. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a growth in the number of work-based learning options available to young people as well as the introduction and extension of new vocational curricula and courses, frequently created in partnership with industry.