EXPLORING THE ZIMBABWEAN TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNEY: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

EXPLORING THE ZIMBABWEAN TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNEY: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

ALBERT MUFANECHIYA

BEKITHEMBA DUBE

GIFT MASENGWE

The study explored the challenges that militate against the successful
implementation of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in
Zimbabwe. The study gave an informed focus on biases and perceptions associated
with the academic curriculum. In addressing these challenges, it becomes possible
to create an environment where TVET education is valued and considered a viable
pathway for individuals, and national economic and social development. Using
critical discourse analysis, the study examined the perceptions of instructors and
students about TVET education and identified historical factors that continue to
contribute to the devaluation of TVET. The study findings revealed that the
historical undervaluing of TVET subjects in comparison with academic subjects
was borrowed from the colonial bottleneck education system that favoured
university education over technical skills and persists today. The study underscored
the need for a paradigm shift to TVET skills if economic development is to be
realised in Zimbabwe. This study recommends the need to re-evaluate the status of
TVET education given its contribution to the job market. This study understands the
historical roots of biases against TVET and provides insights for the reconstruction
of an effective TVET system in Zimbabwe that contributes toward ongoing
discourses on the importance of technical skills for national development. The study
recommends the need to reshape public perceptions around TVET which requires a
concerted effort and long-term commitment to changing societal attitudes toward
technical-vocational education.

E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (EHASS)

2024