Exploring the Zimbabwean Technical and Vocational Education Journey: Challenges and Prospects
Albert Mufanechiya 
, Bekithemba Dube & Gift Masengwe
Issue: Vol.5 No.16 Issue Article 49 pp.3302-3315
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451649 | Published online 24th December, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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.
Keywords: Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Practical Skills, Labour Market, Economic Development
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Albert Mufanechiya (PhD) is a senior lecturer in the Department of Educational Foundations and Curriculum Development at Great Zimbabwe University and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of the Free State. His research focuses on contemporary education curriculum issues and professional teacher development and learning. Dr Mufanechiya’s commitment to education extends beyond academia, he has worked with several NGOs in Zimbabwe providing expertise and guidance in community engagement projects. He has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and contributed several chapters to educational books.
Bekithemba Dube is a full Professor in curriculum studies. He holds PhD in Curriculum Studies from the University of Free State (UFS). He has written extensively on the area of Curriculum, Politics and Religion in post-colonial African countries. He has published more than 120 articles and book chapters in accredited journals in the past 6 years. He has successfully edited three books on curriculum, politics and religion and edited 4 special issues on education. He is currently the section editor for the Alternation Journal, Section Editor for the Research in Social Science and Technology Journal, Associate Editor E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and Associate Editor for the E-Journal of Religious and Theology Studies all accredited with DHET. He has served as a Head of the Department for Education Foundation and Department of Curriculum Studies at UFS. He is a visiting Professor at Appalachian State University (USA) and he has received funding such as Thuthuka, the USDP award with Colorado State University (USA) and UKSADP with the University of Highlands and Inlands (Scotland). He has received various excellent awards for being exceptional in research, teaching and engaged scholarship.
Dr. Gift Masengwe (PhD), is a Senior Research Fellow in the Office of the Vice Chancellor at Zimbabwe Open University. He is also a research fellow at the Institute of Research in Religion and Theology of the University of South Africa. He publishes interdisciplinary studies in theology, religion, politics, health, philosophy, culture, gender, environment, land, paternalism, religious education, church issues, education and development in close reading with contemporary developments in Globalisation, Industrialisation, Decolonisation and Posthumanism among others.
Mufanechiya, Albert, Bekithemba Dube and Gift Masengwe. “Exploring the Zimbabwean Technical and Vocational Education Journey: Challenges and Prospects,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.16 (2024): 3302-3315. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451649
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
