South Sudan on Course to Develop Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) Qualification Framework

Improving quality of TVET in South Sudan through a national TVET qualification framework

The Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organized a one-day workshop on The Development of South Sudan National TVET Qualification Framework (SSDNTQF) and TVET Quality Assurance Guidelines on Tuesday 18 May 2021. The workshop provided a forum for TVET stakeholders in South Sudan to discuss and reach a common understanding of the features of the two instruments – TVET Qualification Framework and TVET Quality Assurance Guidelines.

Officials from different relevant ministries including international and national NGO partners participated and contributed in the workshop. The meeting kicked off with virtual experience sharing from TVET experts from Ghana, South Africa, and the Section for Youth, Literacy and Skills Development, Division for Polices and Lifelong Learning Systems in the Education Sector at UNESCO Headquarters.

Speaking during the workshop, Mr. Tap Raj Pant, the Head of the Education Unit in the UNESCO Juba Office, reiterated UNESCO commitment to accompany South Sudan to develop the TVET sector, particularly in the areas of policy development, quality assurance framework, curriculum, legal framework, and establishment of functional TVET centers of excellency at the sub-national level. On their part, the co-chairs of the Ad Hoc TVTET Coordination Committee (one from the Ministry of General Education and Instruction and the other from the Ministry of Labour) thanked UNESCO for its support to TVET in South Sudan, without which TVET would have remained in the very fragmented state. “The development of the NTVETQF opens the way for harmonization of standards across the country”, said Mr. Taban Kazo, co-chair of the Ad Hoc TVET Coordination Committee representing the Ministry of General Education and Instruction. The workshop concluded with a roadmap towards the development of TVET qualification framework as the outcome.

UNESCO support to this workshop and other initiatives to develop the TVET sector in South Sudan has been made possible through the generous contributions from the governments of Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Dubai Cares to UNESCO global Capacity Development for Education (CapEd) programme.