Revisiting quality assurance for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the Caribbean

Abstract

Quality assurance for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is currently quite a prominent area in the Caribbean because of the expansion of the global marketplace and the need to provide training of comparable standards to those obtained in the developed world. It is evident that quality assurance in TVET is not well understood by stakeholders in the region and as such there is need to revisit this critical aspect. This paper attempts to clarify the concept of quality assurance in TVET by discussing the various approaches employed for quality assurance of TVET. It presents examples of best practices in quality assurance of TVET, and attempts to discuss these practices in relation to approaches employed in the Caribbean. Additionally, the paper provides information on the indicators of quality of a TVET quality assurance system, and makes recommendations for implementing quality assurance measures in the TVET context for the Caribbean workforce