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FIJI NATIONAL VOCATIONALTRAINING POLICY

1.INTRODUCTION

Human resources or people are the most important economicasset of a country. They are the real wealth of any nation.Without them there can be no development. Too manypeople, however, can be an obstacle to development

The dimensions, attributes and distribution of Fiji’s populationover different activities, occupations and geographic areascharacterize the nation’s stock of human resources. Itsdimensions refer to the size of the population and labourforce, and their age structure and sex distributions. The attributes of the population relate to quality indicators of health, nutrition and educational status as well as the natureof deployment of the labour force. Because qualitative andquantitative aspects are incorporated in these concepts, it isimpossible to arrive at a unique cardinal measure of the stockof human resources. Yet, planning for the enhancement of these and other aspectsof human resources development is widely conceived as beingdesirable, both as a means of attaining increased productivityand economic growth, and as an inherently desirable goal forpromoting a higher level of welfare and a richer quality of life,via increased health and educational attainments, forindividual members of society.In the context of educational attainments, vocationaleducation and training becomes an important vehicle topropelling Fiji’s human resources into a stable and profitablesocio-economic existence.

2.BACKGROUND

At the macro-level, the Government of the Republic the FijiIslands has in the last few decades supported policies favoringimport substitution, internal self-sufficiency and heavygovernment involvement in the economy.Such policies were failing to generate the market scope andinvestment necessary to sustain growth. The economic

policies instituted by the previous governments, based oncomprehensive review of economic policy, highlighted theneed to accelerate the rate of development. This was regularly addressed at previous National EconomicSummits, resulting in changes to the government’s key policyelements. These were described as being:

(I)

deregulation of the economy to bring domestic pricesmore closely into line with world prices;

(II)

restraint in the growth of government expenditure toensure availability of resources for growth in the privatesector;

(III)

reform of the system of direct and indirect taxation tominimize market distortion and improve incentives forrisk taking and effort;

(IV)

a wage policy that recognizes the paramount importanceof maintaining international competitiveness;

(V)

the mobilization of all sectors of the community insupport of economic expansion, in particular, increasedFijian participation in commerce and industry; and

(VI)

the re-orientation of sector policies in accordance withthe above general policies The implementation of these new policy statements further strainedan already depleted technical work.If Fiji is to survive in the global socio-economic arena it needs to putin place strategic intervention measures at all levels to be able tosurvive the onslaught of global changes and innovations. A keydriver to these interventions apart from others lies in thedevelopment of a robust Vocational Education and Training systemto boost the development of its workforce, for without which thiscountry will not survive.

3.DIFINITION OF VOCATIONALEDUCATION

To assist in the development of this policy it will be necessary todraw some clarifications as to the definition of this seeminglymisconstrued field in human resources development.Vocational Education [or Vocational Education and Training (VET),also called Career and Technical Education (CTE)] prepares learnersfor careers that are based in manual or practical activities,traditionally non-academic and totally related to specific trade,occupation or vocation, hence the term, in which the learnerparticipates. It is sometimes referred to as technical education, asthe learner directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques or technology.Generally, vocation and career are used interchangeably. Vocationaleducation might be confused with education in a usually broaderscientific field, which might concentrate on theory and abstractconceptual knowledge, characteristic of tertiary education.Vocational can be at the secondary and post-secondary levels andcan interact with the apprenticeship system. Increasingly, vocationaleducation can be recognized in terms of recognition of prior learningand partial academic credits towards tertiary education.(e.g. at auniversity) as credit; however it is rarely considered in its own formto fall under the traditional definition of a higher education.Up until the end of the twentieth century, vocational educationfocused on specific trades such as for example, an automobilemechanic or welder, and was associated with the activities of lowersocial classes. As a consequence, it attracted a level of stigma.Vocational education is related to the age-old apprenticeship systemof learning.However, as labor market becomes more specialized and economiesdemand higher level of skills, governments and businesses areincreasingly investing in the future of vocational education throughpublicly funded training organizations and subsidized apprenticeshipor traineeship initiatives for businesses. At the post-secondary levelvocational education is typically provided by an institute of technology, or by a local community college.Vocational education has diversified over the 20

century and nowexists in industries such as retail, tourism, information technology,funeral services and cosmetics, as well as in traditional crafts andcottage industries. The proceeding Fiji National Vocational Training Policy (FNVTP) hasbeen developed along the parameters of the above definition.