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Implementation of vocational training into TVET's teacher program for

national core standard

Conference Paper · December 2016

DOI: 10.1109/ICEED.2016.7856088

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 2016 IEEE 8th International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED)
Implementation of Vocational Training into TVET’s
Teacher Program for National Core Standard
Affero Ismail, Razali Hassan, Alias Masek, Norhasyimah Hamzah, Irwan Mahazir Ismail and Tamil Selvan Subramaniam
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja, 86400 Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia.
E-mail: affero@uthm.edu.my
Abstract—The Malaysian education system is now focusing on the
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as
the Government is now concentrating on minimizing the number
of job finders. TVET program is a good initiative to promote
high-skilled workers. In order to achieve this aim, the trainer or
TVET teachers need to be equipped with skill and knowledge on
specific field. Thus, this paper investigates the TVET teachers’
competency or standards need to be complied as a requirement to
teach. 104 respondents, including 3 experts in TVET trainer’s
profile were selected for this study. It is hoped that the findings
presented here will enhance the current teacher development
program, particularly in training and re-training,
Keywords— TVET; teacher’s competency; standard; training
I. INTRODUCTION
Teaching standards are comprehended as the normative or
evaluative basis, upon which the actions of teachers as
professionals are judged based on their performance. The
underpinning idea of teaching standards within the literature
on teacher education is the notion of teacher competence [1].
In this light, researches in teacher education has shown that
teacher competence is a perquisite for effective teaching and
learning because of its relationship to students’ learning
outcomes, be it academic or others. In the meantime, technical
and vocational training is a bit different from the existing
education system as technical and vocational training is more
on hands on and practical activity, hence, the teaching skills or
competency of a teacher often becomes a major concern. A
study by Ali, Kaprawi and Razally [2] listed ninety-eight
competencies that were identified from both the literature
review and the focus group discussion method. These
competencies reflected the range of attitudes, attributes,
knowledge, as well as strategic and tactical skills that are
required by electrical instructors.
The objective of education is to prepare a candidate to become
independent and to increase their employability skill so that
they will get accepted in the industry. Many parents are
hoping that their children are accepted to universities because
they believe that university education will provide them with
higher chance of employment. However, there are many
graduates ended up unemployed because of the number of
graduates from the universities exceeds the labor needs. Some
978-1-5090-1596-2/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
countries reported that they are experiencing huge challenges
in training workers that involve in dangerous, difficult and
dirty jobs [3]. Thus, major changes are taking place not only in
all TVET ASEAN countries, but also around the world.
II. OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY
The objective of this study is to identify the competency or
skills needed by a TVET teacher. This study aims to produce
a guideline in developing the National Core Standards for
TVET teachers. Besides that, this study was conducted in the
contexts of three main TVET providers in Malaysia, namely
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Human Resources and
Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA). A total of 101 experienced
TVET teachers/trainers were selected for data collection. The
study was conducted in both quantitative and qualitative. As
for the interview, three experts in TVET training has been
determined as the respondent.
III. LITERATURE REVIEW
In order to provide best education and training, TVET
institutions should be prepared to face this challenging
technology and economic world. Institutions must prepare
their students so that they will be able to cope with the
environment and display good performance in the industry.
In preparation to overcome these challenges, there is a need
for the committee to restructure their program to be in line
with the industry’s needs [4]. It is suggested that the teaching
and learning should focus the outcome based education and
competency based training in terms of skills, knowledge and
attitudes.
Currently, TVET has become more diverse according to the
changes in the labor market. Consequently, it should be able to
integrate the youth into the working world [5]. Based on the
dominant economic trend, UNESCO [6] for example
identified the two major objectives of TVET as the urgent
need to train the workforce for self-employment and the
necessity to raise the productivity of the informal sector.
TVET as a form of education could attract the involvement of
many youngsters as it prepares them for the real industry
training. It is necessary for a TVET center to provide good
facility and equipment during the program. In terms of
teachers’ role, the need to be adhered to the current system,
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 2016 IEEE 8th International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED)

such as, assisting the technical or professional learning IV. FINDINGS

processes of graduates, preparation of students for work
through the support of learning processes, assessment and A. Quantitative Anaysis
evaluation, administrative tasks and counselling functions [7].
Incorporating skills into teachers’ training program takes
The terminology ‘process knowledge of vocational education’ commitment and collaboration from many departments.in this
was introduced by Gerds [8] in accordance with the term regard, the respondents, who are TVET teachers were asked
‘work process knowledge’ [9]. The function of this term is to about the dissemination and implementation of core standards
explain the domains of knowledge needed by a TVET teacher. for TVET teachers. Table 1 explains the issue or problem
Thus, the process of up-skilling the teachers covers not only during the dissemination while Table 2 for implementation.
knowledge, but also professionalism.
TABLE I. ISSUES/PROBLEM DURING THE DISSEMINATION
Boreham, Fischer and Samurcay [9] defined the quality of PROCESS
teachers into two parts, i) the quality of teachers with regard
to their level of education, their formal status and similar Issue %
variables and ii) a conceptualization of the quality of teachers 1. Limited time 11
by focusing on their professional tasks as well as the current 2. Unclear guideline 61
and future practical challenges. As teachers are vital for 3. Limited briefing/capacity
meeting training standards; standards in terms of quality, Building 19
orientation, design and consequences are important elements 4. Others 9
to be configured. In managing the quality of a TVET
institution, there are instructions that need to be followed, as
shown in Figure 1. One of the major elements is the roles of TABLE II. ISSUES/PROBLEM DURING IMPLEMENTATION
the teacher. Therefore, there is a need to focus on teacher’s
competency. Issue %
1. Limited time 32
2. Unclear guideline 47
3. Limited briefing/capacity
Building 16
4. Others 6

Here, the standards are already exist but the information

regarding the certification are still unclear. Some of the
respondents do not even know that the standards exist. The
details of each of the standard can be found in Table 3.

TABLE III. STATUS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TVET

PERSONNEL
Status Teacher School/co Trainer Industry
standards llege/Pri of Trainer
nciple trainers standard
Director standard
Standard
Fig 1: Element for a quality management for instruction [10]
Percentage (%)
Implemented 69 64 39 34
Researches on teacher’s competence frequently focused on
Not yet 12 13 22 14
many components, but, they still encompass three key aspects,
Not sure 19 23 40 52
which are subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and
concerns over a variety of professional characteristics [11, 12].

B. Document analysis and Interview with the Committee of

National TVET Teacher Standard

This section will discuss the functions of ‘Vocational

Training Operation (VTO)’ certification program in educating
the TVET teachers. The component and the elements of this

29
 2016 IEEE 8th International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED)
certification can be explained through deep interview with the
committee. In this study, the interviews with the ‘Vocational
Training Operation (VTO)’ program was conducted together
with reviews of the VTO document. This session was
successfully conducted and the clarification of the unclear
statement in the document can be resolved instantly. The
discussion will be divided into two: (1) The development of
the VTO and (2) The implementation of the VTO.
TABLE IV. PREFERRED MODEL OF THE CORE STANDARD.
Level Percentage
(%)
Model 1 44
i) Basic and common (Professional)
(Communication, problem
solving, teamwork, etc.)
ii) Core/functional (teaching, learning
and assessment)
Model 2 44
i) Pedagogical
ii) Social
iii) Personality
iv) Professional
Model 3 36
i) Educational laws and regulations
(institutional and national)
ii) Pedagogy and pedagogical
psychology
iii) Didactic and teaching methodology
iv) Subject-based methodology
There are three main topics in the development process, which
are the process and committee, the contents and the structure
of dissemination. The process involved in developing the VTO
is called ‘Development of Standard & Curriculum
(DESCUM), which takes around 5 to 6 months. Industries
experts and practitioners who are directly involved in the
specified skills are involved in the development have both
practical and teaching experience. The department of Skill
Development under the NOSS division and the DESCUM
facilitators have been given the authority to delegate the
assignment to the experts. First, the NOSS (National
Occupancy Skill Standard) Division under DSD will assign
the duties and task to the team (facilitator and expert). Then,
they will work on the assigned job. In the meantime, the
consultants were also hired under the department of tender and
internal expertise, NOSS development and Industry Lead
Body (ILB) to accomplish the programs. There are two levels
of certifications, which are VTO and Vocational Training
Management (VTM). The performance indicator is underlined
30
under the performance standard based on the NOSS
development structure.
In terms of the dissemination process, the standards need to be
approved by Majlis Penasihat Pembangunan Kemahiran
(MPPK). This can be referred to as the ‘NOSS development
process flow chart’. The activities involved include
proofreading, validation, and endorsement. It takes about 6-7
months to disseminate the standard by the NOSS division.
There are also involvement of other parties in this process
such as Accredited Centres, external assessor/ verifiers and
those who are related to the program especially instructors and
managers. Only the standard is disseminated through DSD
website, external verifiers, workshops and emails in the form
of soft copy or CD to accredited centres and committee
members for specific fields.
The discussion now will focus on the implementation of the
standard. To become a training provider, a center must be: (i)
Legally registered as training provider; (ii) have adequate with
training facilities, tools and equipment; and (3) Have qualified
and competence trainers. The institution is not necessary be
any specific center as long the institution fulfills all the
requirement in KAPPA document. The required status in
accreditation that examine the status the financial, equipment,
and infrastructure status of the institutions should follow the
regulation by MOSQ (JPK) and NASDA (652 Act). In this
light, a qualified teacher must possess level 5 of Advanced
Diploma in Vocational Training. This includes both technical
and vocational courses. The course duration depends on the
level and type of the training program, but normally takes
about from 6 months to 3 years. The types of assessment
methods that can be used to determine qualified candidates
who meet the standard include:
i. Case study
ii. Project
iii. Simulation
iv. Role play
v. Knowledge assessment
vi. Performance assessment
vii. Self-assessment
viii. Peer assessment
The assessment will be conducted by internal assessors and
endorsed by internal verifier for internal assessment while
external assessors will be endorsed by external verifier for
external assessment. This assessment would take around 1-2
weeks. The requirement qualifications for personnel and
professional assessor including, (i) a VTO holder (ii)
Technical certificate SKM 1-5, and (iii) have 2 years and
above experiences. DSD and MPPPK will certify those who
have VTO. Nevertheless, there are a few challenges in the
implementation of this standard arise such as rapid changes in
technology, the lack of collaboration with industries, the
disparity between teaching and learning approaches and
methodology not, learning and teaching materials that are not
fully developed and managing the training resources. It is
 2016 IEEE 8th International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED)
recommended that English language becomes as a medium of
communication and to respect individual differences among
trainers / instructors for regional standards.
The existence of National Core Standard for TVET teachers
allows the establishment of professional competency based on
the specific profession that will foster the teaching and
learning including training in TVET institutions. Thus, the
image of TVET will be enhanced and therefore bring the
public openness to choose TVET as their options for higher
education.
V. CONCLUSION
From the study, it is crucial for TVET the standard of
vocational teachers adhere to the standards by the TVET
teachers, including pedagogical approaches for social
competency. It is suggested that a teacher must possess
teaching and learning skills, professional attributes as well as
industry relation and practical skills. The German System
Model defines TVET teaching competencies as an integrated
set of technical, learning and methodological, and social
competency that are needed for effective performance in
various teaching contexts and didactic approached [13].
Supervisory elements should be integrated into the standard
that a teacher should have [14]. Therefore, a mechanism
should be made to ensure that the TVET teachers comply the
requirement stated in the standard. Vocational Training
Operation (VTO) certification offered by the Department of
Skill Development (DSD) is a good recommendation in
developing national core standard.
VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank Ministry of Higher
Education Malaysia (MOHE) for supporting this study. This
paper is funded by research grant Fundamental Grant Scheme
(FRGS) Vot 1473.
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