Research On Sustainability For Education Development: An Empirical Study On Technical Vocational Education And Training, Liberia

One of the strategic ways to improve the labor market is by having an effective and sustainable Technical Vocational Education and Training System. The Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Youths and Sports, launched a national TVET policy in 2015, to support her national strategic plan, the Agenda for Transformation, in ensuring more young people are equipped with TVET skills required by future leaders. However, the TVET sector is fragmented and dysfunctional, and does not address the skill s required by youths. Additionally, sustainability poses a significant challenge to its development.Many research conducted on sustainability have not focused on the sustainability of TVET programs or projects for post-conflict nations. For Liberia, a youthful developing nation, to recover from its post-conflict status, sustaining TVET should be a priority as it will increase the productivity of her labor market. This thesis aims to identify elements of sustainability for TVET programs in Liberia, which will lead to developing a concept to making TVET more sustainable in Liberia. Two basic research questions guided the study: What are the major challenges associated to sustaining TVET programs in Liberia? How can TVET be sustained in Liberia?To achieve the research objectives, the study adopted a Delphi technique. Two rounds of questionnaires were formulated and distributed to a group of experts that were chosen selectively based on a certain criteria.. Experts in the study were directors, ministers and programmers for TVET divisions, units, and departments in ministries, agencies, commissions and organizations in Liberia. Consensus was established after round II of the questionnaire.Panel of experts reached a consensus on eight factors of sustainability for TVET programs in Liberia: Public Private Partnership; Funding; Teaching Method; Coordination; Staff Development Program; Competency based training; Legal Framework; and National curriculum;Although there are many and other factors that could be used as the focus for TVET sustainability, as per the present reality in Liberia, the eight factors should be prioritized by TVET stakeholder in order to improve and sustain the system.The participants for the research were limited to people who were identified by predetermined criteria; the study was also limited to investigating what “should” be as perceived by the experts.