ByDavid C. Chakonta M.Eng. (Hons); Dip. Tech. Teaching; FEIZ,MIET;R.Eng.

Director GeneralTechnical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA), Zambia

Introduction Government Mechanisms used to validate

Competences (ie. Knowledge, Skills & Attitudes) acquired informally by apprentices

Established policies, guidelines, and documentation on the Trade Testing System

Trade Testing Process Outline Statistics – 2011 & 2012 Costs and funding of Trade Testing Benefits of Trade Testing system Do you have both Trade testing as well as RPL/ RPEL

mechanisms? Future Plans Conclusion

Zambia came into being as country on 24th October 1964 following the end of colonial rule by the British Government;

Under both British Government rule and Zambian Government rule, Apprenticeship training and learning was recognized through development and provision of relevant policy, legislative and/or regulatory instruments.

About 90% of the labour force population is in informal employment,

About 93% of persons employed in the economy, had no (formal) skills training technically for the jobs they were performing. Recognizing that those employed must have acquired the competences (ie. knowledge, skills and attitudes) ) to enable sell their labour in exchange for a salary and/or profit from sold goods and services, through informal apprenticeship training situationsSource: 2008 Labour Force Survey Report, Ministry of Labour &

Social Security and Central Statistics Office - Zambia

Trade Testing system is the predominant mechanism for recognizing competences acquired mainly through the learning embedded in the daily job task performance.(NB essentially an RPL Assessment system in principle)

Informal apprenticeship training in the Zambian context includes on the job and/or social network based learning situations, where an apprenticeship relationship is defined by supervisor- surbordinate, and/or mentor-mentee relationships within a formal or informal sector enterprise workplace setting.

Historically, Trade Testing in Zambia has been said to have emerged as part of demobilization intervention after the Second World War. The contingent nature of the war had forced or enabled many individuals to acquire an assortment of skills for which at the time, no validation system existed.

The 1969 Statement of Intent on Technical Education and Vocational Training (TEVT), - the first post-independence policy on TVET, and the second one which was the 1996 Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) both recognized and provided policy guidelines on Trade Testing that have guided the development of regulatory standards by TEVETA

Anchor resource - the various Trade Testing centers accredited by the Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA) located in various districts of the country. They numbered about 200 in 2012.

Complementary to the Centers is a pool of accredited skills assessors by TEVETA in the various trades. Curricula has been developed to facilitate trade testing; these have been complemented by regulatory Guidelines;

Eligibility has usually been traceable workplace experience and/or enrolment on a particular training programme leading to award of a Trade Test certificate being offered by relevant TEVETA registered training institutions.

Following the re-structuring of the Zambian economy that occurred as a result of the privatization programme in the 1990s, which pushed many skilled and semi-skilled labour into the informal segment of the Zambian economy, the number of Trade Testing candidates from formal sector enterprises reduced very drastically. Survivalist factors and the fact that there was no direct incentive for a obtaining higher level Trade Test certificate such as increase in pay in informal sector settings were serious constraints;

Emergence of community based Skills Training centers mainly by church organizations and a few local authorities, designed to empower youths from vulnerable households, witnessed a significant growth of Trade Testing candidates coming from classroom based training rather than workplace based training. This bias is still in place, although measures have commenced to re-open up opportunities from those in the workplace.

Procedure for entry - Interested candidates complete assessment entry application forms and send them to TEVETA via particular assessment centres where they will go for assessment. Prior to 2011, the Trade Testing system was so decentralized to an extent where individual assessors would set separate assessment exercises. With progressively diminishing financial resources available to Trade Testing centres, validity and reliability of assessments or tests began to be questioned. From 2011 TEVETA decided to set national papers and uniform dates for Trade Testing.

All programmes leading to Trade Test certificate are based on national curricula, and that is where assessment instruments, strategies and procedures are derived from.

With the current bias to classroom based instruction, there is practically no Trade Testing candidates from the informal apprenticeship training system.

Number assessed during 2011:3,742

Number assessed 2012: 5,585Note: A 49% annual growth; – mainstreaming of informal

apprenticeship through Informal sector Workplace Based training systems being planned for is likely drive the annual growth rates even higher.

Government Grants are the main source of funding, with each candidate paying a fairly subsidized fee. Church organizations and NGOs also play in part

When candidates for the Trade Testing system came from formal sector enterprises under whose environment they had undergone informal apprenticeship training (ie. learning on the job) the benefits of validating additionally acquired skills usually came by way of a salary increase and/or a promotion. For informal sector operators being aware where they are ranked is a motivator as is the ability to wave something to peers and/or assure customers that they have been certified competent.

Yes and No Yes - because the Trade Testing system as

operated in Zambia was underpinned by the principle of recognizing competences acquired from semi-to-non structured learning situations in the course of an individual performing his/her daily work tasks;

No - because the current practice of trade testing does not provide for any formative assessment. It operates on the Pass or Fail principle.

Lessons learned – Strengths of the Trade Testing system:Flexible and comparatively low cost access to TEVET.Has potential to foster effective collaborations involving learners, employers, training providers and training regulators for mutual benefit of all parties. It provides a very good tool for promoting life-long learning as by way of flexible and structured entry and exit from the TEVET system. It has highlighted the fact that informal apprenticeship training in the strict sense of the word does also take place in formal sector workplace situations, rather than just informal sector workplaces.

Lessons learned – Weaknesses of the Trade Testing system:

Criteria for discriminating between competence levels of the Trade Test certification system has been a bit arbitrary. The existing model was based on formal sector employees and not informal sector employees who make the bulk of the Zambian labour force.

Mainstreaming Workplace Based Training systems into the national system for Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) – this strategy has recognized the Informal/MSME Workplace is a unique segment of workplace based learning and training.

The TEVET Sub-Framework of Zambia’s National Qualifications Framework uses two objects to recognize acquired learning or competences; the Qualification and a Skills Award. A Qualification is used to recognize a more comprehensive and broad based set of competences attributed to a minimum of 1,100 Notional Learning hours; while a Skills Award is used to recognize a rather narrow based set of competences attributed to Notional Learning hours ranging between 480 and 1,100 hours, but with recognizable and tradable value in the labour market. Recognition or validation of acquired competences through Informal Apprenticeship training through conferment of Skills Awards will be one of key strategies for upgrading Informal Apprenticeship training in Zambia.

Mainstreaming Workplace Based Training systems into the national system for Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) – this strategy has recognized the Informal/MSME Workplace is a unique segment of workplace based learning and training

The TEVET Sub-Framework of Zambia’s National Qualifications Framework uses two objects to recognize acquired learning or competences; the Qualification and a Skills Award. A Qualification is used to recognize a more comprehensive and broad based set of competences attributed to a minimum of 1,100 Notional Learning hours; while a Skills Award is used to recognize a rather narrow based set of competences attributed to Notional Learning hours ranging between 480 and 1,100 hours, but with recognizable and tradable value in the labour market. This development has give rise to the notion of nationally recognized short courses. Recognition of acquired competences through Informal Apprenticeship training through conferment of Skills Awards will be one of key strategies for upgrading Informal Apprenticeship training in Zambia.

The Trade Testing system has provided a mechanism for upgrading skills gained informally through formal sector workplaces and has potential for adaptation to the informal sector workplace apprenticeship training;

Plans are underway to engage with professional bodies and industry associations with regard to developing Occupation or Trade specific Qualification Level Descriptors to help discriminate Trade Test certificate levels.

Introduction of the Skills Award as an instrument for recognising learning achievement for relative to labour market value should also assist in upgrading informal apprenticeships;

Given the dominance of the Informal sector in Sub-Saharan Africa’s economies and the opportunities offered by ICT development upgrading of informal Apprenticeships will become very feasible;

An Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign to raise awareness about the opportunities offered by the Trade Testing system is on the cards that will target different publics including informal sector operators and support organizations working with them.

Thank You for Your Attention