A MODEL FOR ENHANCING THE QUALITY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION GRADUATES THE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES, KUWAIT, AS A CASE STUDY
Keywords:
Vocational and technical Education, quality assurance, developing Indigenous Manpower, enhancing vocational graduate's capabilities, KuwaitAbstract
Vocational and technical education emphasizes the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. It can be described as a unique type of education that focuses on preparing students for the work world. Its success reflects to some extent the ability of lecturers to transfer the right knowledge, skills, and attitudes most needed by the industry in question. Therefore, vocational and technical education cannot be provided properly unless the lecturers thoroughly absorb the college’s mission statement and its objectives are embodied in the departmental plan. A high quality of specific teaching skills, a high standard for workshops and laboratories, continuous upgrading of the curriculum and a proper evaluation scheme for both lecturers and students would raise the quality of graduates. A model is suggested for enhancing the quality of learning in vocational and technical education. The model is designed so that lecturers can address how to maintain high standards in transferring the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required by industry. It embodies several stages that may be useful in generating a quality mix of coursework, workshops, and laboratories. This paper suggests a learning model to create guidelines for the lecturers at the College of Technological Studies (CTS) for providing local industry with skilled and semi-skilled labour. The study consists of a review of the literature, personal interviews with a sample of staff from selected departments at the CTS, interviews with department heads, and selected supervisors in industries in direct contact with CTS graduates. The paper concludes that there is an urgent need for the application of a proper learning model that allows both the CTS and industry to determine the knowledge, skills, and attitudes most in demand. The learning model can also be deemed a performance indicator of both the lecturers at the CTS and the level of industrial contribution in shaping the standards of the CTS graduates.
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