Communicating Technical and Vocational Education and Training

Project experiences of Asian Development Bank (ADB) on communicating technical and vocational education and training (TVET) across different countries are shared in this report summarizing the highlights of the learning event on "Communicating TVET." As ADB’s TVET portfolio expands, the common communication-related themes on TVET promotion raised by education and TVET specialists during the activity are also included.

Young Uck Kang

Young Uck Kang currently leads the Development Asia project at ADB. His areas of expertise are strategic leadership, policy-making process, microeconomics, economic analysis, statistics/econometrics, economic and social development policy, public finance and income distribution, governance, and knowledge management. Before joining ADB in July 2014, he was a professor at KDI School of Public Policy and Management in the Republic of Korea. He has a PhD and MPhil in Public Administration from New York University, MPP from University of Chicago and MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Presentation on Mid-Level Skills Training Project in Timor-Leste

Conducting market research is a critical component of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) promotion to determine and segment the audience. Market research results direct how communication approaches can be positioned and which channels to use to effectively reach different audiences. Asian Development Bank’s Mid-Level Skills Training Project in Timor-Leste (2012-2017) used the results of a Youth Training and Employment Perception Study it conducted to formulate a targeted communications strategy.

Communicating Technical and Vocational Education and Training: A View from the Field

In promoting technical and vocational education and training (TVET), there is no one-size-fits-all communication approach as each TVET audience has different interests, stakes and perspectives, and local cultures and contexts vary. Recruiting experts who can assist in systematic communication planning is a cost-effective investment. Nonetheless, traditional communication approaches can also be effective given easy access, acceptability, and relevance to the target audiences.

Promoting What to Whom?

Most technical and vocational education and training (TVET) promotion efforts currently emphasize the course, not the resulting job. Conducting market research is critical to understand who TVET’s audiences are, their interests and concerns, and what they aspire to be.

Partnering with Youth for Social Accountability: The Case of Safetipin

Metro Manila has a Safety Score of 3.5/5, youth-led pedestrian safety audits revealed.

Using parameters such as visibility and security, ADB Youth for Asia and its partners held pedestrian safety audits across Metro Manila in the Philippines using a mobile app called Safetipin. The mobile app is free, easily downloadable, and user-friendly.

Knowledge: What Our Stakeholders Really Want

ADB's Carolyn Dedolph Cabrera, Andrea Stojanov, and Patrick Vermeij shared what stakeholders say is most important to them when interacting with ADB, both now and in the future. The Knowledge Portal Team at ADB shared the exciting results from the recent Top Task Survey. The discussion focused on how to better share ADB’s knowledge by prioritizing what it does—and what it stops doing.

This event is part of ADB's in-house Insight Thursday lecture series.​