Vocational Education and Training Institutions

Effective public governance and management continue to be key issues in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Most countries operate large numbers of VET institutions that face an increasing demand for education and training services and absorb a large share of their government budgets. Although national systems vary from country to country, all governments want their VET institutions to operate flexibly and cost efficiently, and to respond quickly to changes in the labor markets.

This instructional handbook is based on documented experiences of VET institutions" managers from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The text is not country specific but provides general approaches to the management of VET institutions. The accompanying CD-ROM provides summaries of national management practices in the VET sector and contains summaries of national policies, reports, and legal documents, as well as real-life management instruments applied by VET institutions.The handbook and CD-ROM are intended as self-learning materials for VET managers, as resource material for management development programs in the VET sector, and as an outline for performance review of VET institutions.

Effective public governance and management continue to be key issues in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Most countries operate large numbers of VET institutions, which face an increasing demand for education and training services and absorb a large share of their government budgets.

National VET systems and institutions vary from country to country and their management practices reflect the conditions in which they operate. However, all governments wish their VET institutions to operate flexibly and cost efficiently and to respond quickly to changes in the labor markets.

Vocational education and training institutions: A management handbook and CD-ROM suggests that the VET institutions' responsiveness to market demand and their ability to operate flexibly and cost-efficiently are strongly determined by the degree of their management, financial and academic autonomy, as well as by the competence of their managerial, teaching and non-teaching staff, to utilize this autonomy for the benefit of their stakeholders.

This instructional product is based on systematically documented experiences of VET institutions' managers from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The text of the handbook is not country specific and provides general approaches to the management of VET institutions. The handbook is accompanied by a CD-ROM that provides summaries of national management practices in the VET sector and contains summaries of national policies, reports, and legal documents, as well as real-life management instruments applied by VET institutions.

The handbook consists of 11 modules with 43 learning units, while the CD-ROM providesaccess to more than 400 titles recorded on it.

The handbook and CD-ROM are intended as self-learning materials for VET managers, as a resource material for management development programs in the VET sector and as an outline for performance review of VET institutions.

Vladimir Gasskov has a diploma in engineering, an advanced degree in industrial sociology and a Ph.D. in management sociology. He worked in an electronics assembly company as a technologist and then for ten years at the International Institute for Management Studies in Moscow. He has been involved in various management consulting and technology transfer projects. Since 1989, Dr. Gasskov has been employed by the International Labor Office (ILO) as a vocational training specialist. His research and advisory activities focus on management, financing and the evaluation of vocational education and training (VET) systems and institutions.