REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN

NATIONAL TVET AD HOC COORDINATION COMMITTEE

MINISTRY OF GENERAL EDUCATION AND INSTRUCTION

UNIFIED NATIONAL TVET POLICY

5Th DRAFT VERSION

JULY 2022
 UNIFIED NATIONAL TVET POLICY

JULY 2022

This unified National TVET Policy for the Republic of South Sudan has been developed by the
National TVET Ad Hoc Coordination Committee lead by the Sub Committee on TVET Policy
and Legislation with the technical support from UNESCO South Sudan. The consultants for this
TVET policy development were Mr. Roland Dubois of Mauritius and Mr. Joseph Odhiambo
Ndaga a TVET and Skills Development specialists from Kenya based in Juba South Sudan. The
views expressed in this document are those of Authors and do not represent the views or position
of UNESCO on disputed matters whatsoever.
 JOINT MESSAGE FROM THE MOGEI AND MOL

South Sudan has come a long way with the experience in skills development. The first Technical and Vocational
Education and Training centre in South Sudan was established in 1958 as Juba Technical intermediate school. This
was followed by another wave of establishing vocational skills training center’s after the Addis Ababa Agreement in
1972. Seven centers were established namely the Juba MTC, Malakal Vocational Training centre, Wau Vocational
Centre, Tonj Technical, Torit Technical, Juba Youth Centre, and Malakal Youth Centre. These centers have
operated for years producing level one formal and non-formal TVET training that equips the learners with basic
employable skills training for building the capacities of the youths for employability in the job market. The trainings
in these centers are driven by the funding availability with the supporting development partner.
The TVET sector in South Sudan has gone through a series of stages namely: -
• The pre independence up to 1956 when Sudan gained its independence,
• Anyanya one period 1956-1972,
• The post Addis Ababa period of 1973-1983,
• The SPLM period of 1983-2005,
• Post CPA period of 2005 to 2011,
• Post-independence period 2011-2013,
• TVET during the post-independence conflict period of 2013-2020, and
• TVET in the post revitalized agreement period of February 2020 and beyond.

Time has come for revisiting the skills development in South Sudan and fixing what needs to be done right so as to
revitalize and transform the TVET sector and make it contribute to Economic development and attainment of
Sustainable Development Goals in South Sudan.

The top priority is the provision of quality and inclusive TVET that will make TVET services accessible to all
population regardless of their Socio; economic background and vulnerability. This requires a result oriented TVET
system. This TVET policy gives direction for the establishment of one umbrella body for coordinating the TVET
activities in South Sudan. That body has been proposed to be named the national TVET Authority and will then
engage with other TVET line Ministries in coordinating all matters that relate to technical education and skills
development across South Sudan. We are glad that this Unified National TVET policy has come to fix the problems
that the TVET sector in South Sudan has been facing over the years. The policy has provided for the creation of
Technical Functional Directorates to be headed by Secretaries who reports to the secretary General. These
departments perform different activities aimed at promoting the much needed reforms, changes and revitalization in
the TVET and skills development environment across South Sudan.

This Unified National TVET policy document has provided for: -

• The Scope of the TVET policy issues in South Sudan,
• TVET Policy institutional framework and implementation plan,
• Innovative and Sustainable TVET financing options for South Sudan.
• Competency based TVET curriculum development that is informed by occupational standards and National
TVET Qualification framework
• Development of National apprenticeship guidelines, and
• Creation of South Sudan TVET Funding Board and South Sudan Skills Development Fund.

We appeal to all our skills development partners and stakeholders to work hard together and revitalize the TVET
sector in South Sudan. We hope that in the next five years South Sudan will have a different TVET sector that meets
the needs of the labor market. Let us all work together in harmony and build a better South Sudan.
Thank you

Hon Awut Deng Hon. James Hoth Mai

Minister for General Education and Instruction Minister for Labour

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MESSAGE- CHAIRMAN NATIONAL TVET AD HOCC COORDINATION COMMITTEE

We have come a long way with the TVET Journey and we are still going a long way with the
TVET sector reforms. I wish to thank everyone who made a contribution in the process of
developing this Unified National TVET Policy. This document is destined to serve as our Bible
and encyclopedia for executing TVET activities across South Sudan over the next five years.

I wish to sincerely thank the Sub Committee on TVET Policy and Legislation for working hard
in fulfilling their great national mandate in fixing the problems of the TVET sector in South
Sudan. It will require commitment and seriousness in fulfilling the key TVET policy directives
that are stated in this document.

We call up on our development partners to continue supporting us in one way or the other so that
we can fulfill the reforms proposed in this policy document. The process of developing this
policy has been consultative, inclusive and participatory. Different views have been obtained and
proposals have been made that if implemented will change the way of handling and viewing
TVET in South Sudan.

We are glad that for the first time South Sudan has developed a unified National TVET policy
which has provided for the establishment of A National TVET Authority as an umbrella body for
guiding TVET activities across South Sudan. The policy has provided for what will be done to
address the issues surrounding all the three types of TVET systems being followed in South
Sudan. It has created key directorates under the Authority and places the Head of the Authority
in a position higher than the Director General and undersecretary of the various line ministries.

Successful implementation of these recommended policy directives will definitely bear fruit. I
appeal to all the TVET line Ministries to accept change and cooperate in the implementation of
this unified national TVET Policy. The sustainability of the TVET centers, Entrepreneurship,
business incubation, apprenticeship and formation of skills savings and loaning association for
the TVET graduates are all welcomed ideas. I further appeal to our social partners to cooperate
and give us the much needed support that will enable us realize the vision of this document.

Let us leave no one behind in accessing the TVET services across South Sudan.

Thank you

Gibson Francis Waru ,

Chairman,
National TVET Ad HOC Coordination Committee

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Developing this unified National TVET policy for the republic of South Sudan has been an
experiential journey. We would not have reached where we are without genuine contributions
and sacrifices of a number of people and organisations. We are grateful to all of you who have
walked with us in one way or the other in accomplishing this important exercise and mile stone.

We thank the leadership of all the 30 TVET line ministries that cooperated in coming together to
form the National TVET Ad Hoc Coordination Committee. We are grateful to Members of the
National Transitional Legislative assembly who participated in the original call for the
unification of TVET Service delivery in South Sudan. We are particularly grateful to Hon
Ahmed Musa, the then Chairman of the Education Committee at the transitional National
Legislative assembly together with other National Legislative assembly members who
participated as observers during the workshops for the preparation of this TVET policy
Document. You were always available even within the shortest notice.

We are grateful to UNESCO South Sudan for the Technical input and financial support. This
goes to Mr. Julius Banda, The Country representative UNESCO South Sudan, Dr, Raj Tap Pant
Chief of Education, Ms. Baharati Sharma Pokharel CaPED project officer, Mr Roland Dubois
TVET policy Consultant and Mr. Joseph Odhiambo Ndaga TVET specialist attached to support
the five Sub Committees of the National TVET Ad Hoc Coordination Committee in
accomplishing their tasks. Our special thanks goes to UNESCO CaPED project for having
agreed to fund the activities for the development of this unified national TVET Policy
Development for the Republic of South Sudan.

A number of people contributed to the development of this document, we thank the EMPOWER
Consortium an EU Funded project that initiated the National TVET Policy dialogue that resulted
in the documentation of the TVET policy gaps recommendations. We are grateful to African
Development Bank through the Ministry of Gender Child and Social Welfare that documented
the TVET Centers status assessment that informed the need for developing this unified National
TVET policy. We also thank all the 10 states and 3 Administrative areas together with the
various stakeholders that participated in the various interactive consultative and validation
workshops.

Thank you

Ms. Miriam Betty Okech ,

Chair person
Sub Committee on TVET Policy and Legislation

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMERY

The Republic of South Sudan, the youngest country of the world, became independent on the 9Th
July 2011 following decades of conflict. The country suffers from low human capital due to lack
of skilled human resources. TVET can provide South Sudanese youth with basic livelihood
skills, market-relevant work readiness training, tools, and knowledge that encourages
entrepreneurship and employment. The TVET programs will also promote peace building, social
cohesion, education and youth employment. Given its historical and geographical isolation, and
the decades of civil war, the majority of adults and children have not had the opportunity to
attend school. In addition, the legacy of economic underdevelopment and institutional deficits
has contributed to the fragility of South Sudan. Yet South Sudan has significant oil resources and
vast amount of arable land.
Stakeholders realized the importance of equipping youth, women, the elderly, ex-combatants and
persons living with disability with the right skills and knowledge to contribute to the labour force
and the country’s peaceful and sustainable development engagement process. In fact, since the
signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, Vocational Training has been
one of the top priorities of the government of the Republic of South Sudan. This is because the
sector has the answer to the question of employability, productivity and sustainable livelihood.
The two main TVET stakeholders, the MoLIR and the MoGEI have developed separately two
policy documents, namely the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training policy
(MoGEI 2018) and the South Sudan Vocational Training Policy (MoLIR).1 As a result, it was
agreed that the RSS needs a unified TVET policy, which when implemented will pave the way
for a unified and coherent TVET system that responds to the countries Vision 2040, provisions
of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan and revitalised
transitional constitution of the Republic of South Sudan.
In May 2019 the South Sudan National TVET stakeholders came up with a vision that seeks “to
create well-integrated, empowered, self-confident and creative individuals” and to ensure free
and equitable access to quality and relevant lifelong TVET for sustainable peace and livelihood
respectively.2
Right at the outset, it has to be clear that this Unified National TVET Policy document sets the
vision for the TVET sector for the next five years including the objectives and challenges which
need to be addressed to achieve the vision and mission as developed. It is fundamental to realise
that a national TVET policy is different from a national TVET Strategy. It is based on the policy
that the development of the five years’ work plan (2023-2028) can be effected to identify the
various strategies, structures, operational activities, timeframe and resources needed to realise the
TVET policy vision and objectives.

TVET Vision: To create a skilled, well -integrated, empowered, self-confident, reliant ,

Employable and creative individuals for South Sudan labor market and beyond.

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TVET Mission: ensure free , equitable and access to quality and relevant inclusive skills
development and lifelong learning TVET
The different stakeholders participating through the questionnaire have come up with an overall
objective of the TVET Policy as follows: -
“The overall objective of the TVET Policy is to develop an effectively coordinated and
harmonized TVET system that is capable of producing inclusive, quality, creative, adaptable,
innovative, skilled, self-reliant, employable and globally competitive human resource with the
right attitudes and values required for employment, competitiveness, sustainable growth and
prosperity of the various sectors of the economy to achieve poverty reduction,
decentralization, social culture, sustainable livelihood and socio economic development
across South Sudan.”1
This policy document: -
• Makes a detailed analysis of the different challenges pertaining to the four foundation
pillars guiding any TVET system, namely:- Governance and Management, Access and
Equity, Quality and Relevance and Sustained Funding and Financing,
• Presents international experience with respect to those four focus areas, and
• Makes pertinent recommendations for the Republic of South Sudan
The details are presented in the various sections of the report. The main recommendations
relating to the four focus areas are as follows: -

Enhanced Governance and Management of TVET Sector in South Sudan

The TVET sector of the Republic of South Sudan suffers from many shortcomings like other
countries in Africa and elsewhere, namely Fragmentation of the TVET system, incoherent and
uneven quality system and certification, obsolete curricula producing graduates with mismatch of
skills, Trainers with no continuous professional development, Managers who are not properly
trained, etc. In addition, different draft policies exist in RSS with other 30 line ministries offering
TVET related activities as per their mandate in the acts and the constitution. No single governing
body exists for coordination of TVET activities which are being offered in the different states
and across the TVET line Ministries.

Hence a series of recommendations have been put forward, including the creation of one
Governing Body to regulate and coordinate all matters pertaining to TVET as agreed by all
concerned stakeholders in South Sudan.

Recommendation 1: Create a South Sudan National TVET Authority with a legal status to
coordinate and regulate TVET in South Sudan
The Authority will be administered and managed by a Governing Board which operates under
the ambit of the Vice President. The council of Ministers of the Republic of South Sudan shall
recommend which ministry under which the TVET Authority shall me domiciled. That body, the
South Sudan National TVET Authority must be established by Legislation to provide a legal

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framework for achieving the policy objectives of the unified National TVET Policy and will
have the powers and authority to spearhead the process of implementation of the National TVET
Strategy; to develop the RSS National TVET Qualifications Framework; to provide for the
Innovative and sustainable financing of TVET activities and programs across South Sudan. ; to
set up the South Sudan TVET Quality Assurance guidelines , National TVET apprenticeship
Guidelines and manual for various trades and for other related matters as follows
To carry out its functions effectively, different standing committees will have to be set up,
namely the: -
• Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs)
• TVET Quality Assurance Committee
• TVET Qualifications Framework Committee
• TVET Policies review and Legislation Committee
• TVET Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Committee
• National TVET Resource Mobilisation and Funding Body
• Industry Training and private sector partnership engagement Committee

Recommendation 2: Design, develop and maintain a National TVET Qualifications

Framework (NTQF) aligned with the EAC, IGAD and African Union.

Recommendation 3: Set up a National TVET skills Assessment and Certification body for
South Sudan
Recommendation 4: Promote digital literacy and Increase the use of ICT in delivery of TVET
skills development and office operations. ICT also has the potential to be a cost-effective
approach for education delivery, particularly through distance learning and teaching STEM
subjects through virtual labs and simulations, instead of resource- intensive labs on site.1
Recommendation 5: Strengthen the partnership between the public and private sectors and
Ensure that the system of technical education and training is demand driven and responsive to
the needs of the labour market, including self-employment.
Recommendation 6: Develop a National TVET Apprenticeship Guide with various manual
based on the specific trades and occupations competency based curriculum that is informed by
the industry occupational standards
Recommendation 7: support the subcommittee on TVET financing Resource mobilisation to
Establish a National TVET Fund in the form of National skills development levy or TVET
funding Board with a wide spread sources of financing to ensure and innovative and
sustainable financing of a robust TVET system in South Sudan. This will require the
development of South Sudan National TVET financing and Resource mobilisation policy to
specifically address the issues surrounding the financing of TVET sector.

Recommendation 8: Ensure that the system of technical education and training is based on
demand, is cost-effective and given a gradually decentralized planning and implementation

authority to all the States and eventually Institutions of South Sudan to ensure maximum
utilization of resources and relevance of technical education and training programmes, whilst
ensuring that the South Sudan TVET Authority is responsible for national policy formulation
and all statutory functions at national level.
Improved Access and Equity to TVET Services across South Sudan
In line with South Sudan Vision 2040, Agenda 2063 and global SDGs the country faces an
urgent need for a labour force that is educated and skilled in order to develop and diversify its
economy. An urgent necessity to increase capacity of access to TVET in South Sudan is
warranted. This expansion of TVET delivery facilities can be translated by (i) constructing new
TVET institutions, the rehabilitation of existing ones, and ensuring the maintenance of
infrastructure, (ii) promoting collaboration with employers in the delivery of TVET by devising
adequate incentives and (iii) making available appropriate financial support system for TVET.
There is an urgent need to increase accessibility to TVET by the vulnerable segments of society.
In addition, given the high percentage of poverty in South Sudan, it is imperative that the TVET
system be inclusive and sustainable to help retrieve these vulnerable groups from the poverty
trap and transient poverty.

Recommendation 1: Expand the delivery facilities of TVET in Technical secondary schools,

Vocational Training centres, Youth Training Centres, and Mobile TVETs delivery modes for
pastoralists, fisher communities, Artisanal Mining, milk processing, hides and skin, Gum
Arabic and Bamboo related skills. Introduce innovative solutions/approaches to improve
access, quality and relevance especially those that rely on digital technology such as digitization
of training programs, establishment of smart classrooms in all TVET schools, ensure Internet
connections in all TVET centres, ensure penetration of ICT devices such as laptops, blended
learning comprising of both face-to-face and online learning.

Recommendation 2: Revitalize and professionalise alternative modes of learning such as

traditional apprenticeship and strengthening artisanal skills as it provides employment and
livelihood support to over 80% of the population that leaves in Rural areas. This will be done
by providing training and incentives to the master craftsmen as it is a means to improve the skills
of large numbers of young people in rural sectors of the economy

Recommendation 3: Develop partnerships with private sector where possible to encourage

them to invest in TVET activities including provision of opportunities for enterprise based
training.

Recommendation 4: Offer a wider range of training programmes such Agri TVET, renewable
energies, sustainability modules in TVET following discussions with the stakeholders of the
labour market etc

Recommendation 5: Provide incentives to attract potential students from the most vulnerable
groups. Improve opportunities for females, disabled, vulnerable groups and refugees and
provide incentives to attract potential students from the most vulnerable groups as they are
less likely to enrol in education and are more likely to drop out of school.

Advocate policies to improve enrolment of disadvantaged groups in TVET, promote provision

of and access to TVET special needs institutions, and facilitate capacity development of
trainers in TVET special needs institutions.
Recommendation 6: Enhance careers guidance and awareness programmes at national and
states levels to sensitise parents and students of the opportunities offered by TVET and alert
employers of the value added by TVET graduates. Raise awareness with respect to
opportunities in TVET and change the negative social perception of TVET through advocacy
and rebranding. Use of ICT can enhance the attractiveness of TVET.

Recommendation 7: Introduce the recognition of prior learning (RPL) and credit transfer
approach to assess the competencies of mature candidates and those who have not been able
to go through the formal system of TVET with a view of issuing them a certificate of
competencies and give them the opportunity to move forward in their learning career.

Recommendation 8: Ensure safety in TVET institutions and other learning settings.

Recommendation 9: Ensure that TVET centres of excellence are created across all the 10
states and 3 administrative areas. Where possible establish a business skills incubation centre
and support TVET graduates with trade start up kits and finance through group savings and
loaning schemes.
Enhanced TVET Quality and Relevance
The quality structure of TVET in a country is an equivalent reflection of its TVET system
producing training which is responsive to the needs of the industry and self-employed in the
labour market, hence resulting in the employability of graduates.1 TVET quality depends upon
many factors viz quality of facilities (buildings & equipment), relevance of the curriculum,
quality and competencies of trainers, quality of management of the Training Centres, link with
the labour market, responsiveness of the TVET graduates, quality of the trainees, appropriate
funding.
In the RSS, lack of common standards and a formal certification system, extremely low literacy
rates, language barriers and a general failure to systematically determine local demand for skills
have all impacted negatively the quality of training.
A series of recommendations have been proposed to ensure that TVET delivered is of the quality
commensurate to the local and global needs. They are as follows: -
Recommendation 1:- Develop a South Sudan National TVET Quality assurance guidelines
and Set up a TVET Quality Assurance Committee to ensure the quality of TVET being
provided by TVET institutions through the various accreditation committees by developing
and implementing a TVET Quality Assurance Framework to inter alia, assure quality in the
delivery of TVET at all levels. Together with this build the capacity of Government inspectors
of TVET both at the national and state levels.
Recommendation 2: Develop and maintain a Republic of South Sudan National TVET
Qualifications Framework (SSTQF) aligned with the Regional, continental and Global
Qualification frameworks. This will allow mobility of TVET graduates in the region and
beyond.
Recommendation 3: Review and update curricula and ensure that they are in line with the
existing and emerging needs of the labour market. Providers should consider how to integrate
digital skills throughout their curriculum.
Recommendation 4: Develop and improve linkage with labour market and stakeholders with a
view to enhance responsiveness of the TVET. In doing these Occupational standards should
be developed for every potential area of skills training in South Sudan that is aligned to
National standards for classification of occupations as informed by ILO 2008.
Recommendation 5: Encourage, motivate and nurture innovation and creativity al at levels of
the skills training.
Recommendation 6: Increase capacity for training of trainers and review the Initial Training
of Trainers Programme to better prepare and equip trainers to handle new emerging
situations. All TVET instructors must have appropriate levels of skills and competencies to
deliver the curriculum.
o Strengthen the systems for continuous professional development, management,
and support of TVET trainers.
o Ensure public trainers get more attractive terms of service and a decent salary
in order to raise their status and morale. Management, welfare including
insurance cover, housing and risks and hardships allowance as well as
deployment of teachers must be improved in order to attract and retain high
quality teachers in the teaching profession.
o Recruit and retain the best trainers. Increase the percentage of female TVET
trainers.
o Increase the number of teachers trained in gender-responsive pedagogy
o Include a component on inclusive education in the Teacher Training Institutes
(TTIs)
o Establish at least one National Technical Teachers Trainers College for use in
up skilling of TVET instructors and equipping them with Technical
Pedagogical skills.
o Develop a TVET instructor’s qualification framework to guide the skills
development of TVET teachers and instructors.
o Develop a policy and guidelines for continued professional development among
the TVET instructors.

Recommendation 7: Ensure continuous capacity building (Continuous professional

development) of management of TVET institutions to provide them with the best competencies
to better manage their training institutions.
Recommendation 8: Improve training environment by upgrading and equipping TVET
training facilities appropriately in accordance with international standards. Together with this
provide solar power connection to all TVET centres and ensure their connection with internet.
Recommendation 9: Boost the social image of TVET by rebranding TVET to be seen as
centre’s for employability skills development and not as courses for the academic failures.
Sustainable Funding and Financing
TVET is expensive. On a per student basis and compared with other levels of education, in
particular primary and secondary education, TVET is much more expensive to deliver. But
quality TVET is still more expensive as it needs quality facilities, quality equipment, quality
training materials, quality trainers who are always at par with the development in industry.

However, in most cases, expenditure on critical training inputs remains low as the majority of the
funds are spent on salaries.The public training system still constitutes an important provider and
financier of pre-employment training. This simple financing framework has become inadequate to meet
the skill development needs in a rapidly globalizing economy, and it has become important to consider
how financing can also foster increased in-service training among enterprises, greater private provision
of training, as well as greater cost-sharing with beneficiaries. This includes traineeship provided to
learners while on apprenticeship during industrial attachment.
However, can we afford not to deliver quality TVET and produce graduates who are not
employable and join the unemployed market and worsen the negative image of TVET? This will
eventually prove to be much more expensive.
Education already represents only 2.6% of public expenditures, and TVET is the lowest funded
education sub-sector under the MoGEI (1% for 2018) (MoGEI, 2017),1 compared to other
countries of the African continent. The government relies very heavily on continuously rising
ODA to deliver basic services. In 2017, total ODA was estimated at US$2.2 billion, which was
an increase of 37 per cent from 2016 when it stood at US$1.6 billion.2 This is not sustainable. A
series of measures have been made to ensure sustainability if efficiently implemented. They are
as follows: -

Recommendation 1: Explore possibility of increasing funding from existing sources of

funding and increase the national government spending on TVET from 1% to 3-4%. Both
National and state level government should invest in TVET.

Recommendation 2: Government should develop a National TVET sector financing policy as

well as a national TVET sector Resource mobilisation strategy endorsed by the government
and the stake holders.
Recommendation 3: Government should consider introducing a realistic costing structure
where the students pay a small proportion of actual training costs in public institutions.
Recommendation 4: Increase revenue from increasing services rendered
Recommendation 5: Government should provide incentives and strengthen partnerships with
non-public stakeholders and industry
Recommendation 6: Explore the possibility of introducing a training levy system.
Recommendation 7: Enhance efficiency of training delivery and reduce cost of training
provision
Recommendation 8: Mobilise financial resources for TVET research, development, innovative
projects and re-branding
Recommendation 9: Enhance TVET financing and management of financial resources
Recommendation 10: Set up a national TVET Fund to ensure sustainable financing of TVET
as a system
Recommendation 11: Explore various sources for innovative financing of TVET in South
Sudan. These should include among other sources charging % on renewal of NGOs
registration licences and annual business renewal permits.
Recomendation12: Conduct a feasibility assessment for the establishment of a National South
Sudan Skills development levy and modalities for its operation.
Recommendation 13: Strengthen the capacity of the Sub Committee o TVET Financing to be
able to mobilise resource for the TVET sector.
Monitoring and Evaluation
It is of absolute necessity that a robust Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy shall also be
developed to periodically assess the impact of the TVET policy and the extent of realisation of
the policy goals. A prevalent weakness found in many TVET systems is the absence of a well-
defined monitoring and evaluation model and process. To ensure a smooth operation of the
TVET system, and to obtain the required feedback for the development of the system, a
monitoring and evaluation strategy should be implemented.

As the dynamics of the national economy change and new developments and technologies
emerge to create new opportunities for skills training, the TVET policy may need to be revised in
order to remain responsiveness to the needs of learners, employers and the national economy. In
this regard, this policy document shall be reviewed after five (5) years in operation.
The monitoring and evaluation strategy should be designed to measure the internal and external
efficiency and impact evaluation, thus paving the way for system development. The better we
can track the progress, the better we can manage it. By analyzing different feedback reports, we
can learn to detect any shortcomings and noncompliance and take necessary corrective action
promptly.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

4IR Fourth Industrial Revolution

ACQF African Continental Qualifications Framework
ADEA Association for the Development of Education in Africa
AEC Annual Education Census
AES Alternative Education System
ALP Accelerated Learning Program
ATVET Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training
AU African Union
BOA Board of Authority
CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme
CapED Capacity Development for Education Programme
CBET Competency based Education and Training
CEDAW United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
against Women
CESA Continental Education Strategy for Africa
CGS Community Girls School
CIEB Centre for International Education Benchmarking
COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
COVID 19 Corona Virus 2019
CPA Comprehensive Peace Agreement
DSU Data and Statistics Unit
ECDE Early Childhood Development Education
EMIS Education Management Information System
EU European Union
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GER Gross enrolment ratio
GESP General Education Strategic Plan
HDI Human Development Index
ICT Information and Communication Technology
IDPs Internally Displaced People
ILO International Labour Organisation
IMF International Monetary Fund
INGOs International Non-Governmental Organisations
KNQA Kenya National Qualifications Authority
LITCOM Liberia TVET Commission
MITD Mauritius Institute of Training and Development
MoCYS Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports
MoEST Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (now MoGEI)
MoGEI Ministry of General Education and Instruction
MoHEST Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology
MoLPSHRD Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development
NES National Education Statistics
NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations
NQF National Qualifications Framework
NTQF National TVET Qualifications Framework
ODA Overseas Development Aids
QMS Quality Management System
RARCSS Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the
Republic of South Sudan
RSS Republic of South Sudan
SADC Southern African Development Community
SDG Sustainable Development Goals
SSNQF South Sudan National Qualifications Framework
SSP South Sudanese Pound
SSTQF South Sudan TVET Qualifications Framework
TNLA Transitional National Legislative Assembly
TOR Terms of Reference
TQF TVET Qualifications Framework
TTI Teacher Training Institute
TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training
TVET CDACC TVET Curriculum Development Assessment and Certification Committee
TVETQF TVET Qualifications Framework
UN United Nations
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation
UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training
UNOCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

VET Vocational Education Training

VT Vocational Training
VTCs Vocational Training Centres
1.0 SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT OF
TVET IN SOUTH SUDAN
1.1 INTRODUCTION
This unified National TVET Policy is being conceived in an unpredicted global environment
impacted on the one hand by the global COVID 19 pandemic and on the other by the 4th
Industrial Revolution (4IR). It lays down the vision and mission for revitalising the TVET sector
for the next five years and provides clear directions on how to implement TVET system in South
Sudan. Currently TVET is not well developed in South Sudan though it is said that all TVET
institutions in the country deliver education and training based on competencies and occupations
needed in the labour market.1 It must be emphasised though that there has been a strong belief in
TVET in South Sudan ever since its creation and many documents have been produced to uphold
its implementation. However, many factors have hampered its sustained development.
To address the current conflict and socio-economic situation in the context of fragile states;
support Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 8; align with the recommendations of the Global
Out of School Children Initiative: South Sudan Country Study (2018); and foster UNESCO 2015
Recommendation Concerning Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET),
UNESCO through the Capacity Development for Education (CapED) programme support the
country of South Sudan in the development of TVET as a peace building intervention since
2018.
In this context, UNESCO is helping the Government of South Sudan by providing technical
support through the National TVET Ad-Hoc Coordination Committee, particularly the sub-
committee on National TVET Policy and Legislation for development of a unified National
TVET Policy for the Republic of South Sudan South Sudan.
UNESCO's Capacity Development for Education (CapED) Programme is an extra-budgetary
funding mechanism and programme approach created in 2003. It is based on the understanding
that education reforms, with a view to achieving internationally agreed education goals and
targets, including SDG 4, will not be effective if countries lack the capacities to make them
operational. With an overarching capacity development approach, the Programme seeks to
improve the quality of education and increase learning opportunities, especially for girls, women,
and disadvantaged population groups.

1.2 NATIONAL TVET POLICY DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT

South Sudan is a post conflict country and the world’s youngest Nation. The Country gained its
independence on the 9Th July 2011. Since then, the country has been grappling with many
political, economic, social and demographic challenges. According to UNOCHA 2021 report the
country has a total population of 11,381,378. Youths constitute 70% of the total population.
Many of these youths are not in any gainful employment due to lack of relevant and employable
skills. The country has seen an increased need for technological, Entrepreneurial and industrial
skills development since its independence.

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Currently the country is witnessing an increased interest in the establishment of Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (TVET) providers. Despite of this growing interest, there is
still a gap between the employable skills needed by the private sector and the supply of trained
and competent human capital. Several national legislations are emphasizing on the importance of
technical and vocational education and training in increasing knowledge, values, attitude and
skills of the South Sudanese people there by leading to the creation of a skilled and knowledge-
based society that is capable of finding employment or creating a self-employment. Attainment
of this requires an outcome based policy that addresses the issues of skills development,
Employability, Entrepreneurship, business incubation, curriculum, quality assurance, TVET
instructor’s development, Apprenticeship, the qualifications framework, financing, Governing
system and self-employment

The country follows three systems of TVET delivery that comprises of formal, non-formal and
informal. There is a need for strengthening the national TVET policy governance and regulatory
frameworks for coordinating the TVET to create a pool of highly skilled, competent, productive,
Entrepreneurial, adaptive and employable technical and vocational skilled human resource that is
responsive to the changing labor market conditions across South Sudan. The TVET system
product in South Sudan must create a competent and adaptable workforce to be the backbone of
economic and social development and to enable an increasing number of citizens to find gainful
employment and self-employment in the different sectors of the South Sudan Economy.

TVET delivery in South Sudan is fragmented and there exists a number of Training policies and
different ministries that provides skills development opportunities. This situation leads to the
national acceptance on the need for developing a single unified TVET policy for use across
South Sudan in coordinating the delivery of TVET and national skills development activities.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is used in its broadest sense to
encompass all aspects of skills development and acquisition from all learning environments,
whether formal, non-formal and informal. TVET involves the acquisition of practical knowledge
and employable skills and the study of related sciences and technologies. It also addresses the
issues of employability, the demand and supply of skills, up-skilling, re-skilling, multi-skilling,
and lifelong learning.

The Formal TVET refers to institution-based or in-school TVET that follows a standardized
curriculum with precise learning objectives, usually leading to certification that is nationally
recognized. The Non-formal TVET refers to skills acquisition outside of the school system
which is not nationally certified, such as internship training, short-term skills training by NGOs,
or on-the-job training in enterprises.

Informal TVET on the other hand refers to skills acquisition on the job in formal sector
employment or through traditional apprenticeship schemes in the informal sector of the
economy. The above definitions suggest a compartmentalization of qualifications and skills. The
challenge for any national TVET system is the construction of a harmonized system of skills
recognition, irrespective of the learning environment (whether formal, informal or non-formal),
with flexible transition and articulation pathways between basic and higher level or specialized
skills development programs and qualifications.
1.3 POLICY INTENT
This policy document seeks to organize the TVET sector and that whilst ensuring lifelong
learning, a must in this era of unprecedented rapid change of technology. And climate change
affected environment calling for green job skills. Addressing the challenge of youth and women
unemployment in South Sudan requires that the youth are equipped with employable skills as a
fundamental pre-requisite for accessing a decent work.

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Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) provides an important avenue for the
acquisition of employment-oriented basic Employable skills training and life coping skills and
attitudes. Consequently, a systematic National TVET examination system is needed to improve
on the quality of TVET certification. An overhaul of the current South Sudan’s TVET system is
needed in order to position South Sudan TVET system as an effective tool for responding to
youth unemployment and underemployment is required. It will also make South Sudanese
competitive in the job market to be able to compete effectively with those from the neighboring
countries who are currently taking up most jobs in the labor market.

Examination of the TVET sector in the country based on the recent TVET Centers assessment
conducted by the AfDB 2021 reveals that the sector has both strengths and weaknesses. The
strengths include the existence of a thriving informal economy and a structure for formal and
non-formal skills development programs, the availability of indigenous master craftsmen and
artisans with varying levels of skills competence majorly trained on the Job and for Level I, the
existence of a variety of TVET training institutions both in the rural and urban area. The country
has a total of 351 TVET centers and a strong political commitment and goodwill for the
revitalization of TVET as a response to the youth, disabled, ex-combatants, and women
employment challenges facing the country.

The major weakness of the TVET system in South Sudan has been the absence of a
comprehensive and unified national TVET policy and legal framework as well as a coordinating
agency to guide, direct and oversee TVET activities for South Sudan. As a result, the TVET
delivery system is fragmented among 30 government ministries and agencies. Each of these
TVET line Ministries have different training policies, governance and management practices.

The lack of a regulatory framework coupled with poor coordination and identification of roles
and responsibilities of TVET sector working stakeholders, including government, private sectors
and non-governmental organizations, is a major problem for the sector that needs to be
streamlined.

Other weaknesses of the South Sudan TVET system include the poor public perception on
TVET, low social status of TVET, the multiplicity of testing and certification standards, poor
articulation and credit transfer mechanisms between training institutions, and the weak linkages
between the formal TVET system and the world of work. The TVET instructors are poorly
remunerated. The TVET delivery system across South Sudan has remained largely supply-driven
and not demand-driven or aligned to the needs of the employment sector. Between 2010 and
2020, there exist five labor market assessments and none of them addresses the entire Labour
market assessment across the 10 states and 3 administrative areas.
The country does not have a labour market information system that can give information on
which skills are needed and who needs them and where they are needed.The obsolescence of
training equipment and tools, the inadequacy of teaching and learning facilities and instructional
support systems are still posing as great challenges that needs to be addressed in order to make
the TVET system in South Sudan vibrant. The existing and inadequately trained instructors
contribute to the poor quality delivery of TVET services in South Sudan. Finally, the TVET
system lacks effective career guidance, counseling and job placement advisory services and
adequate number of suitably qualified system managers and professionals to drive the entire
TVET system in the desired revitalized performance.

2
The National ministries are mandated with the development of policies while the Sub National
Government (SNG) being mandated with the task of policy implementation. The Country is a
member of the East African Community, IGAD, African Union and Global community. A
number of gaps have been identified to affect the TVET progress in the Country namely the lack
of a cohesive TVET system and coordination mechanism, Instructors challenges, disparity in
curriculum, financing gaps, weak qualification frameworks, nonexistence of TVET quality
assurance guidelines, Industry apprenticeship guidelines and manual in the form of various
trades apprenticeship logbook.

The absence of long-term national TVET and skills development strategies have hindered the
development and sustainability of TVET in South Sudan. The current TVET system must be
scaled up with a particular focus on capacity, quality, relevance, accessibility, equity and up-
skilling.

This therefore calls for the urgent need of a comprehensive unified national TVET Policy which
is an umbrella document that guides the overall development of TVET and skills development in
the country. This policy document is intended to provide a clear roadmap for a coordinated,
transformed, quality-assured and revitalized TVET system in South Sudan. Additionally, the
document seeks to define the policies and strategies required to standardize and harmonize the
formal, informal and non-formal skills development sub-sectors into a holistic, outcome based
and flexible national TVET system as embodied in the nation’s vision 2040 and South Sudan
National development plan that will facilitate the effort of the Government in the attainment of
Sustainable Development Goals.

Globally TVET is destined to play a critical role in developing skills needed for the attainment of
each of the 17 SDGs including the green jobs skills. The country’s long-term development
objectives provide the rationale and impetus for revitalizing the TVET system in order to
produce the kind of skilled human capital that is required to spur and sustain the peace, socio
economic development, growth, sustainable Development goals and private sector development
of the economy across the SNG.

The document also takes into account the training and employment orientations spelt out in the
vocational training policy of the National Ministry of labour (2014), the draft National TVET
Policy for the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (2018), the Agricultural sector
training policy (2012) for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food security and other relevant
government TVET line ministries policies and training mandates.

The goal of this unified TVET policy is to reposition TVET in South Sudan as a vehicle for
promoting access to quality, inclusive and equitable skills training that will stimulate economic
growth, creating sustainable employment, decent work and reducing poverty. The policy seeks to
create a flexible human capacity development system that equips youths, adults and the
vulnerable groups with a diverse range of skills for the world of work and sustainable livelihood
that is labor market responsive.
This ensures that employability skills are mainstreamed to sustain employment and fosters a
highly skilled workforce for South Sudan, regional market and beyond. Successful
implementation of this policy will make South Sudan to also begin exporting artisan, craft and
technician’s skilled workers and increase in the volume of its international remittance.

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The skilled workforce is needed in South Sudan to support the economic growth of the economy,
implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan.
The policy also aims to increase the employment prospects and income-earning capacities of the
active and vulnerable population across South Sudan. This is especially targeting the youth, girls
and women, persons with disabilities, ex-combatants, Women associated with armed conflict,
Children associated with armed conflict and other vulnerable groups through TVET. In
summary, the unified National TVET policy seeks to create a new vision for TVET in South
Sudan that appeals to all categories of learners without distinction or discrimination and
addresses the acquisition of basic, intermediate and higher level skills. TVET for All in South
Sudan is a key cross cutting message communicated by this unified national TVET policy.

In Summary this policy seeks to address the issues of TVET delivery Governance structures,
training Standards, quality and certification, occupational standards, innovative financing models
for TVET centers and TVET programs. Improving the capacity of the instructors, Infrastructure,
equipment, rebranding of TVET to increase public perception of TVET , Social inclusion ,
Labour Market Assessments, tracer studies , private sector engagement , Increasing TVET
enrolment , Demand driven training , Business incubation and innovation centers ,
Apprenticeship , Pre-employment training , Employability skills , mobile TVET and other
innovative TVET delivery in emergency situations., sustainable social partners and state level
Government engagement in TVET delivery across South Sudan.

1.4 TVET POLICY PRINCIPLES AND ORIENTATION

The unified National TVET Policy for the Republic of South Sudan shall promote a strong
TVET system that ensures the coherent governance and management of TVET across South
Sudan. The aim is to ensure that its objectives and strategies are aligned with the government’s
broader socio-economic goals, objectives, and priorities at the national, State, County and payam
levels.
The policy seeks to promote innovative skills development, entrepreneurship, business
incubation and micro enterprises, lifelong learning, village savings and loaning associations for
skills development and sustainable development shall be at the heart of the South Sudan TVET
system. South Sudan will continue to follow all the three systems of TVET namely the formal,
informal and non-formal in developing skills of its people by making skills development
accessible to all.

TVET is a comprehensive term which covers school based as well as out of school education and
training programs. They include formal, non-formal and informal training programs designed to
prepare individuals for competency training targeting specific occupations or productive
activities in the various sectors of social and economic life. No potential source of livelihood
skills support shall be left behind across South Sudan. The government will in every five year
document the labor market needs of the country and document it per state. It involves the study
of related sciences, technologies, relevant knowledge and the acquisition of practical employable
skills for the practice of a given trade through the use of the trade tools and specific safety
measures relevant to the practice of the occupation.
The TVET system in South Sudan at all levels shall be guided by the following principles:

 TVET providers and instructors shall be committed to the concept of providing optimal
customer service - built on the premise that the customer is “supreme.” Customer in this
context may refer to students, industry and the final consumers of the goods and services.

4
  Partnerships and participation of all stakeholders in the development of TVET shall be
encouraged;

 Quality assurance shall be embedded in the management, delivery, and assessment of

TVET activities.

 The cultivation of positive attitudes and productive work ethic, which is a critical element
of global competitiveness, shall be emphasized in all TVET programs.

 TVET shall be accessible to all citizens, taking into account individual differences,
abilities, and circumstances.

 Special measures shall be taken at all levels of TVET delivery to ensure educational
equity related to gender, ability/disability, and regional balance in the availability of
resources and opportunities for value chain, business creation and productive activities
development.

 TVET shall promote the conservation of natural resources through artisanal skills
development and protection of the environment with the goal of sustainable natural
resource utilization across South Sudan

1.5 UNIFIED NATIONAL TVET POLICY VISION

Skilled, competitive and employable man power for South Sudan market and beyond.

1.6 UNIFIED NATIONAL TVET POLICY MISSION

To transform and revitalize TVET sector across South Sudan through the promotion of good
governance, management, equity, accessibility, gender equality, inclusive, quality, relevance,
active stakeholder’s engagement and sustainable financing of the TVET sector for the promotion
of economic growth, global competitiveness, industrial development and attainment of
Sustainable development goals, vision 2040 and Agenda 2063 across South Sudan.

1.7 UNIFIED NATIONAL TVET POLICY OBJECTIVES

1.7.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVES
“The overall objective of the Unified National TVET Policy is to develop an effectively
coordinated and harmonized TVET system that is capable of producing inclusive, quality,
creative, adaptable, innovative, skilled, employable and globally competitive human resource
with the right attitudes and values required for employment, competitiveness, sustainable
growth and prosperity of the various sectors of the economy and to achieve poverty reduction,
decentralization, social culture and Sustainable development across South Sudan.”
1.7.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
a. Strengthen policy guidance, coordination, TVET Governance, Registration of a
TVET service provider and regulatory frameworks for TVET and skills
development services across the Republic of South Sudan.

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 a. Give guidance on TVET system, competency based TVET Curriculum
framework design, assessment, Occupational standards Development and
certification as well as recruiting and maintaining qualified and motivated TVET
instructors.

b. Establish a National TVET Qualifications framework and TVET Quality

assurance guidelines for coordinating TVET activities in South Sudan.

c. Strengthen the use of PPP model, business incubation , Apprenticeship,

entrepreneurship and Small Business management in the provision and delivery
of TVET service across South Sudan.

d. Ensure access, quality, equity, attractiveness and relevance of TVET system

across South Sudan.

a. Promote pre-employment training, TVET profession entry and lifelong-career-

seeking candidates in the industry and trade of interest.

b. Increase skills for improved income-earning capacities, especially of vulnerable

groups through innovative and diversified skills training, up skilling, re-skilling
and integration of occupations and skills level of training into the modern
economy.

c. Establish sustainable and innovative TVET financing models for TVET activities
across South Sudan.

1.8 WEAKNESES OF THE TVET SYSTEM IN SOUTH SUDAN

1. Lack of coordination among TVET delivery agencies across the Country
2. Weak TVET system Governance and Management
3. Weak linkage between industry and training institution
4. Skills Miss-match between supply and demand
5. Multiplicity of testing and certification
6. Poor legal mandate of TVET organization and delivery
7. Unsatisfactory quality of instruction due to in adequate instructor preparation
8. Lack of instructional support and poor remuneration to TVET instructors
9. Non-recognition of the informal sector skills development
10. Under representation of females in engineering and traditional male dominated trades
11. Inadequate and obsolete training tools, equipments and facilities
12. Acute shortage of high level personnel needed to conceptualize and manage the TVET
system
1. Poor public perception of TVET
2. Poor equity and accessibility of the TVET services
3. Lack of sustainable TVET funding mechanism
4. Poor TVET learning infrastructure
5. Competition from the Neighboring and other foreign countries

6. Insecurity

6
1. Unsustainability of the TVET centers
2. Poor performance of the TVET institutions.
3. Inadequate annual government budgetary support across the line ministries
4. Duplication of effort by the supporting development partners
5. Nonexistent of a national TVET qualifications framework and operationalized TVET sector
quality assurance guidelines and occupational standard’s.

1.9 TVET POLICY PRIORITY AREAS AND DIRECTION

This unified national TVET Policy shall cover all the three types of the TVET delivery system
being followed in South Sudan. The policy will cover all levels of technical and vocational
education and training, and includes in its realm the government, private sector, industry,

community, faith based, and NGOs delivered skills development programs. Within the scope of
this Policy, TVET shall be delivered either as formal, non-formal and informal learning
arrangements including mobile delivery mode to cater for the needs of the pastoralist
communities, artisanal mining and fisher communities.

TVET, as understood in this policy document covers the broad set of general skills, life skills,
entrepreneurial skills, green technology skills, digital literacy skills, technical occupational
practice related skills and business incubation services. It also includes the avenues for achieving
the skills related to the General TVET, Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and
Training (ATVET), Business Technical and Vocational Education and Training (BTVET),
Health TVET, Development TVET, ICT TVET and Entrepreneurial business opportunities value
chain.

The primary targets of this Policy are citizens who have attained the age of 15 years and above,
the private sector, employers, training providers, gender, youth, disabled community and Sub
National Governments. The policy has built on the existing TVET policies of other TVET line
Ministries and the TVET policy gaps recommendations as developed by the EMPOWER
consortium., South Sudan TVET policy review conducted by UNESCO in 2014, Rapid TVET
sector assessment conducted by UNESCO 2018, and National TVET centers status assessment
conducted by AfBD 2021 and consultations with the TVET line ministries and state level and
administrative areas TVET stakeholders. The scope of the issues covered in this unified
National TVET policy includes a list of a total of 30 TVET issues that require policy directions
in South Sudan/.:

1. TVET policy Direction on the TVET system in South Sudan

2. TVET Policy Direction on the governance and management of TVET sector
3. TVET Policy Direction on the Establishment and operation of a TVET Centre in
South Sudan
1. TVET policy Direction on Admissions and Enrolment of learners across the TVET
systems
2. Policy Direction on the Development of National TVET Qualifications Framework.
3. TVET policy Direction on the Establishment TVET Quality Assurance guidelines.
4. TVET policy direction on Development and implementation of the National
competency based TVET Curricula for all the trades across the levels of the newly
developed National TVET qualification framework.'
5. TVET Policy direction on National TVET qualification level Assessment,
Examination and Certification

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1. TVET policy direction on TVET Data Management Information System
2. TVET Policy direction on TVET Linkage with National Labour Management
Information System
3. TVET Policy Direction on TVET Instructors Recruitment, Training, Registration
and Welfare.
4. TVET Policy Direction on TVET apprenticeship and partnership with state level
government and social players in delivery of TVET services across South Sudan.

1. TVET policy direction on the Establishment of TVET Communication strategy and

internet across South Sudan.
2. TVET Policy direction on decentralized Manufacturing, business incubation and
Industry development services across South Sudan. (Market system development)
3. TVET policy direction on TVET Centers Sustainability through the establishment of
production units and Entrepreneurial Management of the IBTVET.
4. TVET policy direction on innovative and sustainable TVET Financing and Resource
Mobilization
5. TVET Policy direction on branding, marketing and changing mindset on TVET
across South Sudan.
6. TVET Policy direction on the TVET Policy implementation, Review, Monitoring
and Evaluation
7. TVET Policy Direction on the use of TVET in the promotion of Agricultural
Productivity and Food Security.
8. TVET Policy Direction on Entrepreneurship and business skills development
through various business value chain analysis
9. TVET Policy Direction on TVET sector Information, Communication Technology
and Digital Literacy
10. TVET Policy direction on Environmental Conservation, Climate Change and
Natural Resource Management
11. TVET Policy direction on Delivery of TVET during emergency situations
12. TVET Policy Direction on TVET infrastructure, Learning materials and equipment
13. TVET Policy direction on gender issues and inclusivity (vulnerable group, children,
PLWD)
14. TVET policy direction on application of Djibouti declaration on skilling of refuges
and IDPs across South Sudan.
15. TVET policy direction on relationship and adoption of regional guideline’s and
frameworks for TVET related issues such as the EAC , AU and Global TVET
policy , strategy, curriculum, Qualification framework, occupational standards
development, apprenticeship , blended learning, Recognition of prior learning, credit
transfer and other related matters .
16. TVET policy direction on the development of National skills development strategy.
17. TVET policy direction on the development of National TVET competency-based
curriculum and Industry occupational standards.
18. TVET policy direction on Recognition of prior learning in TVET and TVET system
credit transfer and guidelines.

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1.10 UNIFIED NATIONAL TVET POLICY DRAFTING AND REPORTING PROCESS
The development of this policy was a consultative process whereby the opinion of various
stakeholders from the state level government, private sector, skills development partners,
transitional state Legislative assembly, Transitional National Legislative Assembly for
participative dialogue as well as discussion with Stakeholders, TVET instructors, Social partners
and private sector to obtain their participation and inputs. The process of developing this policy
entailed

1. Review of various documents and Reports and holding consultation meeting with the
National TVET Ad Hoc Coordination Committee with all of the 5 Sub committees and
especially the subcommittee on TVET policy and Legislation that produced the Zero
Draft.

2. Production of the First draft of the South Sudan Unified TVET policy that was produced
by the end of January 2021 after incorporating the views from hosting the First National
TVET sector stakeholders meeting.

3. Development of Second Draft version of the report by the end of March 2021 by
incorporating g the views of TVET Line Ministries following the TVET policy workshop
held at the Government Accountancy training Centre.

4. Development of the third draft version after making state level consultations with the 10
states and three administrative areas.

5. Development of the fourth version of the unified national TVET policy for sharing with
the Legal Advisors of the TVET line Ministries.

6. Development of the fifth version for National TVET stakeholders from all the 10 states
and three administrative areas. At workshop held in Juba on 2 November 2021.

7. Presentation of the Unified National TVET policy to the members of Revitalized

Transitional National legislative assembly for ownership and orientation of the key
TVET policy recommendations and debates.

8. Development of the sixth draft for presentation to the Technical Committee of the
undersecretaries of the service cluster and their views incorporated with minutes for the
submission to Council of Ministers.

9. Development of the final 7th version of the draft Unified National TVET policy for
presentation to the council of Ministers. This should be done by the end of May 2022 and
the draft policy should be presented to the council of Ministers by August 2022.

10. Reviewing and drafting of TVET bill by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional
Affairs to have South Sudan TVET Act 2022.

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1.11 FINAL UNIFIED NATIONAL TVET POLICY REPORTING STRUCTURE
During the state level consultation, the 30 TVET policy issues were consolidated in to five
themes which were presented in to a series of eight sections namely:
1. Section one: Introduction and Context
2. Section Two: Policy directions on TVET Governance and Management
3. Section Three : Policy Directions on TVET Equity and Access
4. Section Four : Policy directions on TVET Quality assurance and Relevance
5. Section Five : TVET Policy implementation, Review, Monitoring and Evaluation
6. Section Six : TVET policy directions on Sustainable TVET Financing Models
7. Section Seven : Conclusion and way forward

1.12 DESIRED TVET CONTEXT IN SOUTH SUDAN

The unified national TVET policy for South Sudan therefore provides a framework for the
development of a vibrant TVET system which helps in achieving two main paradigm shifts
namely:

a) The shift from a time bound and teacher centered curriculum based training to flexible,
competency based modularized learner centered training as well as the adoption of mobile TVET
delivery mode and;

b) The shift from supply–led training to demand-driven TVET system which will be developed
by promoting the participation of industry in both the design and delivery of TVET across all
skills development programs, trades and occupations offered in South Sudan.

The proposed two paradigm shifts are required to achieve the unified National TVET policy
objectives. The government of the republic of South Sudan is a signatory to a number of
international development convections and regional development authorities. The government
has also formulated its vision 2040, national development plan and is currently committed to the
attainment of global sustainable development goals. The 17 SDGs will require countries to
develop national skills development policies and strategies that will ensure that these goals are
attained. TVET sector has critical; role to play in this regard.

The transitional constitution of the Republic of South Susan together with the Vision 2040 and
the RARCISS recognizes the need for relevant skills particularly in TVET institutions. To
accommodate the transformation of South Sudan economy into a middle-income country,
relevance of skills will be key to drive the key growth sectors of the South Sudan economy. To
effect this, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan in partnership with private sector and
professional bodies, will undertake skills survey labour market assessment after every 5 years.
Further, TVET programmes will be market driven and address the needs of the workplace as
well as to promote self-employment. In most of the TVET programs learners will be given start
up kits and micro financing per trades associations or groups.
TVET has the solution to the problem of employability that is currently affecting South Sudan
across all the states and administrative areas. The present skills development system in South
Sudan follows a fragmented curriculum-based, time-bound approach. Certification is based on
completion of courses and passing exams rather than demonstration of competency for the
professional practice of the trade or occupation of the training.

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Generally, most public technical and vocational institutes tend not to specialize in training for a
particular economic sector, but offer a range of generic courses, which do not always correspond
to the diversity of actual economic activities across South Sudan. There is therefore a need for
reforms that are aimed at transforming and revitalizing the TVET sector across South Sudan.
These TVET reforms are to be instituted through the development a unified National TVET
policy, National TVET ACT, development of various TVET guidelines and frameworks.

1.3 GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES AND TRENDS IN TVET SECTOR DEVELOPMENT

These are informed by G20 training strategy, ILO standards and labor conventions, UNESCO
TVET in the 21st Century, AU TVET strategy, Djibouti declaration on education for refugees,
EAC TVET strategy , global indicators for evaluating TVET . These notable practices that
characterize current situation in TVET globally have been considered in the development of this
policy to qualify as best practice and hence influence the formulation of the unified TVET policy
for the Republic of South Sudan. These include:
a. A well-defined and articulated policy for the TVET sub-sector aligned to National
development vision and sustainable development goals;

b. Clearly articulated mechanisms for assuring access and equity in TVET delivery.

c. Strong partnership between industry and the TVET subsector as well as the host
community, NGOs and sub national Government.

d. An environment that makes TVET vibrant, including good facilities,

infrastructure and well trained human resources,

e. Good access to information and knowledge resources and well organized

institutions and processes.

f. Effective transition system and well-organized pathways that connect education

and training to world of work.

g. Sustainable and innovative sources of TVET financing mechanism and

modalities. A broad based system is capable of generating more resources.
2.0 SECTION TWO: POLICY ON TVET GOVERNANCE AND
MANAGEMENT

2.1 INTRODUCTION
This section provides key TVET Policy recommendations to ensure good Governance and
Management of TVET sector across the Republic of South Sudan. Governance is “the way in
which an organization (public or private) is led and controlled, with the purpose of getting
performance, accomplishing its responsibilities successfully and bringing added value, as well as
using financial, human, material and informational resources efficiently, while respecting the
rights and obligations of all involved parties (shareholders/investors, administration Board,
managers, employees, state, suppliers, clients and other people with a direct interest)”1 (Matei &
Drumasu, 2015:495).

2.2 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Similar national TVET authorities exist in other countries where TVET has been a success and is
flourishing. Figure 5 shows examples of Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia,
Tanzania and Uganda with their TVET authorities which are responsible for the regulation and
coordination of TVET in their respective countries. The authorities of those countries have found
it indispensable to set up such a body with legal status to be able to ensure the credibility of
TVET in their respective country. It must be imbued with legislative functions and powers to
regulate and coordinate all forms of TVET. Liberia is one of the latest countries which are
implementing such a body, named the LITCOM (Liberia TVET Commission)2, which is to
coordinate and oversee all aspects of TVET in Liberia.

Country Legislation Coordinating Body

1.0 Ghana Act 2006 COTVET ((COTVET), a semi-
autonomous body under the
Ministry of Education. COTVET is
responsible for coordinating TVET
programmes in both public and
private TVET institutions.
2.0 Kenya Act 2013 TEVETA (Education
Cabinet Secretary)

3.0 Malawi Act 1999 TEVETA (Ministry of

Labour)
4.0 Mauritius IVT Act 1988/MQA 2001/ IVTB/MQA/HRDC/
HRD Act 2003/MITD 2009 MITD (Ministry of
Education)
5.0 Botswana Vocational Training Act 2012 BOTA

6.0 Namibia Act 2008 NTA (Min of education)

7.0 Tanzania Act 1994 VETA (Min of education)

Act 1996 NACTE (Min of education)
8.0 Uganda BTVET Act 2008 SDA (Min of Education)

9.0 Zambia Act 1998 TEVETA

10.0 Rwanda 2008 WDA (Min of Education)

Figure 5: National TVET Authorities of some countries compiled by Dubois R and Roheemun S
Figure 6 below shows the composition of the Boards of Liberia, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Ghana
and Botswana of those national TVET authorities. The employers represent from 8% to 22% of
Board membership. In Mauritius, the chairperson of the Mauritius Institute of Training and
Development comes from the private sector and is appointed by the Prime Minister of Mauritius
as per the Act. 8 other members comprise the Board, including two other members from the
private sector and 2 members with experience in technical and vocational education and training,
to be appointed by the Minister. Trade Union representatives also sit on the MITD Board.

Figure 6: Board composition of TVET Authority of different countries compiled by R Dubois

and S Roheemun

2.3 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROMOTING GOOD GOVERNANCE

AND MANAGEMENTOF TVET

Currently the delivery of TVET services across South Sudan is fragmented and uncoordinated.
There is a need for South Sudan to come up with a national TVET policy and Strategy that will
streamline the execution of TVET activities across the TVET line Ministries and key players.
There are 30 TVET line Ministries and over 150 NGOs engaged in the delivery of TVET
activities. There is no system of sharing information to enable the government to know who is
doing what and where. The sector still lacks clear direction on the procedure and guideline for
registering a TVET institution public, community or private.
Recommendation 1: Create a South Sudan National TVET Authority with a legal status to
coordinate and regulate TVET sector activities in the Republic of South Sudan.
To strengthen governance and management of the TVET sector in the Republic of South Sudan
there is unanimity in the need to set up a national central body concerned with legislation, laws
and policy making in the TVET sector. Such a body would bring rationalization in the
governance and management of TVET, coherence and qualities in the TVET delivered by all
TVET/VT providers and eliminate duplication and help optimize the resources available.
That body, the South Sudan National TVET Authority must be established by Legislation to
provide a legal framework for achieving the policy goals and objectives of the National TVET
Policy and will have the powers and authority to spearhead the process of implementation of the
National TVET Strategy; to develop the RSS TVET Qualifications Framework; to provide for
the financing of TVET; to set up the TVET Quality Assurance guidelines, to develop the South
Sudan Industry occupational standards , to develop framework for competency based TVET
curriculum, assessment and certification and for other related matters.
The Authority will be administered and managed by a Governing Board which operates under
the ambit of the Vice President. The latter may give such written directions of a general character
to the Board, not inconsistent with the Act, as he considers necessary in the public interest, and
the Board shall comply with those directions.

For good governance, the presence of private sector on the board is warranted. TVET cannot be
effective without the private sector, which can bring to the table their needs of skills to produce,
their rigour as far as management is concerned and their other financial and non-financial
contribution.1 However, it is important that the members present on the board have certain levels
of expertise in TVET as well as governance and management.

That Board must also comprise other major stakeholders of TVET, namely representatives of the
different concerned ministries who bring their individual expertise and training needs and ensure
coordination amongst those ministries as well as representatives of Non-Government
Organisations (NGO).

Devolution of governance and management of TVET sector must be promoted gradually to the
various States and Institutions with a view to be more efficient and effective. Obviously, there
are certain decisions which must be taken at the central level such as the development of policies
and governance and strategic planning. TVET institutions must be empowered to develop close
working relationships with employers of all size in their areas; programs offered must respond to
the needs of the respective labour market whilst ensuring access to target groups in rural areas
and providing skills upgrading for workers in micro and small business communities; A
mechanism must be developed to strengthen the network between the relevant bodies centrally
and at states levels. Again, the effectiveness of these decentralization mechanisms will depend
upon availability of appropriate funding sources at the state levels. In addition, each state must
be allowed to bring in the curriculum elements to respond to local and state market needs.

To be noted a vast majority of respondents to the questionnaire agree that the National TVET
Authority should be under the aegis of the MoGEI, though some mentioned that the chairman of
the Board must report to the presidency.
The proposed structure of a South Sudan TVET Authority is depicted in Figure 7. The functions
of the Authority will be defined in the Act and for the better carrying out of the functions of the
Authority, different standing committees will have to be set up, namely the: -
 Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs) to “advise the South Sudan TVET Authority on
the introduction of new technical training programmes and the abolition of obsolete ones and
assess training needs and developing training standards for the specific trades the Committee is
covering.” For example, in Ghana, the government is introducing 22 sector skills councils to help
define and develop occupational standards which will underpin competency-based curricula and
a national qualification TVET framework. COTVET—the coordinating body for TVET— has
also commissioned detailed sector skills gap analysis in seven priority sectors to inform the
design of standards. The councils will have representatives from bodies such as unions, employer
associations, business networks, large employers and the informal sector. A sector-based
approach allows the government to engage with industry more effectively and efficiently as it
reflects existing industry structures and allows the possibility to prioritise sectors based on wider
economic development priorities and reforms. Employer involvement is most likely to occur in a
favourable business environment with minimal bureaucracy and a fully- committed government
(Dunbar, 2013) alongside capacity and capability in government ministries and agencies to
engage effectively with the private sector.1

TVET Quality Assurance Committee to ensure the quality of technical education and training
being provided by TVET institutions through the various accreditation committee responsible for
the certification, or granting credit or recognition, usually for a particular period of time, of a
person, a body or an institution as having the capacity to fulfil a particular function. Quality
Assurance is a process (or set of processes) of enforcing quality control standards by applying
the planned, systematic quality activities and working to improve the processes that are used in
producing the web sites and its components, infrastructure and content. A national TVET Quality
Assurance System ensures all providers of TVET, including private and public, meet the
administrative and program delivery standards required by South Sudan. Quality assurance
examines the processes of site implementation from inputs to output (European Commission,
2016).

TVET Qualifications Framework Committee to develop and maintain the Republic of South
Sudan National TVET Qualifications Framework (RSSNTQF) which can be part of the Republic
of South Sudan National Qualifications Framework (SSNQF). All training providers will be
required to adhere to SSNTQF which regulates and harmonises the award of TVET
qualifications in RSS. The different levels of the SSNTTQF will specify what a TVET student
completing each level of the qualification framework is capable of doing and the award of
qualifications is based on the number of credits that the trainee achieves. International experience
suggests that the development of a NQF is technically, institutionally and financially demanding.
Setting up an NQF, in a mechanical sense, may be a relatively quick exercise. However, it takes
time to achieve results in terms of more people participating in training or improving the quality
NQF implementation can be a lengthy and costly investment, which many developing countries
may not be able to afford.
Policies, gender and inclusivity Committee to be responsible for Research, Planning and
Statistics as well as the promotion of inclusive TVET and gender issues in TVET.
Monitoring and Evaluation Committee to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the
TVET strategy and related action plan on a periodic basis
National TVET Funding Body (see recommendation 6 under Governance and management for
more details)
 Figure 7: Proposed structure of the South Sudan TVET Authority
Recommendation 2: Capacity building of the Government institutions by the Development
partners by involving the relevant Government Ministries and National TVET Ad Hoc
coordination Committee in the procurement of TVET related support providers including
consultants. This will help in the long-term capacity building of the Government official’s to be
able handle procurement of TVET related matters.
Recommendation 3: Design and develop a National TVET Qualifications Framework (NTQF).
This is to ensure recognition of different TVET levels of qualifications and facilitate pathways in
between TVET qualifications and between TVET and academic qualifications. It is important for
lifelong learning and can eventually be integrated within the National Qualifications Framework
(NQF). Besides, the NQF provides a basis for the acknowledgment of learning outcomes,
irrespective of the place of learning and the learning path, through outcome orientation. It must
be underlined that the African Union has decided to develop and support an African Continental
Qualifications Framework (ACQF), which is meant to be a policy instrument contributing to:1

• Enhance comparability, quality and transparency of qualifications from all sub-sectors of

education and training;

• Facilitate recognition of diplomas and certificates;

• Facilitate portability of skills

• Promote an African education space, and support people’s learning outcomes acquired
throughout life.
An inaugural workshop was organized to that effect in September 2019. So RSS will stand to
benefit from starting to develop its own TQF and NQF. It is essential to enhance capacity to
develop, implement and maintain the NTQF.
According to the South Sudan TVET 5 years strategic plan 2013 - 2017 (page 3)2, a TVET QF
was being prepared. However, most TVET providers are not aware of the QF when asked how
far the development has reached.3
Recommendation 4: Set up an Assessment and Certification body which will be responsible for
all the assessment to be undertaken in one Unit to harmonise them all to have only one South
Sudanese TEVET qualification based on the Competency Based Education and Training
(CBET) approach.
Trainers must be trained to use CBET approach. Guidelines will have to be developed and
adequate standards must be made available for the recruitment of assessors to ensure cohesion
and quality in the results obtained.
Recommendation 5: Increase the use of ICT in service delivery and office operations.
ICT is permeating our everyday life and whether we want it or not, it is impacting our business
processes, services and products, as well as education and training. The COVID 19 has shown
the importance of online learning in the delivery of training through a platform driven by ICT.
Presently, research is being undertaken by ADEA on rethinking the role of TVET in future work
and lifelong learning, in light of digitalization and the fourth industrialization (4IR)1. There is a
significant gap between supply and demand across all levels of digital skills in Africa. And the
supply of digitally-skilled labour in Sub-Saharan Africa must increase to meet anticipated labour
market needs or Africa’s economies will falter. 2 As a result, countries are facing an
unprecedented challenge of re-imagining and overhauling outdated education systems built for
another era.
The objective is that TVET must become more flexible, quicker to adapt, and put a greater focus
on lifelong learning in order to meet Africa’s aspiration to become a major knowledge and
innovation force in the global economy as envisioned in the African Union Agenda 2063 of the
“Africa We Want”, the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) and the United
Nations 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 4 and 8.3
Use of ICT in TVET has many advantages. It has proved to be very useful during the COVID 19
pandemic and the culture of e learning and work from home has gained tremendous momentum.
It can help to: connect teachers to content; give students access to education material where
teachers are unavailable; tailor learning to a student's needs; reinforce learning (such as with
Eneza Education in Kenya that provides questions and answers to students via mobile phones);
and make learning more interactive and fun (World Bank 2016), a measure to increase
attractiveness of TVET.
Recommendation 6: Strengthen the partnership between the public and private sectors and
ensure clear coordinating responsibilities of the various Donors to avoid any possible
duplication which may add to the confusion of the TVET system.

As per recommendations of UNESCO, Member States, according to their governance structures,

should consider establishing or strengthening governance models for TVET institutions
involving relevant local stakeholders and cooperating, when relevant, with business associations
in supporting work-based learning.4 No TVET can be effective without the collaboration of the
private sector. It is a means to better understand each other regarding the type and quality of
training to be provided and the kind of skills required on the labour market. Employers are the
end users of the TVET system and they know best their needs in terms of the quality and
quantity of TVET graduates. A close link will certainly bring many other advantages to the
TVET system. They must be involved in all the value chain of a TVET system with inter alia,
identify the needs, design of the TVET courses, management of training providers through their
rigorous culture, donation of equipment, assessment of TVET graduates, internship of trainees,
industrial stage for TVET Instructors, amongst others.
Recommendation 7: Establish a National TVET Fund to ensure sustainable financing of
TVET as a system.

National Skills Development Funds have several advantages including: -

• To constitute a mechanism for providing resources for financing skills
development according to set conditions.
• To provide a protected source of funding for skills development isolated from
public sector budgetary operation on a long term perspective.
To derive its income from various sources including earmarked skills development levies,
government budgetary allocation, donor contributions, internally generating revenues through
training cum production that must be encouraged at each Training Centre with a view towards
ensuring sustainability, etc1
Recommendation 8: Ensure that the system of technical education and training is based on
demand, is cost-effective and given a gradually decentralized planning and implementation
authority to all the States and eventually Institutions of South Sudan to ensure maximum
utilization of resources and relevance of technical education and training programmes, whilst
ensuring that the South Sudan TVET Authority is responsible for national policy formulation and
all statutory functions at national level.

Recommendation 9: Upon the adoption of this policy by the council of Ministers, the
Transitional national legislative assembly will enact a National TVET ACT to regulate the
various provisions of the policy that requires the regulatory act. In doing this the council of
states, state level legislative assemblies and Ministry of Justice and constitutional affairs
especially the directorate for legal drafting and legal advisors for the line ministries will be
engaged in developing and reviewing the South Sudan national TVET bill.

Recommendation 10: Upon the enactment of the South Sudan TVET ACT, the president of the
Republic of South Sudan shall decree the formation of South Sudan National TVET Authority in
accordance with the prescribed provisions of the ACT. The functions, responsibilities, and
directorates of the National TVET Authority will clearly be stated in the ACT.
Recommendation 11: The policy further recommends that the South Sudan TVET sector
through The Authority, line Ministries, state governments, TVET working group and
stakeholders shall form strong and collaborative partnerships between the Government,
industry, private sector, trade unions, local governments, civil society institutions and all skill
providers. The roles and responsibilities of each of these partners shall be clearly defined in the
national skills development strategy to be developed as an implementation framework for this
unified National TVET policy. This will clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the
Government, employers, trade unions, civil society organisations all of whom are referred to as
social partners.

Recommendation 12: Before the formation if the National TVET Authority, the National TVET
Ad Hoc Coordination Committee will continue to serve as the umbrella body for coordinating
the TVET activities through its various sub committees that are mandated with the execution of
various functions of Policy and Legislation, Qualification framework, Monitoring and
Evaluation, Curriculum implementation and Resource Mobilization.

Recommendation 13: Through the support of various TVET sector development partners, the
Policy recommends that the TVET Authority or the NAHTCC be supported to develop a number
of key TVET sector governing documents namely,

1. The National Skills Development strategy with costed operational plan

and activities implementation matrix.
2. Development of National TVET Qualifications framework; the work on
this has begun and being supported by UNESCO through CaPED
project.
3. Development of National TVET Quality Assurance guidelines. This is
currently being developed with the support of UNESCO CaPED project.
4. Development of Competency based TVET curriculum development
framework
5. Development of National TVET apprenticeship guidelines and manuals.
6. Development of guidelines for establishing a TVET institution whether
government, community or private.
7. Development of industry occupational standards for various trades
identified by the latest labour market assessment and across the 8 levels
of the South Sudan TVET Qualifications framework,
8. Conducting a national TVET centers Assessment to provide information
on the current status of TVET centers in South Sudan. This has been
conducted with the support of African development Bank December
2021.
9. Supporting the TVET line Ministries to strengthen their skills
development directorate and activities execution plan that are linked
with the National TVET Authority.
10. Development of Business Plan for all the TVET centres
 11. Establishment of TVET centers of excellence across the 10 states and 3
Administrative areas.
12. Development of guidelines for TVET instructors training , remuneration
and welfare.

13. Establishment of at least 1 instructors training centre and

operationalization of post-secondary school training institutions.
Currently there are 4 National polytechnics under the Ministry of Higher
Education Science and Technology that were formed in 2010 and till
now are not operational due to lack of curriculum , infrastructure ,
instructors and logistical issues.

14. Conduct a National Tracer studies of the entire TVET skills graduate
across South Sudan to identify their challenges, contributions and where
about.

15. Support the development of TVET sector COVID 19 response plan and
standards operating procedure . This has been developed with the
support of UNESCO and UNIDO South Sudan.

16. Develop a South Sudan National TVET management information

system.

17. Conduct a national Labor Market assessment once every five years with
a clear labor market information for each of the 10 states and three
administrative areas and support the National Ministry of Labour to
develop South Sudan National Labor Management Information system.

Recommendation 14: Promotion of TVET policy coherence with the comprehensive economic,
Labour and social policies, Gender, Disability, employment, emergency and human resources
programmes.

Recommendation 15: Supporting the Authority to form or set up the South Sudan
Sector/Industry Skills Councils or sector skills advisory committees who in turn will be
responsible for the development of South Sudan Industry Occupational standards and trades
related competency-based curriculum.
3.0 SECTION THREE: POLICY DIRECTIONS ON TVET ACCESS,
EQUITY AND GENDER EQUALITY

3.1 INTRODUCTION
Young South Sudanese under 29 years old represent 70% of the country’s population and nearly
95% of the secondary level students are overage for their grade level1. Youth unemployment is
of the order of 19% and they lack the necessary skills needed to find a job.2 Ninety- four percent
of young people enter the labour market without qualifications at all.3
There is therefore a huge market potential for TVET as it can help to develop relevant skills of
those youth to help them improve their livelihoods and entrepreneurial opportunities. The UN
Joint Programme on Youth Employment and the ILO in 2013 undertook a study of labour market
characteristics that impact vocational skills (UN, 2013). The following skill gaps were identified
in an attempt to match skill requirements of the South Sudan economy; these include: basic
business skills such as financial literacy, numeracy, language training, proper attitudes and
behavioural standards necessary to excel in the marketplace and the commitment necessary to
succeed as an entrepreneur.4
However, problems of access and equity prevail as explained in the many documents available
and unless addressed, a large pool of youth would continue to come onto the labour market
unprepared and unskilled resulting in major escalating socio economic problems. In addition,
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) also serves as a vehicle for
meaningful engagement and peacebuilding. Hence, there is an urgent need to utilize TVET as a
peace building and economic mechanism to build/promote resilience and the peaceful and-
sustainable development of South Sudan.5

3.2 THE TVET LANDSCAPE

The landscape of TVET and VT is occupied by a range of role players including the government,
donors, NGOs (both faith-based and humanitarian) and multi- and bilateral agencies involved in
providing some form of skills, either TVET, VT or skills development. However, for non
government actors, most operate within the non-formal or informal sector and do not provide
support in the formal sector. There is limited support in the formal sector (UNESCO rapid
assessment p. 21).
Donor, multi/bilateral entities, private sector and NGOs play a powerful role in the national
vocational system. They not only provide the bulk of the funds that ensure that training takes
place, but in many instances, shape and define what happens on the ground. Thus many of the
projects executed have been operating in silos, creating their own policies, curriculum and some
even building their own centres.
According to African Development Bank 2021 there are a total of 351 TVET centers across
South Sudan. Out of these, 49 TVET centers are public institutions operated by the Government.
The remaining TVET centres are operated by NGOs. The Ministry of Labour and Industrial
Relations has 6 TVET centres, MOGEI has 13 TVET centres, MOHEST has 4 National
Polytechnics, Ministry of Youth has 3 Youth Training centres, MOGCSW has 10 women
empowerment centres, Ministry of Health has a total 21 Government Health skills training
centres. Ministry of Agriculture and Food security 1 centre Yei Crop Training centre, Ministry of
Forestry has Kegulu Forestry training institute. Ministry of Livestock has Marial Lou Livestock
training centre and one fisheries traiing institute in Jonglei. State. 131 Private companies are
providing informal traditional apprenticeship. There is very little private sector investment in
TVET.
3.3 TVET PATHWAYS
Within the current government TVET system, there are many pathways for learners/trainees to
enter TVET system. Figure 8 shows the mandates/pathways of where and how learners/trainees
can join and navigate through the TVET system. Learners are able to enter TVET via the formal
sector or non-formal sector with a pathway for non-formal learners to enter the formal sector via
literacy and numeracy assessment1. Bridges also exist between TVET, general education and
higher education. Possibility of career progression and lifelong learning is also there. No
formally recognized TVET certification is available for learning outcomes achieved through
non-formal and informal modes of learning or training.2

Figure 8: Pathways/Certification under MoGEI

3.4 NUMBER OF TVET PROVIDERS
As per UNESCO’s rapid assessment, the TVET sector in South Sudan includes the involvement
of 30 government bodies, yet “the majority of TVET service provision is currently being
implemented by nongovernment actors, which do not necessarily coordinate with the
government.”1
According to the National Education Census extract 2018 (extract of key indicators), there were
only 13 TVET centres operating at the end of 2018/ beginning of 2019, with some 38.5% owned
by Government as displayed in Table 9 below. The MoLPSHRD has in turn reported five (5)
operational VT centres that provide training2 whilst the General Education Strategic plan
mentions six (6) formal TVET secondary schools (three in Central Equatoria and three in

Western Bahr-el Ghazal)1. Currently, many TVET centers are not functional and closed down
due to poor conditions of the centers and destruction from the continued conflicts in the country.
The facilities need to be renovated. There are plans to refurbish and/or construct new VTCs. For
example, the Ministry of Labour is planning to establish new VTCs across all the states and
renovate/rehabilitate the existing VTCs destroyed by war. SSDO plans to expand its premises
with boarding, libraries, halls, and exhibition and demonstration facilities. It plans to raise funds
and advertisement for bidders to implement the construction exercise.2
Table 8: Number and percentage of school per level of education and ownership

Source: National Education Statistics 2018

Since January 2020, EMPOWER has rehabilitated 11 TVET centres in different parts of the
country. This specifically included putting up sanitation blocks, drilling bore holes, minor
renovations such as painting, fencing, roof repairs etc. Besides EMPOWER offered training
materials and equipments to 16 TVET centres (including the 9 that were rehabilitated).3

Statistics are not readily available. Most respondents seem not to be aware of statistics. However,
according to the respondent from the MoGEI and based on the TVET centres base assessment
primary report for 2020 funded by the African Development Bank through the Ministry of
Gender, Child and Social Welfare, the following findings were arrived at:- 4

o Number of Private TVET providers total to (15)

o Faith base & NGOs TVET providers total to (209)
o Government & Community TVET total to (43)
o The programmes mostly are non-formal, only (17) center/schools are offering formal
TVET. These include the 4 national Polytechnics and 13 MOGEI TVET centers.
o Total no. of learners are 13,852 both sex and 30% are females.
If those figures are correct, there would be a boost in the number of TVET providers, both
government and non-government (from 13 to 267) as well as number of TVET trainees from
3935 to 13,852, that is an increase of over 250%. This is a very positive initiative.
Besides, the geographic coverage of TVET by government and non-government providers is
extremely fragmented. The enrolment figures in Table 10 below show the geographic

misalignment. The enrolment data (both formal and non-formal) shows that some 55% of total
enrolment is located in Central Equatoria, comprising almost 31% of all the centres located in
this area.
In Juba, most recounted issues such as inability to afford the training tuition, power problems
and lack of seriousness of instructors as strong challenges faced when they attended the VT.
Transportation to and from school is also a consideration with one stating it cost her 1,500 SSP a
week.1 All participants said that it reflects 30% of their income.
Majority of TVET service provision is currently being implemented by non-government actors,
which do not necessarily coordinate with the government.2 Furthermore, there are limited
opportunities for individuals to undertake TVET via non-institutional classroom/workshop
provision. The availability of work-based learning and apprenticeships is limited in scope.3

3.5 NUMBER OF TVET STUDENTS PER LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND GENDER

The targets of TVET enrolment as one respondent put it are as follows:-4
Pre-employment Training
o Youth who have completed the first or second cycle of formal education and are
preparing for their first employment
In-service training and re-training
o Workers in the informal or formal sectors (public and private) who want to upgrade
or change their professions
o Job-seekers including those who lost employment due to radical changes in
technology or closing down of economic establishments

Social Dimension
o People with disability
o People who are disadvantaged in the labour market due to their geographical location
(e.g. rural or nomadic people)
o Those who have been displaced and are unemployed (e.g. people from conflict
affected areas and demobilized soldiers
o Older workers who are at a disadvantage due to long unemployment periods and
protracted wars in South Sudan.
o Out of school children whose populations reaches 2.2 before COVID 19 and 4.8 with
the coming of the COVID 19 pandemic.
With respect to the number of students enrolled in TVET courses, roughly two thirds were
enrolled in government schools in 2015 (source: ESA 2016:49). According to the National
Education Census extract 2018 (extract of key indicators), the total number of TVET students in
2018 was 3,935 (2,957 for formal TVET) and 978 (for informal TVET), of whom 62% were
males and the remaining 38% females (Table 11 below). It is also important to note that
provision of formal TVET is unevenly distributed with 60% of the students enrolled for formal
TVET coming from Jubek State (former Central Equatoria) and the remaining from 4 other
states.1

As far as government expenditure is concerned, a cost of 337 SSP per student (about 5 times
lower than for secondary school and very low compared to international standards) was spent on
TVET as per Table 12 below.
Table 9: Public Unit costs by level of education, 2013/14

It should also be underlined that the total number of students enrolled on TVET courses was only
4.6% of the total secondary students’ enrolment. This figure must be increased substantially.
Egypt, for example, has more than 130 agricultural high schools distributed across the country,
offering 3-5 year courses on both the theoretical and practical aspects of agriculture, while
Ethiopia has some 25 agricultural TVET colleges, which integrate agriculture with a broader set
of literacy and life skills for rural people (Robinson-Pant, 2016).2
It is interesting to underline though that approximately a quarter of youth in every location (a
total of 46 out of 180) except Bor have received vocational training (VT) in the past.1

Roughly 33.5% of the students enrolled on informal TVET were females and 22% studied
tailoring in 2018 as per Table 13 below. Surprisingly, agriculture as a field of training is not
there.2 Yet, it must be underlined that more than 50% of South Sudanese are employed in
Agriculture. Hence there is a need to attract and train many more youth in agriculture.

Figures from NGOs are not readily available. Yet they provide training to many youth though
not much information is available on the details of the training offered. For example,
EMPOWER Consortium has trained 5540 youth (Jan 2018 to date) with TVET services –
trainings.
Table 10: No. of informal TVET students by gender, new state and vocational training

Source: National Education Statistics 2018

When asked about the targets of TVET enrolment aimed at in the years to come, the different
respondents to the questionnaire came up with the following:-

• SSDO-VTI is targeting to enroll 600 students by 2023 as it expects ex-combatants and

returnees.
• 100 trainees
• The representative of the Ministry of Labour stated that they aim at 1000 trainees per year
• This project ends in December 2020. Plans for continuity have not been firmed up yet.
• One respondent mentioned the figure of 50% of the national youth population

According to the General Education Strategic Plan 2017-22, the potential demand for certified
TVET learning is enormous:-1
 More than 600,000 youth (aged 14-17) people estimated to be out-of-school, which
includes IDPs
 A significant number of military forces who will be demobilized during the transition
period after the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity.
 Refugees upon repatriation.
3.6 EQUAL ACCESS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
“TVET contributes towards the promotion of understanding and respect for human rights;
inclusion and equity; gender equality and cultural diversity; and to the fostering of a desire and
capacity for lifelong learning and learning to live together, all of which are essential to social and
economic participation and to the realization of lasting peace, responsible citizenship, and
sustainable development.”2
South Sudan’s population is young and growing at a remarkable pace. The population of children
under 18 years is currently estimated to be 6.2 million (2018), which amounts to 48 per cent of
the population. It is experiencing a demographic transition that presents an enormous opportunity
and challenge. Specifically, the size of the economically active population is increasing relative
to that of the non-working population.3

Besides, school dropouts, people living in the rural areas, people with special needs, and
unskilled people who are already in the work need TVET for either developing employable skills
or upgrading their skills to become more efficient and productive. As per Figure 8 above, TVET
should be open to anybody irrespective of his level of educational attainment. In addition, it must
also be free from any bias including gender, ethnic and religious affiliation.

Four out of five South Sudanese live in rural areas. Remote locations are normally devoid of
basic social services and hence have elevated levels of vulnerabilities, which are most
pronounced in children and women.4
In addition, South Sudan is prone to disasters and a lot of emergencies that disrupt the skills
development activities. The emergency issues that affect TVET delivery include the
implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan,
which has occasioned a deluge of returnees from the IDP camps, POCs and refugees. All the
categories are in need of skills for supporting their livelihood. There are also the ex-combatants,
the demobilised child soldiers and women who were associated with armed conflict, whose
issues are currently being addressed by DDR commission and the Ministry of Defence and
Veterans Affairs. The other serious emergencies are the annual devastating floods and droughts.
The experience of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, has also brought to the fore the need for
resilience against health challenges, including the Ebola epidemic that commonly occurs in the
neighbouring countries.

According to the UNESCO rapid assessment, the GESP came forward with different positive
objectives including attention to access, improving infrastructure with attention to excluded
populations by non-formal means and expanding both the numbers of trainers and sites of
delivery.

The goal was to “promote relevant and quality non-formal and formal post-primary technical and
vocational education and training that is governed by a unified and efficient TVET system and
that provides nationally and globally competitive human resources while stressing gender equity
and inclusiveness” (MoGEI, 2017:46), and “In order to increase equitable access to vocational
education and post-primary TVET education by 2021, it will be necessary to expand TVET
opportunities throughout the country. These new institutions will be fenced to ensure the safety
and security of learners, TVET personnel, and the TVET equipment.”1

Most of the VTCs and work places do not have clear safety standard operating procedures –no
safety officers, absence of first aid boxes, and absence of safety protocols, the buildings are set
up with little attention to safety measures - doors opening from the inside instead of opening
from the outside. Yet, safety is key for success of a TVET program. Gender mainstreaming and
issues surrounding the needs of learners with “special needs” are not seriously being addressed
by the TVET centres. In most of the TVET centres the buildings as well as toilets do not
consider the learners who have special needs. No designated changing rooms for female learners.
There is no gender focal person employed in the TVET centres and as a result of this, in most
cases the gender issues are not well taken care of and included in the design if the projects and
programs.2
Table 11: Targeted access as per the General Education Strategic Plan 2017-2022

Appropriate measures must be taken to increase access to TEVET at large and ensuring
inclusiveness and sustainability, ensuring the equitable participation of women and other
marginalised groups in skills development training. The TVET system of the RSS must strive for
social inclusion by increasing overall access to relevant formal, non-formal and informal
learning opportunities for all target groups, while ensuring equality of access to all groups.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) must be introduced to assess the competencies of all those
who have not been able to go through the formal system of TVET. The goal is to issue RPL
candidates with a certificate of competencies which could eventually lead to an award
qualification by topping up whatever missing competencies they display. RPL is a process of
acknowledging previous learning that occurred in various contexts irrespective of where, when
and how it was acquired. It is also a sine quo non for promoting lifelong learning because of its
potential in recognising skills acquired in non-formal and informal settings. It is being proposed
that one of the functions of the Assessment and Certification Body is to recognise and validate
competencies for purposes of certification obtained outside the formal education and training
systems through the RPL which will be called upon to become a major player in assessing and
certifying in the years to come
It must be underlined that South Sudan also has an Alternative Education System (AES) in place,
a system specifically for students who either have never accessed education before or have
dropped out. The parallel system includes apprenticeships, mentoring and other informal means
of obtaining skills.1

3.7 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

This section briefly mentions how some countries are expanding their TVET system. These
countries are from the East African Community where South Sudan is also a member. The case
of Rwanda has been mention as it is also a post conflict country and South Sudan has the
opportunity to learn a lot from their TVET system reforms.
In Rwanda the target in the National Strategy for Transformation (2017-2024) is to increase the
number of students attending TVET schools to 60% by 2024 from 31.1% in 2017. The plan is
to continue investment in TVET, with the aim of ensuring 60% of students leaving 9YBE access
high quality, demand-driven, competence-based TVET programmes in TSSs or VTCs.

Kenya has taken a series of measures to enhance its TVET system such as the establishment of
the:-
 TVET Authority, which accredits and carries out quality assurance for TVET training
and educational institutions,
 TVET CDACC which develops curricula and carries out assessment and certification;
 TVET funding board to support resource mobilisation and management for the sector,
 Enactment of the Kenya National Qualifications Framework Act, which established the
Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) in 2014,

 Building and equipping a number of TVET institutions across the country to promote
access and equity.
 Support TVET students through government funding and creating access to higher
education loans.
 Implementing competence-based education and training (CBET) for the sector

The end result is an increase in the TVET institutions by 26.6 per cent in 2018 and 10.3 per cent
in 2019 and an increase of students from 363,884 students in TVET institutions in the country by
end of 2018 to 430,598 in 2019. Female students accounted for 42.8 per cent of the population.
These successes have been achieved in Kenya as a result of reforming the TVET sector.
3.8 Key Policy Recommendations for Access and Equity
Improving access, equity and gender equality‟ is a key policy area that needs a clear direction on
what the National TVET policy should focus on. Currently many South Sudanese across the
different states and administrative areas are disadvantaged in accessing the TVET services
should they wish to do so. The available TVET facilities are not even equally distributed. 80% of
sub national governments are not having access to a government TVET facility. Investment in
TVET is expensive and the sector has not attracted many private investors. Many of the existing
TVET facilities are not operational. At the time of developing this policy Unity state, Upper
Nile, Ruweng, Abyei, Greater Pibor administrative area, Warapp, Lakes, Northern Bar El Gazal
and Western Bar El Gazal did not have a public TVET cente that was operational. Only Central
Equatoria- Juba, Eastern Equatoria Torit, Western Equatoria Yambio and Jonglei state Bor had
public TVET centers’ that were operational. Their programs were supported by UNDP,
UNIDO.AfDB and EMPOWER CONSORTIUM.

The nonexistence of public TVET facilities on the 9 Sub National Governments has led to the
increase in the number of those Not in Education and Employment and Training (NEET )

Despite the importance given to TVET since the beginning and the various recommendations in
the various policies of the MoGEI and MoLPSHRD, not much progress has been achieved. The
various policy measures have not been implemented so far. Many factors such as continuous
civil wars and shortage of finance have been the source of this traumatic situation. As mentioned
earlier, training facilities are few and located mostly in the capital city whilst the majority of the
population live in rural areas; hence very few students have access to TVET/VT/Skills
Development. Yet, TVET is being seen as THE means to help the youth of South Sudan develop
their skills to become employable and find a job or becoming self-employed, irrespective of
class, gender, age and disability. Training and skills development is pivotal towards capacity
development and empowerment among all South Sudanese especially the disadvantaged groups
of people.
In line with South Sudan Vision 2040, the country faces an urgent need for a labour force that is
educated and skilled in order to develop and diversify its economy.
MoGEI, other line ministries (including MoLPS, Youth, Animal Resources, Agriculture, Health,
Finance, Housing & Public Utilities, Petroleum, Industry & Mining, Commerce & Trade,
Telecommunications, Road, Wildlife & Tourism, Electricity, and Cooperative & Rural Develop)
and private providers are therefore offering a range of TVET options.
Therefore, an urgent necessity to increase capacity of access to TVET in South Sudan is
warranted. This expansion of TVET delivery facilities can be translated by (i) constructing new
TVET institutions, the rehabilitation of existing ones, and ensuring the maintenance of
infrastructure, (ii) promoting collaboration with employers in the delivery of TVET by devising
adequate incentives and (iii) making available appropriate financial support system for TVET
trainees to increase accessibility to TVET by the vulnerable segments of society. In addition,
given the high percentage of poverty in South Sudan, it is imperative that the TVET system be
inclusive and sustainable to help retrieve these vulnerable groups from that poverty trap.

However, given the spread of South Sudan and the diversity of its population and facilities in the
different parts of the country and the high cost involved in the design, development and delivery
of TVET, it would be important to carry out a mapping of industries, existing TVET centres, the
labour and skills demand, the availability of labour in the different parts of South Sudan and
come up with a matrix and find ways and means to efficiently and effectively match the existing
and emerging skills demand with quality TVET supply. A number of training centres can
eventually be identified in rural areas to become leading training centres. They can be provided
with fully equipped mobile training units that they can move from place to place, also
interchanging equipment depending on the needs of these areas.
The development of village/rural-based TVET institutions offering courses specific to local-
level/rural economies will be a key measure to provide increased opportunities for participation,
especially for girls in rural communities. Successful female role models will play an active role
in promoting the socio-economic returns of TVET to improve girls’ enrolment and motivation.

In addition, there is a negative perception that TVET is for the academic failures. This negative
mindset is spread across all the 10 states and the 3 administrative areas. This low class status
associated with TVET makes most people to dislike the TVET programs in South Sudan. In
some cases, when scholarships are given for TVET studies in other countries then people fail to
apply due to low class status already associated with the TVET activities.1
An intensive public awareness campaign is necessary to educate and sensitise communities about
the relevance of TVET and convince the youth both female and male of the importance of
attending the Training Centres and developing their competencies. Successful case studies could
be used to market the importance of TVET amongst youth and parents.
Compulsory careers guidance and counselling must be provided in all schools (public and
private) to provide information to youth about the advantages of TVET, to enable them to make
informed career choices, without gender stereotyping. Students should be well informed of the
opportunities that TVET can offer and how they must view TVET as an attractive pathway.
Advocate policies to improve enrolment of disadvantaged groups in TVET, promote provision of
and access to TVET special needs institutions, and facilitate capacity development of trainers in
TVET special needs institutions.
It is important to change the negative social perception of TVET and have a rebranding image of
TVET. Students should also have access to a variety of innovative, industry-led programmes,
where possible, that prepare them for the workplace. Centres of excellence should be established
for different trades/fields within urban areas. These centres can offer a higher level of training for
those who are interested in pursuing higher-level training or upgrading their skills.
Politicians must be requested to positively act and talk about TVETs. The TVET issues should
be articulated in both national state level assemblies as well as in the Council for traditional
authority leaderships and churches.
Hence the following recommendations follow:

Expand the delivery facilities of TVET in Technical secondary schools and VT colleges.
Establish at least one TVET centre of excellence in each state and the administrative areas, and
introduce a plan for expansion within the next five to 10 years for the establishment of a
vocational training centre in each of the 96 counties. The proposed expansion of TVET requires
ensuring that institutions comply with standards of infrastructure and resources are provided to
ensure quality learning outcomes (electricity,
(i) water, toilets and hand washing facilities). In order to provide sufficient places to meet
the demand, the emphasis will be on provision through both formal and informal
channels. However, the expansion must be accompanied by measures to ensure that
TVET programmes are both responsive to labour market needs and social and economic
development of South Sudan.

(ii) Revitalize and professionalise alternative modes of learning such as traditional

apprenticeship by providing training and incentives to the master craftsmen as it is a
means to improve the skills of large numbers of young people in rural sectors of the
economy.

(iii) Develop partnerships with private sector where possible to encourage them to invest
into TVET.

(iv) Offer a wider range of training programmes meeting the needs of the economy such
as Agri TVET, renewable energies, sustainability modules in TVET following
discussions with the stakeholders of the labour market.

(v) Advocate policies to improve enrolment of disadvantaged groups in TVET, promote

provision of and access to TVET special needs institutions, and facilitate capacity
development of trainers in TVET special needs institutions. Particular attention needs to
be paid to ensuring equity coverage that is, in rural and hard-to reach areas, youth with
disabilities, literate and illiterate, boys and girls, men and women, vulnerable groups and
refugees and provide incentives to attract potential students from the most vulnerable
groups as they are less likely to enrol in education and are more likely to drop out of
school.
 (vi) Enhance careers guidance and awareness programmes at national and states levels to
sensitise parents and students of the opportunities offered by TVET and alert employers
of the value added by TVET graduates.
(i) Raise awareness with respect to opportunities in TVET and change the negative social
perception of TVET through advocacy and rebranding.

(i) Introduce the recognition of prior learning approach to attract mature TVET students
having many years of practical field experience who are yet without recognised
qualifications. This will provide learners with the opportunities to learn at different
levels, depending on their needs. This will require the development of RPL policy to be
developed together with a guideline for implementing recognition of prior policy.

Ensure safety in TVET institutions and other learning settings for all students and teachers,
particularly females, who are the most vulnerable group. These institutions must cater to the
specific needs of the learners, particularly the needs of girls and people with physical disabilities.
All newly constructed facilities will meet universal design

(i) national accessibility standards, whilst any renovations will incorporate accessibility
needs.

(ii) Introduce innovative solutions/approaches to improve access, quality and relevance

especially those that rely on digital technology such as digitization of training programs,
establishment of smart classrooms in all TVET schools, ensure Internet connections in all
TVET schools, ensure penetration of ICT devices such as laptops, blended learning
comprising of both face-to-face and online learning.

(iii) Connect all TVET centres with a source of power whether solar and three phase
generator with a capacity to operate welding and carpentry machines. Of great e
importance will be to equip every TVET centre with internet connectivity.

(Xii) Support the establishment of modern state of the art TVET facilities across The 10
states and 3 Administrative areas as a way of increasing accessibility and equity in delivery of
TVET services. (This can be taken up in Operational Plan)

(Xiii) Support the establishment of South Sudan TVET instructors training college by
either creating it at Juba MTC or Equipping Munuki VTC as a National TVET
teachers/Instructors training college. (This goes under Quality; already there)

(XIV) Make provisions for access to skills development opportunities in rural areas and
informal economy, for women and persons with disability and economically weaker sections of
the society including the agricultural and pastoral communities through mobile TVET delivery
mode. (Operational Plan)
(XV) Strengthen the support to DDR and Ministry of veteran affairs to promote
opportunities for skilling ex combatants, WAAC and CAAC (OP)
(XVI) Support Ministry of Gender to establish a holistic skills development centre in
partnership with women empowerment centre’s across the 10 states and 3 Administrative areas
and where possible establish street children skills development and rehabilitation centre across
the 10 states and 3 Administrative centre’s. This will facilitate rehabilitation of the growing
number of street children’s populations across the states and counties. (OP)

(XVII) Integrate ECDE, trauma awareness, reproductive health and psychosocial support
services to all learners at the TVET centers’ (OP)

(XVIII) Identify active NGOs at sub national Government and encourage them to work
together with the SNG in establishing state level TVET sector working group which should be
meeting on a monthly basis. The same working group should be linked with the National; TVET
working group that is already established in Juba. Jongley state has initiated one with the support

of EMPOWER consortium through NRC. The same model should be emulated across the
country and improved. (OP)

(XIX) Support the ONG to establish a mobile TVET facility in each state and administrative
area so as to increase the TVET accessibility to rural people especially the hard to reach people
in cattle camps, fishing camps , Agricultural fields, oil fields and artisanal mining, dairy (OP)

(XX) Support the development of TVET sector gender mainstreaming and Inclusive policy
in the Ministry of Gender (OP)

21 Support the state government through the youth or women centres in the Establishment
of Business Development incubation centers for developing skills related business ideas and
work with the mobile companies and financial sector to develop a South Sudan financial
inclusion mobile app that meets the needs of the trades person and their groups.(OP)

22. Provide startup kit and compulsory entrepreneurship and business skills Training to all
TVET graduates to enable them start their business upon completion of the training. (OP)

23 Promote Public Private Partnership in the delivery of TVET survices across the country
and strengthen the capacity of the directorate of private sector engagement at the Ministry of
trade and industry as well as chamber of commerce and industry to actively engage on TVET
activities. (Part already covered and part to be under OP)

24 Strengthen market system development that is linked with TVET centers and TVET
graduates and the system should be able to provide for TVET apprenticeship to all TVET
learners’ within the state. The policy recognizes that without adequate private sector business
development along the labor market skills at each SNG there will be challenge for apprenticeship
which is a requirement for the training before one is graduated. This should also be supported
with the development of National apprenticeship guidelines. (OP)
25. Strengthen opportunities for alternative education that is linked with TVET centers so to
promote literacy and numeracy skills which are key to the success of lifelong learning and
developing relevant marketable skills (OP)
26. Develop Innovative delivery models such as decentralized delivery, flexible Modular
training, mobile training, distance learning, e-learning and web-based learning and blended
learning and provide for recognition of prior learning, digital credentials and credit transfer
from non-formal or informal to a formal learning system across the country. (Already
covered above)

27.Strengthen the use of the three systems of TVET in the delivery of skills Development
across South Sudan and provide for their integration and linkage between them namely
formal TVET, Non formal TVET and Informal TVET. (already covered)
28.Develop TVET branding strategies that eliminate gender stereotyping in Vocational
courses and encourage Women “participation in non-traditional occupations, including
existing and emerging technological fields. (already covered)
29.Strengthen Proactive measures that overcome barriers and facilitate participation of
Women such as hostel facilities, baby care, skills development feeding programs,
scholarships, transport, training materials, startup kits and loaning facility for TVET skills
graduates. (OP)
30.Encourage the expansion of the facilities for people with disabilities and providing
reasonable accommodation that enables them to access the facility through suitable
transportation and disability friendly building design. (Already covered)
31.In making sure that the needs of women, youth, elderly, disabled are taken care of during the
design and development of their target programs, the promoters and the government will
ensure that they use the disability lead, women lead and youth lead labor market assessment
in forming their programs of offer. (OP)
32. National government and SNGs authorities to put systems in place to improve security
situation and develop infrastructure both for roads and TVET facilities to as to improve on
the equity and accessibility.
33.Mechanisms for monitoring the participation of females, the elderly, youths and persons with
disabilities in education and training will be put in place in order to ensure that the objectives
of the policy are met.
4.0 SECTION FOUR: POLICY DIRECTION ON QUALITY AND
RELEVANCE

4.1 INTRODUCTION
The quality structure of TVET in a country is an equivalent reflection of its TVET system
producing training which is responsive to the needs of the industry and self-employed in the
labour market, hence resulting in the employability of graduates.1 And the mission of the
National TVET Policy of the RSS (fifth Draft) 2018, is rightly to “ensure open and equitable
access to high-quality lifelong technical and vocational education and training, of an
internationally recognized standard, through the efficient and cost-effective use of resources,
supporting economic diversification and growth.”2

TVET quality depends upon many factors viz quality of facilities (buildings & equipment),
relevance of the curriculum, quality and competencies of trainers, quality of management of the
Training Centres, link with the labour market, responsiveness of the TVET graduates, quality of
the trainees, appropriate funding.
In the RSS, lack of common standards and a formal certification system, extremely low literacy
rates, language barriers and a general failure to systematically determine local demand for skills
have all impacted negatively the quality of training.3 Some other shortcomings are:-4
 Lack of transparency and low quality of TVET offering, duplication of programs and efforts
are major constraints in TVET implementation.
 Not all occupational requirements in all segments of the labour market, targeting all
population groups are being addressed
 No formally recognized TVET certification is available for learning outcomes achieved
through non-formal and informal modes of learning or training. *
 Formal TVET was concentrated on primary school leavers. Non-formal TVET offers are
available to other selected target groups.

*Certification is important in the TVET sector as it provides validity and recognition for
beneficiaries of their acquired skills. However, the provision of certification is fragmented with
each implementing agency (including non-government actors) certifying based on their own
programmatic administration.5
Precisely, one of the key objectives of the General Education Strategic Plan (GESP) 2017-22
include elements of quality enhancement, namely:
“Improve the quality and relevance of TVET by revising existing curriculum to include updated
knowledge and skills, especially with regard to science and technology, based on a newly created
National Vocational Qualifications structure. This structure will specify the requirements for
entry into the formal secondary technical system.

4.2 CURRICULUM
There is no national TVET curriculum. Curricula vary across TVET/VT/skills development
centres with little standardization.1 One concern about the link between TVET/VT/skills
development and labour markets is that, in South Sudan, “there are many stakeholders offering
skill courses related to a perceived, rather than a ‘real’ labour market.”
In fact, course offerings are largely supply-driven due to the widespread notion that any and all
types of trainings are desirable where provision is so limited2/3. The next most common methods
for determining course offerings depend on funding, while a few also look at the skills in
demand in the labour market.4 Not really responsive to the labour market.5
The lack of effective synergy between the formal and informal systems is a concern with non-
government actors implementing their own curricula. There is also concern that the curricula
may not be labour market responsive and ignores the needs of various populations including at-
risk youth (including those at-risk in becoming involved in conflict), rural/remote communities
and women/girls.6
The surveyed VTCs primarily depend on guidance by INGOs/NGOs/UN agencies in order to
determine their course offerings, which means their methodologies may differ in their robustness
and accuracy. This is compounded by the general lack of tracking and tracing of ongoing skill
deficit in the local market to inform the selection of VT courses being offered by VT providers.7
In addition, as mentioned in the UNESCO Rapid Assessment of TVET 2018, there is an
excessive provision of skills related to carpentry, tailoring, plumbing and services, which could
suggest that some serious review is necessary if labour market supply is to be met by limited
demand.8
However, the government has made efforts with the support of development partners in drafting
curricula and frameworks under the MoLPSHRD and MoGEI with extensive reference for the
need to enhance quality via programming, certification and more deliberate labour market
linkages. The programmes and curriculum need to be relevant (including conflict-sensitive) and
also reflect the needs of various populations including rural/remote, overage out of school
children, girls/women, IDPs/refugees, demobilized persons, youth, etc. (Rapid Assessment of
TVET 2018 page 8).
A series of skills were identified by the UN Joint Programme on Youth Employment and the ILO
in 2013 and they are still valid these days. It recommended the following:1

• General farming practices and growing vegetables to increase agricultural

output should be a top priority. Most produce is imported with consumers
dissatisfied with price and shortages. In particular practices associated with
row planting and irrigation techniques necessary.
• Processing groundnuts, sesame and Shea nuts to produce oil – worthy of
investigation - is a relatively low-tech process which will open up a new
market and add value to a familiar crop.
• Plumbing and electricians are not in high demand due to the scarcity of people
who have access to indoor plumbing and electricity. This is compounded by
the general lack of tracking and tracing of ongoing skill deficit in the local
market to inform the selection of VT courses being offered by VT providers.
 • General Appliance Repair relevant to the needs of larger urban labour
markets.
• Tailoring – Not a service area with large potential for growth. Most people
prefer to buy imported second-hand clothes from Uganda and Kenya rather
than use local tailors for the majority of their clothing.
• Livestock and Poultry - Training on using livestock and poultry to produce a
range of products for the market, rather than for own consumption should be
given greater attention.
• Catering both for restaurants and for local street foods such as ‘rolexes’,
‘mandazi’ and ‘thamia’ should be a key area of focus- It is the most-used
service, and has high levels of dissatisfaction for reasons ranging from price to
hygiene and packaging.
The study also called English lessons to be offered in conjunction with vocational and skills
training programme to respond to language barriers, which make it difficult for people to find
work and or grow their businesses. (Rapid Assessment of TVET 2018 page 47). There was also a
view that soft skills were necessary. The basic ‘work skills’ – punctuality, work ethic and
diligence - were deemed needed (Rapid Assessment of TVET 2018 page 47).
Indeed, to be relevant and responsive to a rapidly changing labour market, the TVET curriculum
should be up-to-date and keep a proper balance between generic learning and social skills, and
specific vocational skills (UNESCO, 2012). And as mentioned earlier, greater emphasis must be
laid on TVET training in Agriculture as it is the biggest employer in South Sudan.

Design and delivery of curriculum must be informed by industry’s needs and trends as well as by
international trends in order to integrate updated and modern training skills on sustainable
development, on business support, and social and life skills. Industry and TVET providers should
collaborate throughout the different processes of curriculum design, implementation and review.
Employability modules such as Entrepreneurship, green concept, communication skills, and
basic digital skills must be effectively integrated in TVET curricula and that trainers are trained
in use of entrepreneurial pedagogies.

Eventually the curricula must be competency based delivered and assessed. Trainers must be
trained to be able to deliver Competency Based Training (CBT) as it entails a completely
different pedagogy. Competency Based Assessment is the process of collecting evidence and
making judgments as to whether competency has been achieved by the applicant at a given point
of time. The process involves the collection of evidence to ascertain that a candidate can
demonstrate the application of knowledge, skills and attitudes specified in the National
Competency Standard. Again, here Assessors must be trained and registered to ensure quality of
the outputs. The same Assessors can RPL candidates in their particular trades in which they are
registered.
In addition, a substantial increase in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
(STEM) participation will be needed if South Sudan is to make the most of the opportunities
presented by 4IR and drive transformation. For example, the Africa 2063 Agenda Framework
Document sets a target of 70 percent of all high-school graduates going to tertiary education,
with 70 percent of those graduating in science and technology related subjects.1
African college graduates with a STEM degree represent a mere 2% of the continent’s total
university age population but are increasingly needed across a wide variety of industries (WEF,
The Future of jobs and skills in Africa, 2017c).2 STEM delivery, however, can be expensive and
so partnerships with other countries, donors and the private sector to share expertise and bring in
financing to improve STEM performance is imperative. This would also help trainees make the
transition towards digital skills. However, Providers should consider how to integrate digital
skills throughout their curriculum.

4.3 CERTIFICATION
Certification is another issue. In principle, it is provided by the relevant ministry with whom
particular programmes are undertaken. The most common certification mechanism was
undertaken in association with the MoLIR with various implementing actors with qualification
already defined up to Level 1 for a two-year programme which requires a primary grade eight (8)
certificate. While for shorter courses, an entry exam is an alternative. However, there is
considerable flexibility, given the need for customisation by different funding entities.1

As mentioned above, each government body provides its own certification for particular
programmes. Some multi/bilateral agencies and NGOs collaborate with the MoGEI for
coordination and certification purposes only and not in other areas such as curriculum. For
MoGEI, shorter programmes sometimes allow entry into longer formal programmes, but for this
ministry, the requirement for formal primary level certification (or equivalent) is needed.2 For

many other NGOs or multi/bilateral programmes, certifications are issued by the implementing
organisation itself.
This may create confusion as to the quality of certificates being offered since there are no
standards defined to certify the learners’ skills and too many types of certificates on the labour
market. A National Qualifications Framework (NQF) would be an important tool to resolve this
problem. The work of the NQA cuts across the basic, TVET and universities to bring better
harmonization of qualifications across the various levels of the education and training. However,
given the resources necessary to develop a NQF, a National TVET Qualifications Framework
(NTQF) could be designed and developed in the first instance and eventually a National
Qualifications Framework. The TVET Qualifications Framework will provide a structure for the
TVET qualifications.
In addition, a National Assessment and Certification and Awarding body must be set up and
the other existing assessment bodies phased out to harmonise the assessment and certification
and have only one South Sudanese TVET qualification based on the CBET approach. However,
adequate standards must be developed for the recruitment of assessors to ensure cohesion and
quality in the results obtained.

4.4 TRAINERS
This section gives the information on number of trainers available in South Sudan as per the
National Education statistics of 2018. It gives information on all kinds of teachers that are
employed by the ministry of General Education and Instruction.
Table 14: Population and gender of teachers

Source: National Education Statistics 2018

Table 15: Number and % of teachers per school type and professional training

Source: National Education Statistics 2018

Tables above show that there were only 119 TVET Trainers in 2018 for some 3935 trainees
making a pupil teacher ratio of 33.0 to 1. Over 90% of those trainers were males. The negative
observation is that only 56 (46%) of the trainers have been trained and 49% have not been
trained. According to the General Education Strategic Plan 2017-2022 the % of qualified TVET
teachers (i.e. those with certificates or diplomas) was 66%.1 Such a situation cannot produce
quality TVET graduates.

Table 16: Type of training possessed by TVET qualified Trainers

Qualifications Number of
Trainers
1.0 Bachelor of education and above 16
2.0 2 years pre-service 3
3.0 4 years in service 11
4.0 Diploma in Education 26
Total 56
Source: National Education Statistics 2018
Only about half of the instructors can manage writing and speaking in English, while a few
cannot at all. Most instructors and managers have indicated that they are capable of performing
those traditional VT activities like preparation, conduction and examination but lack modern
skills like application of ICT and audio visual aids, career counselling and providing feedback.1
Trainers/facilitators are required to have one of the following to become certified by the
ministry: (1) a degree from a vocational teacher or trainer college; (2) teaching degree and at
least two (2) years of trade experience; five (5) years of trade experience; or professional
certificate and a completion of a recognized training trainers’ course.1

A Training Needs Assessment conducted in Juba pointed out a large number of the instructors
were at the start of their career and lacked experience. This could also be because teachers are
drawn towards employment in other sectors as noted in UNESCO’s rapid assessment: “the
fragmentation in teacher/facilitator/instructor remuneration has also caused a workforce shortage
for the government as many teachers/facilitators/instructors pursue employment with other
actors.2
Teachers/facilitators/instructors’ policies as they relate to TVET in South Sudan exist; however,
implementation has been fragmented due to the conflict and economic situation. MoLPSHRD
has a trainer training facility in Juba, and MoGEI has six (6) teacher training institutes (TTI)
throughout South Sudan. While only three (3) of the six (6) were reported to be operational
under MoGEI none of them are dedicated to TVET. They are, rather, to train teachers for
education instruction in general under the MoGEI. Many stakeholders have mentioned the great
concern of teacher/facilitator quality as instruction varies considerably.

Precisely, another one of the key objectives of the General Education Strategic Plan (GESP)
2017-22 include elements of quality enhancement concerns “Expanding qualified TVET
instructors/teachers and upgrading those currently in the system. A training programme for new
and existing TVET instructors/teachers is to be designed, with professional profiles needed.
Unqualified TVET instructors in the formal TVET secondary schools will sit for a certifying
national examination.” Teacher training in gender-responsive pedagogy will allow teachers to
respond positively to gender differences to create a more level playing field for girls and boys in
regard to reaching their full potential. School clubs will also be used as an outlet for gender-
awareness activities and to systematically address comprehensive sexual education.

The need for competent TVET trainers was affirmed as per the African Union (AU) Plan of
Action for the Second Decade of Education (2006-2015)1 which aims to:-

• Revitalize, modernise and harmonise TVET in Africa

• Position TVET programmes and TVET institutions in Africa as vehicles for regional
cooperation and integration as well as socioeconomic development, and
• Mobilise all stakeholders in a concerted effort to create synergies and share
responsibilities for the renewal and harmonisation of TVET policies, programmes and
strategies in Africa.

Besides, in the UNESCO-UNEVOC, (2015) Final Report containing of the Recommendation

concerning Technical and Vocational Education and Training, section 35 is dedicated to TVET
Trainers. It made mention of the importance that policies and frameworks should be developed
to ensure qualified and high-quality TVET staff, including teachers, instructors, trainers, tutors,
managers, administrators, extension agents, guidance staff and others.
Consequently the Government should see to it to:-
(i) Increase capacity for training of trainers and review the Initial Training of
Trainers Programme to better prepare and equip trainers to handle new emerging
situations. It is it is important to understand how vocational teachers and in-company
trainers should be educated and trained so that they can act as agents of change, that
is, how can they best implement the objectives described in the TVET Policy and
what is the ideal didactical approach. All TVET instructors must have appropriate
levels of skills and competencies to deliver the curriculum.
(ii) Strengthen the systems for continuous professional development, management,
and support of TEVET trainers.
Ensure public trainers get more attractive terms of service and a decent salary in order to
raise their status and morale. Management, welfare including insurance cover, housing and risks
and hardships allowance as well deployment of teachers
(i) must be improved in order to attract and retain high quality teachers in the teaching
profession.
(ii) Recruit and retain the best trainers. Increase the percentage of female TVET
trainers
(iii) Increase the number of teachers trained in gender-responsive pedagogy
(iv) Include a component on inclusive education in the Teacher Training Institutes
(TTIs)

In this light, standards of accreditation for trainers, assessors, moderators, and examiners must be
developed.
Pending, foreign experts can be hired to close the gaps. Their role is to capacitate South
Sudanese trainers so that they can implement new TVET programs based on occupational
standards. By doing so, trainers and trainees are able to contribute towards transferring
technology to the industry.

4.5 FACILITIES
The quality of the facilities, namely the classrooms, often do not meet acceptable standards. As
of 2018, there were only 25 classrooms with 17 (88%) permanent and the remaining 8 ones were
open air classrooms1. This makes a pupil classroom ratio of 231.5 which is extremely high.
Besides, some TVET training centres were not even equipped with drinking water as per Table
3.10 of the National Educational Census 20182 though only 8 out 10 TVET centres answered to
the census. TVET and higher education institutions must have sufficient modern infrastructure,
facilities and resources.

4.6 QUALITY ASSURANCE FRAMEWORK

A series of factors including a lack of common standards and a formal certification system,
extremely low literacy rates among participants, language barriers, a general failure to
systematically determine local demand for skills, the TVET training facilities as well as lack of
adequate competent trainers have all impacted on the quality of training being offered in the
RSS. Necessary action must therefore be initiated to ensure quality and relevance of the TVET
system to demolish the current negative image of TVET in South Sudan and this calls for
establishing a quality assurance mechanism which aims to raise awareness among TVET
institutions of their past and potential achievements and to improve the quality of their services.
The Quality Assurance Framework ensures quality assurance of the following1: -
(i) The product through the accreditation of achievement standards (such as educational and/or
competency standards as well as certification of a qualification);
(ii)The education and training providers through registration processes based upon their
infrastructure, financial probity and health, staff qualifications and experience, management
systems, delivery systems, and student support systems;
(iii) The monitoring and auditing of provider processes and outcomes, including student learning
and employment outcomes as well as student and user satisfaction levels;

The control, supervision or monitoring of assessment, certification and graduation procedures

and outcomes;
(v) The provider or system wide evaluations of quality, including evaluations by external
agencies; and
(vi) The provision of public information on the performance of providers such as program and
component completions, student and employer satisfaction.

“It has to be emphasized that quality cuts across all aspects of the TVET system and it is
imperative that the quality at source concept in the manufacturing sector, that is quality at every
instance of the system, be adopted for it to be efficient and effective. In turn, quality assurance
must see to it that all the inputs to the TVET system are up to scratch and as such standards must
be set up to assure the quality of a series of input factors, namely inter alia, quality training
providers, quality trainers and training, quality equipment and facilities, quality trainees and
quality information input.”1 There also needs to be a focus on enhancing the quality of teaching
and learning at all levels of the system to ensure that youth are leaving TVET providers with
relevant skills. A strong, vibrant and inclusive TVET system is critical to national development.

“Registration of training institutions, accreditation of courses and the installation of quality

management system are the three main regulatory tools used for assuring relevance and quality
of TVET provision.”2

Regarding the TVET Training Centres, adequate financial resources must be earmarked for the
revitalization of the TVET institutions through adequate investments in the state-of-the-art
technical equipment, modern workshop, computer labs and ICT infrastructure, in all the TVET
colleges. Obviously, a moratorium must be given to existing training centres to register
themselves. The list of registered centres must be made available to all relevant stakeholders and
the public at large.
4.7 CONCLUSION
The current skills development initiatives taking place in South Sudan are driven by forces of
demand and supply. The current labour market assessment was done in 2018 and does not cover
the entire country. It was done during the 28 states and at that time there was conflict and
insecurity hence most places were not accessible. A critical analysis shows that the current
labour market assessment was conducted on four states namely central Equatoria, Jonglei,
Northern Bar El Gazal and western Bar el gazal. This cannot be taken to be representative of the
10 states and 3 administrative areas. There are skills mismatch in some trainings being offered at
the Vocational Training Centers.
To be in line with the Overall Objective as stated above which is “to develop an effectively
coordinated and harmonized TVET system that is capable of producing inclusive, quality,
creative, adaptable, employable , innovative, skilled and globally competitive human resource
with the right attitudes and values required for employment, competitiveness, sustainable
growth and prosperity of the various sectors of the economy and to achieve poverty reduction,
decentralization, social culture and economic development.” a quality TVET system is
warranted. For this to happen, South Sudan must be prepared to come up with a series of new
initiatives viz:

• Develop and implement TVET Quality Assurance guidelines to inter alia, assure
quality in the delivery of TVET at all levels
• Set up a TVET Quality Assurance Committee to ensure the quality of TVET being
provided by TVET institutions through the various accreditation committees (see section
3.3) )
• Develop and maintain a Republic of South Sudan National TVET Qualifications
Framework (RSSNTQF) which can eventually be part of the South Sudan National
Qualifications Framework (SSNQF) as per section 6.1.9. It is understood that the MoGEI
has a draft NQF, which it has not yet been finalized and/or adopted1. Ultimately the NQF
must be aligned with that of the east African region. However, the cost to be incurred
therein must be weighed with the importance for RSS to be aligned with the East African
countries.
• Review and update curricula and ensure that they are in line with the existing and
emerging needs of the labour market and aligned with the NTQF whilst ascertaining the
same quality of training as far as possible with the use of harmonised curricula
throughout the country. It is important to have the unflinching commitment of the various
ITACs in this process. Ensure that the development and use of a national competency-
based curriculum for all the trades, levels and systems of training is being adhered to.
Providers should consider how to integrate digital skills throughout their curriculum.
Make it mandatory for all curricula to have integrated therein employability skills such as
entrepreneurship and soft skills such as attitude, communications skills.
• Develop and improve linkage with labour market and stakeholders with a view to
enhance responsiveness of the TVET being offered to the labour markets
• Increase capacity for training of trainers and review the Initial Training of Trainers
Programme to better prepare and equip trainers to handle new emerging situations. All
TVET instructors must have appropriate levels of skills and competencies to deliver the
curriculum.
o Strengthen the systems for continuous professional development, management,
and support of TEVET trainers.
o Ensure public trainers get more attractive terms of service and a decent salary in
order to raise their status and morale. Management, welfare including insurance
cover, housing and risks and hardships allowance as well deployment of teachers
must be improved in order to attract and retain high quality teachers in the
teaching profession.
o Recruit and retain the best trainers. Increase the percentage of female TVET
trainers
o Increase the number of teachers trained in gender-responsive pedagogy

o Include a component on inclusive education in the Teacher Training Institutes

(TTIs)
• Enhance quality of TVET graduates to be readily absorbed into the labour market
• Encourage, motivate and nurture innovation and creativity
• Improve training environment by upgrading and equipping TVET training facilities
appropriately in accordance with international standards
• Boost the social image of TVET
• The policy recommends for the need of regularly conducting a national labour
Market assessment once after every five years and a rapid labour market assessment in
the target area of state or administrative area as a confirmatory of the labor market need
to justify for the need of the selected trades.
• The policy emphasizes on the importance of collaboration among the Government,
training providers, employers, sector skills councils, and regional and local authorities
to identify the short-, medium- and long-term skills needs of the economy. It further
recommend active engagement of the Ministry of labour at both the National and state
level active engagement of employers, industry and communities with tertiary education
organisations to improve labour market information system (LMIS). Where possible
South Sudan should be supported by TVET sector development partners to develop
sector specific LMIS both at the national and at the SNG levels.

 Strengthen the formation of sector skills councils or occupations advisory committee

with a mandate of conducting regular market analysis and trends in their respective
trades in partnership with the Engineering council of South Sudan and use such
information to design the specific trades competency based curriculum and industry
based occupational standards.

 Rebrand TVET sector to make it attractive to everyone and remove the notion that it is
the sector meant for those who are academically weak.
 The development of South Sudan TVET documents must from time to time be
informed by the trends in the neighboring countries, East African Community, IGAD
TVET policy framework, Djibouti declaration on Education for Refugees, African Union,
UNESCO and ILO globally recommended trends and standards,
 Support TVET centers in conducting tracer studies every year to establish the
career destination of their graduates and challenges that they are doing.
 Encourage every TVET institution to form an alumni association of its TVET
graduates and keep their contacts in terms of whats up, mobile numbers and email
address and organize an annual alumni party at the training institution. The annual
meeting of the successful members of the trades’ alumni will encourage more people to
take up the trade and promote relevance of the TVET.

 Support the National TVET Authority of South Sudan to develop the National
TVET Qualification framework that is aligned with the regional, EAC , IGAD and
global best practices. This will ensure labor mobility of TVET graduates from South
Sudan across the region and make them globally competitive.
 5.0 SECTION FIVE: POLICY DIRECTIONS ON SUSTAINABLE
TVET FINANCING

5.1 INTRODUTION
Financing is one of the most important policy areas in managing the TVET sector. It is the life
blood for realization of all the proposed activities. Current government participation in financing
TVET sector in South Sudan is very minimal. The TVET line ministries are not having a budget
for TVET activities. Most of the TVET programs depend on the development partners who also
depend on the donations from well-wishers. The situation cannot be left to continue like that.
Consultation with a number of TVET sector stakeholders indicated that the sector needs
sustainable financing so as to pay adequate salary to instructors, develop TVET infrastructure,
manage the welfare of teachers, provide adequate workshops, class rooms , training equipment
and materials.

5.2 TVET FUNDING AND FINANCING

TVET is expensive. On a per student basis and compared with other levels of education, in
particular primary and secondary education, TVET is much more expensive to deliver. But
quality TVET is still more expensive as it needs quality facilities, quality equipment, quality
training materials, quality trainers who are always at par with the development in industry. In
most cases, expenditure on critical training inputs remains low as the majority of the funds are
spent on salaries. The public training system still constitutes an important provider and financier
of pre-employment training. This simple financing framework has become inadequate to meet
the skill development needs in a rapidly globalizing economy, and it has become important to
consider how financing can also foster increased in-service training among enterprises, greater
private provision of training, as well as greater cost-sharing with beneficiaries. There is therefore
a role for greater involvement of employers and students in the financing of training, but this will
only happen if the outcomes of the training system are demonstrably improved and the external
efficiency of the system improves and if there are sufficient productive industries. Students and
firms will only be willing to participate in the financing of a system that shows demonstrable
impacts in terms of efficiency and outcomes.
However, can we afford not to deliver quality TVET and produce graduates who are not
employable and join the unemployed market and worsen the negative image of TVET? This will
eventually prove to be much more expensive.
But who will fund TVET? “Who should fund the lion’s share of TVET is a source of debate in
many countries. This is, in part, due to the way investments in skills development accrue to
individuals, enterprises and the economy. Returns may be financial and non-financial, some are
listed below:
- Individuals: increased employability and higher salary
- Enterprises: access to skilled labour, increased productivity, innovation, lower staff turnover
etc. leading to higher competitiveness and profits;
- Economy: more productive population and more competitive enterprises and increased
entrepreneurship creating higher taxable incomes and increased GDP;
- Social returns: lower unemployment and better social indicators for health, birth rates, gender
equality, crime, etc. as associated with increasing education levels for more of the population.1

5.3 BUDGET ALLOCATED TO TVET IN RSS

5.3 Budget allocated to TVET in RSS

As per section 15(b) of The General Education Act 20121, The Government shall allocate an
annual budget to the tune of 10% of the total annual budget for General Education to be directed
towards development, management and maintenance of education programmes throughout the
country.
In practice, this clause is not respected. Public financing of TVET, although committed through
the government’s budget, is severely limited. Education already represents only 2.6% of public
expenditures, and TVET is the lowest funded education sub-sector under the MoGEI (1% for
2018) (MoGEI, 2017).2
This seems to be amongst the smallest share of Government education expenditure to TVET
amongst many countries, but for Zambia with a very low percentage of only 0.7 % according to
the table of World Bank (2015). Table 18 below shows the government spending of TVET as a
percentage of the education budget of some countries. Those countries allocate relatively higher
percentage of education fund to their TVET. Botswana (6.9%), Mauritius (4.4%), Mozambique
(4%), Malawi (3.4%), Rwanda (20.0%) are some examples of countries of the African
continent.3
Obviously, TVET in South Sudan is underfunded and severe resource constraints impede quality
improvements and expansion requirements.

Table 17: Public expenditure on TVET as % of total public expenditure/budget on education

The government is commended for giving greater budget priority to the education sector, which
experienced a nearly four-fold increase from FY2017/18 to SSP 7.6 billion in FY2018/19, yet the
social sectors remain severely underfunded.1

The education budget allocated was increased considerably to 9% of the Government spending
in 2018/19 (just under the percentage mentioned in the General Education Act 2012) but was
reduced by 4 points to 5% in 2019/2020.2 However, it represents SSP 11 billion
(11,548,155,893), which is a 54 percent nominal increase from the previous year’s budget.

According to the Citizens Budget: A Guide to the 2019/20 National Budget, The Government of
the Republic of South Sudan experienced challenges in the execution of the FY 2018/19 due to
poor cash flow which led to the delay of salary payments to Government staff for several
months. A lack of capital budget allocation made it difficult to execute important Government
priorities.
In this regard, many government institutions (along with some privately-managed TVET
programmes) charge minimal fees to recoup costs. At Juba Technical Secondary School under
the MoGEI in the past, parents contributed 1,250 SSP per year per student. The government
contributes to teacher salaries. Over 80% of the TVET instructors earn less than 2000 SSP, the
equivalent of current $5 at the current exchange rate.1 Even the non-public institutions have to
ensure that their funding is secured. The fees at Don Bosco are reported to be inadequate for the
day-to-day operations.2

It is being argued that the funds devoted to TVET are insignificant compared with the overall
budget allocated to education by various governments despite the fact that TVET plays an
essential role in promoting economic growth and the socio-economic development of countries,
with benefits for individuals, their families, local communities and society in general. However,
Quality TVET is very expensive as it requires workshops of reputable standards, requiring
regular investment in new equipment as well as maintenance and repair of existing equipment.
This requires heavy financial and recurrent capital to effectively respond to the needs of the
existing labour market and to the ever increasing technology utilization in industry. On the other
hand, staff with industrial experience is expensive to recruit since the training centres must
compete with a private industry that has better capacity to pay these experienced professionals
more. It should also be emphasized that quality TVET delivery warrants a relatively low trainee -
trainer ratio since high enrolment in practical intensive programmes compromise the quality of
learning outcomes thereby increasing unit cost.
It seems that in many countries, the grant that is provided by the government is barely sufficient
to pay for the salaries of Training Centre staff, leaving an underfinanced TVET system with
practically no funds at all for capital investment and sustained TVET development. In the RSS,
trainer/facilitator salaries (although significantly delayed) are supported by MoLPSHRD and
MoGEI. Contrarily, there were widespread reports that there was very little support for
equipment and infrastructure for all government activities. Across South Sudan, most financing
of the TVET is undertaken through development partners with the major donors being EU,
Canada and Japan. Funding for the Juba-based VTCs comes primarily from the
NGOs/INGOs/UN agencies (50%, N=7) then from trainee fees (29%, N=4) and churches (21%,
N=3). Accurate information on funding sources for the remaining VTCs was not available.1 And
there are limited opportunities for individuals to undertake TVET via non-institutional
classroom/workshop provision.2

1
Ministry of Finance and Planning, national budget brief, South Sudan 2019, p. 3
2
Ministry of Finance and Planning: A guide to the 2019/20 National Budget p. 9 available on http://www.mofep-
grss.org/
5.4 TVET funding framework from different TVET funding system
Necessary funding should be provided if high-quality training and investment in new projects are
to be sustained in order to better respond to the needs of industry.

As per UNESCO 2015 recommendations concerning technical and vocational education and
training, ‘TVET institutions, including at the secondary, post-secondary and tertiary levels,
should have adequate funding for their operations, including infrastructure, equipment and their
maintenance. TVET institutions should have appropriate levels of operational and financial
autonomy to enable them to engage with their local contexts, to build new partnerships for
improving the quality and relevance of TVET programmes, and to generate revenues.’1

The Government of South Sudan has been very conscious of the need to increase funding for
TVET as spelt out in the General Education Strategic Plan 2017-2018.2
‘Another priority of the Ministry for FY 2017-2018 is to attract funding to scale up its alternative
education programmes and TVET.’
However, the fundamental question is who should pay for this training. International experiences
suggest that there is no single model for funding that can be applied across all countries. There
has to be a blend of government funding, employer funding, fundraising, revenue generation, and
so on. There is need to spread funding as wide as possible, to include adequate contributions
from the government, employers, development partners, training providers, trainees and
communities as shown in the Table 19 below showing a framework which summarises the
spread of the different kinds of contribution to TVET funding that can be considered.
Table 18: Potential contributions to TVET

Government Employers Trainees TCs Communi Developm

/ parents ty ent
partners/
donors

Pre-employed • Physical • Sponsorshi Targeted Trainees’ Loan/grant

infrastructu p of fees production
• Public TCs re trainees and service Expertise
• Equipment • Donation of activities
Technical
• Training equipment support
materials • Resource and advice
• Admin persons
costs • Corporate
• Staff costs social
responsibili
ty (CSR)
Private TCs • Sponsorshi Targeted • Physical • Donatio
p of fees infrastructu n of land
trainees* re and
• Donation of • Equipment other
equipment • Staff costs facilities
In-service Fees of Fees Fees
employees* (self)

Formal AS   

Traditional
AS

Non-formal/
informal  CSR   
training
Many countries have legislated and used employer levies to fund training. In some countries, the
training levy is a percentage of the wage bill. In Tanzania and Malawi, a proposed 2 per cent
TVET levy on the total annual wage bill of companies proved problematic when it was first
introduced. The private sector viewed the levy simply as another form of tax. In Malawi, the levy
had to be reduced to 1 per cent of the total annual wage bill due to private sector resistance. In
South Africa, it was 0.55 per cent of total remuneration between 1 April 2000 and 31 March
2001, and, 1 per cent from then onwards.

In Zimbabwe, it is 1 per cent for all employers with a wage bill of Z$ 2,000 per month (Durango
2002). In Mauritius, it is 1 per cent of the wage bill.1
Other countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia, use a training levy/reimbursement scheme. In
Singapore, for instance, beyond a certain salary level, employees are not eligible for funding
through the training levy. On the other hand, for Malaysia, the training levy is more complex and
the quantum varies according to the size of the companies and the sector concerned.

Levies can generate large amounts of money in countries with relatively large formal sectors.
The grant scheme associated to levies has boosted training in some countries. Example is the
case of Mauritius where training of employees really took off when the levy grant scheme was
introduced in the early 1970s. However, it is less clear how well they might function in countries
with small formal sectors such as South Sudan.

The public training system still constitutes an important provider and financier of pre-
employment training. However, this simple financing framework is no longer able to meet skills
development needs in a context of growing resource constraints. On a per-student basis, TVET is
much more expensive to deliver than other levels of education, in particular primary and
secondary. In most cases, expenditure on critical training inputs remains low as most funds are
spent on salaries.

The role for greater involvement of employers and students in the financing of training will only
happen if the outcomes of the training system and its external efficiency improve. Students and
firms will only be willing to participate in the financing of a system that shows demonstrable
impacts in terms of efficiency and outcomes.
In many African countries, including Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritius (beyond a certain level as
from National Certificate level 4), Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, training fees have
been introduced in public TVET institutions. Only in Zambia, however, fees do account for
between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of training institutions’ budgets. Fee income to the
Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD), by contrast, accounts for only 9 per
cent of total revenue. A grant from the government covers the staff costs. In other cases, fees are
substantial, although never at cost-recovery level. In public training centres in Tanzania, for
example, fees cover about 15 per cent of recurrent costs, in Madagascar 27 per cent (Zidermann,
2003). In its recently published strategy for financing TVET, the Ethiopian Government has set a
target of recovering 30 per cent of recurrent training costs through fees.1
Another form of funding support that is growing increasingly popular in the developing countries
is the donation of equipment to technical colleges. As technology advances, companies are
replacing their workshop equipment very frequently. The old equipment is then being donated to
technical colleges to be used for training. This form of funding is ensuring that the gap between
the technology that trainees use in colleges and that used in industry is not too great.
It seems that training budget is a very sensitive issue. When asked information about training
budget, most respondents to the questionnaire did not have much to say about it as to whether it
would evolve over the next years, what would be the percentage to be allocated to TVET,
recurrent and capital expenditure, etc.
In addition, it is possible to produce output for sale in the local market, and exposure to local
markets may lead to more relevant, market-oriented training. It was mentioned during the visit to
Khartoum 2 Vocational centre that the short courses can generate up to 40% of the training
centre’s budget. Nevertheless, as a rule, income generating activities should not deviate the
training centres from performing their main task of providing high-quality training. Strategically,
a management board at the TVET centre is required to supervise, support and monitor such
additional income streams.
5.5 Conclusion
The national budget is mainly financed through revenues from the oil sector. Revenues have
been adversely affected by low oil production due to conflict, recent lower global prices, and
payments of tariffs and arrears to Sudan and other oil companies. The government relies very
heavily on continuously rising ODA to deliver basic services. In 2017, total ODA was estimated
at US$2.2 billion, which was an increase of 37 per cent from 2016 when it stood at US$1.6
billion.1

Nevertheless, if the Republic of South Sudan is to have an efficient and effective TVET which
will produce TVET graduates of high calibre and responsive to the needs of the labour market,
the following measures must be implemented with regard to sustainable funding and financing:-
1. Enhance TVET financing and management of financial resources through capacity
building in financial management and for sourcing of funds to finance TVET
development

2. Explore possibility of increasing funding from existing sources of funding and

increase the national government spending on TVET from 1% to 3-4%. Definitely
the 1% of the education budget allocated to TVET is not all necessary for TVET
institutions to produce adequate number of quality skilled workers needed to achieve the
country’s social and economic development vision. Budget allocated must be
commensurate with the number of TVET graduates that need to be produced. In light of
the international trends and the SADC average public expenditure to TVET, the Republic
of South Sudan should increase its funding of TVET to at least between 3 per cent and 4
per cent of its education budget.
3. Government should develop and implement a mechanism for sustainable financing
of TVET. In this context, further policy discussion and, if necessary, international
technical assistance would be required to revisit the current funding system. A
competitive funding system can be introduced to direct the development of public and
private TVET institutions in response to demand from enterprises and individuals. This
can be linked to the registration of training centres. This can be better be done by
developing a National TVET financing policy with a possible TVET financing Act and
National TVET Resources mobilisation strategy.
1. Government should consider introducing a realistic costing structure where the
students pay a small proportion of actual training costs in public institutions. As
realistic fees could exclude those who are unable to pay, Government should introduce
targeted programmes, such as scholarships, reduced subsidized fees, or soft loans for
learners who cannot afford to pay the fees. Training voucher schemes might be
considered for students from vulnerable groups, including, specifically, those from rural
areas.
1. Achieve financial sustainability for the TVET providers by increasing revenue by
increasing services rendered. Training Institutions, if well-equipped and well managed
should be able to generate additional revenues by using their workshops to produce
products which could generate some revenues.
2. Establish a training levy system Government could explore the possibility of
introducing a training levy grant scheme on a sectoral basis, as a means of building up a
pool of funds to support TVET provision. Prior consultation with employers should take
place to decide on a pilot sectoral scheme. These employers could either directly sponsor
the training of their employees or contribute to a training levy based on a percentage of
their enterprise payrolls. In return, they can be refunded part of the training costs
incurred. But it would be better to start with the Quality Assurance aspects to ensure
quality of TVET and the Government to seek other sources such as the assistance of
Donors to fund the TVET in the beginning and leave the levy at a later stage when
employers could feel quality has been introduced in the TVET delivery and they believe
in the system. In the meantime, a study could be carried out to look into various aspects
of the introduction of the training levy. Various aspects would have to be considered,
namely: -
i. The quantum of levy (whether there can be different rates of levy for different
categories and size of companies) and what are these rates.
ii. Who will collect the training levy and who will manage it? Governance aspect.
(Presently Malawi is undertaking an exercise to look into the cost benefit
analysis of the governance of the Levy system)
iii. What are the grant schemes associated with the levy?
3. Ensure financial sustainability of TVET training by reducing cost of training
provision
4. Mobilise financial resources for TVET research, development, innovative projects and
re-branding
5. Ensure transparency and good governance costing and budgeting system of public
TVET providers
6. Implement financial development directions through a TVET Development Plan
which should be prepared under the relevant TVET Act covering the entire sector and
give legal effect to the plan
7. Government should provide incentives and strengthen partnerships with non-public
stakeholders and industry to leverage more funding from the private sector, bring on
board more private investors, and seek external grants and other contribution, such as
equipment and new technologies.
8. Set up a national TVET Fund to ensure sustainable financing of TVET as a system (see
recommendation 6 under Governance and Management)
This policy recommends for the Establishment of South Sudan Skills Development Fund. There shall be
an established TVET Fund to be known as the South Sudan Technical and Vocational Education and
Training Fund or National skills development Trust Fund. The object and purpose of the Fund shall be to
provide funds to be used for financing technical and vocational education and training institutions and
programs across South Sudan.
6.0 SECTION SIX: POLICY IMPLEMENTATION, REVIEW,
MONITORING AND EVALUATION

6.1 INTRODUCTION
This section presents the approach that will be used to implement this Unified National TVET policy. It
presents the prerequisites of successful TVET policy implementation. The approach and the methodology
for the TVET policy implementation plan, Review, Monitoring and evaluation.

6.2 TVET POLICY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Upon the approval and adoption of this Unified national TVET policy, the National TVET
Authority will develop South Sudan Skills development strategy which will be a detailed Master
Plan that will include short-term, mid-term and long-term objectives and targets, budgets and
timelines, and assign implementation roles to the various policy implementers, actors and
stakeholders including the TVET line Ministries and NGOs in skills Development. This will
ensure coordination of roles and strategies towards the overall achievement of the policy goals.

It is expected that implementation of the policy actions and strategies outlined under each of the
27 pillars of this policy document will collectively result in the realization of the six key policy
goals of:
i) Improving the governance, management and regulatory framework of the TVET sector
Across the Republic of South Sudan,

ii) Creating an enabling environment for the acquisition of employable skills for the world
of work for all categories of learners of TVET across South Sudan.

iii) Creating a flexible human resource development system that is responsive to the
changing needs of the labour market;

iv) Producing a highly skilled workforce that is competitive locally, regionally, and
globally;

v) Increasing income-generating capacities of all South Sudanese through establishment of

accessible Business incubation at the TVET centers of excellence across the capital cities
of the Sub National Governments, especially of vulnerable groups through skills training
and lifelong learning; and

i) Contributing to the maintenance of TVET learning infrastructure, sustainable peace,

social cohesion, and political stability.

Specifically, the major strategy for implementation of the policy, upon approval, will involve the
development of an Operational Plan with a Results Framework or Matrix which shall define
objectives, strategies, interventions, timelines, responsibilities, and budgets. However, in order to
ensure effective and coordinated implementation of the strategies and interventions will be
elaborated in each TVET line ministries strategic operational plan for implementing their
training mandate associated with this unified National TVET policy. .
6.3 PREREQUISITES FOR SUCCESSFUL TVET POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
Provision of TVET services in South Sudan is fragmented. There are 24 TVET line Ministries.
At the onset of operating this policy there will be a lot of resentment by people refusing to leave
their comfort zones to accept change. This policy does not change the operating mandate of the
TVET line ministries. They will continue implementing their mandate but in a coordinated
manner.
Successful implementation of this unified National TVET Policy will require the following
preliminary conditions:

(1) Establishment of South Sudan TVET Authority through an Act of parliament this
authority will act asan Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee to promote and
coordinate all the stakeholders for successful integration of the policy provisions.

(2) The policy development shall go through all the stages of policy development in South
Sudan which entails participation of the state level stakeholders, Peer review, Technical
review by the TVET service delivery cluster.

(3) The Ministry of General Education and Instruction and the Ministry of Labour of the
republic of South Sudan who are currently involved in the regulation of Technical and
Vocational skills training will devolve their regulatory and quality assurance roles to the
TVET Authority and they will concentrate on the delivery of their TVET mandate as
provided for by this policy and coordinate with the Authority for the implementation of
this TVET policy provisions.
(4) All the 24 TVET line Ministries involved in training will have their current TVET organs
and institutions restructured to deliver the desired employer-led TVET system that
operates in coordination with the National TVET Authority.

(5) There will be a unified National TVET and skills Development assessment body.

(6) To prepare for the implementation of the proposed policy actions and interventions, a
transitional period not exceeding 14 months is required to put in place the institutional
framework like the TVET Authority, relay information to all stakeholders on the TVET
reforms and change of roles and responsibilities of the current TVET providing bodies to
properly manage transition to the permanent structures.
(7) Transitional arrangements to manage the TVET changes requires establishment of; An
Implementation Working Group (IWG) comprising of relevant government ministries
and social partners (employers and employees) with authority to oversee and guide the
process and make decisions on the reforms.

(8) Set an executive secretariat of not more than seven TVET experts to coordinate and
provide support to the activities of all TVET line ministries and stakeholders in TVET
until a permanent structure is in place. Tentatively the current chairs of the 5 TVET ad
hoc Committees can be transformed to this executive with the support of the TVET
specialist.
6.4 POLICY DIRECTION ON INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE TVET
POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
With regard to the Institutional Arrangements for the implementation of this Unified
National TVET Policy, this policy document directs that
(a) TVET across the Republic of South Sudan will be implemented through multi-sectoral
approach that will assign roles to various stakeholders in the public and private sector and
at both central and state level Governments and administrative areas.

(b) The policy provisions made herein will be further supported by accompanying relevant
policy operating standards which are mandatory guidelines which are discretionary but
within acceptable parameters and procedures which detail how each provision is to be
achieved. Some of these standards will include the Republic of South Sudan competency
based curriculum development and Implementation frame work, TVET Quality
Assurance framework, National skills development framework, TVET qualification
framework,
(c) The policy provisions made herein will be operationalized through subsequent TVET
Strategic operations plan, programmes, projects and other initiatives by the TVET line Ministries
working jointly with the developing partners. The South Sudan TVET Authority will ensure that
the institutions and facilities required for the implementation of this policy are put in place and
are functional.

6.5 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF KEY TVET POLICY IMPLEMENTATION

STAKEHOLDERS
The Roles and Responsibilities of Key Stakeholders for the implementation of this policy will
include The employer-led TVET system will be run in a tripartite manner by three categories of
stakeholders; the demand side (employers / private sector) represented by the TVET Authority
through the Sector Skills Advisory Councils (SSACs) or Industry Advisory Councils as will be
adopted in South Sudan. The various TVET line Ministries will be represented by their training
directorates, Departments and Agencies with a role in TVET through an Inter-Ministerial TVET
Coordination Committee and the supply side especially employees and learners from
public/private training institutions and providers.

6.6 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL TVET AUTHORITY FOR THE

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN
This policy directs that:
(1) The TVET Authority will be a regulatory body representing the demand side of the
TVET policy, with two thirds (2/3) or sixty six percent (66%) of the council members
being employers from the industry.
1. The social partners will also be involved.

(1) The institutional mandate for employers through the TVET Authority will be to regulate
the TVET through establishment of standards, qualifications, registration and
accreditation systems for institutions/providers, programmes and trainers. The roles and
responsibilities of the TVET Authority will include;

(a) The stimulation of the development of national occupational standards and competence
based curricula and qualifications through employer-led Sector Skills Advisory Councils
(SSACs).
 (a) Maintain databases of standards, Competency Based Curriculum Developed,
qualifications, accredited institutions and providers, Lecturers, Tutors, Instructors,
Trainers and successful candidates at all the levels of TVET provision;

(b) Quality assurance of these standards and qualifications which include:

(i) Approving TVET programmes to be assessed by the respective body or bodies;

(ii) Development and maintenance of the TVET Qualifications Framework;
(iii) Recommending funding to be allocated to training providers and institutions from
the National Skills Development Trust Fund (NSDTF); and
(iv) Through Sector Skills Advisory Councils (SSACs) in ensuring that employers,
offer hands-on training opportunities including mentoring of the learners through;
internships, apprenticeships and industrial attachments to the trainees.
(v) Development of 13 TVET Centers of excellence, National TVET Instructors
Training college and business incubation centers within the TVET Centers of
excellence to be located in each of the 10 states and three administrative areas.

(c) Mobilise funds from the public and private sectors, development partners for the National
Skills Development Trust Fund (SDTF);

(d) Administer the SDTF and ensure that it is well targeted to address SSACs priorities and
labour market needs;
(a) Set the TVET strategy and priority areas from the relevant National Development Plan
and TVET line Ministries priorities to guide prioritisation and planning and offer
information, advice and guidance to TVET Authority and Training Directorates of the
relevant Government Ministries;

(b) Approve the establishment of SSACs in the TVET occupation sectors within the TVET
Authority;

(c) Review and approve the recommendations of the Technical Committees and SSACs of
the TVET Authority.

(d) Monitor and evaluate outcomes of various TVET interventions programs; and

(e) Support the Central and state level Government Authorities in enforcing the rewards and
sanctions framework in the TVET system including the provision of the state level TVET
working group.
The policy directs that all the TVET line Ministries will report to the Authority and
(1) Will have the primary responsibility and accountability for the coordination and
successful implementation of the Policy components aligned to their Ministries .
The policy directs that all the TVET line Ministries will report to the Authority and
(1) Will have the primary responsibility and accountability for the coordination and
successful implementation of the Policy components aligned to their Ministries .

(2) Ensure that the TVET policy actions and strategies are well implemented, supervised,
monitored and evaluated within their ministries.

(3) Ensure that a TVET directorate is established within their ministries to Coordinate to
provide policy guidance, coordinate TVET delivery and offer administrative support to
the public and private TVET providers that operates under their partnerships to meet the
needs of the labour market and the economy;

(4) Establish TVET Centres of Excellence in various sectors of the economy through
provision of practical training opportunities to increase employability of all cadres of the
TVET target Audience;

(5) Provide continuous upgrading of skills and knowledge at the pace and ability of the
trainees; through establishment of skills development centers relevant for the execution
of their Ministries training mandate to award artisan, craft , technician and technologist
training at the Foundation , intermediate , proficiency and post level 1 Training as will be
determined by the labour market training needs and tracer studies conducted from time to
time respectively, to open up transition from pre level 1 skills training to post level 1 as
per the TVET transition Pathways for upward mobility of skilled trainees and
technologists;

(6) Establish industrial processing and manufacturing business incubators and intellectual
property rights portfolios to empower institutions for pursuing autonomy status;

(7) Promote structured applied research and innovation culture for skills relating to their
Ministerial mandate.

(8) Plan, budget and implement programmes that will promote the development of TVET
according to the policy provisions;

(9) Establish and coordinate networks, partnerships and collaboration with all TVET
stakeholders and partners collaborating with their Ministries.

(10) Popularize and disseminate the TVET policy and its instruments among all the
stakeholders;

(11) Undertake the relevant policy research on TVET; and Monitor and evaluate the TVET
policy implementation within the overall TVET Authority monitoring and evaluation
framework.
6.7 IMPLEMENTATION OF TVET POLICIES WITH THE TVET INSTITUTIONS
AND SERVICE PROVIDERS.
This TVET policy directs that the:
(1) TVET institutions and providers will be involved in implementation of this policy. The
TVET institutions and providers established at the different levels will be approved by the TVET
Authority to undertake research and offer relevant training which will lead to the award of
Competence-Based Certificates and issued with National recognized TVT certificates in TVET
as categorised and streamlined by this policy.

(2) The governance body of TVET training institutions and providers at the level of the
Skills Development Centre (SDC) and Vocational Training Institute (VTI) is the Board of
Governors (BOG) while, the governance body of TVET institutions such as the Technical
Colleges (TCs), the National Polytechnics (NPs) and the National Technical University
(NTU) is the Governing council (GC). The governance bodies will be responsible for the
strategic direction and overall governance of the institutions.
(1) All TVET Training institutions and providers will be regulated in accordance with the
provisions of the TVET policy and the relevant TVET Act for the establishment of the
TVET Authority. .

(2) The roles and responsibilities of the TVET institutions and providers will be to ensure
that:
(a) The system is employer-led, with at least sixty-six (66%) percent or two thirds of the
Council/Board members being representatives of the employers as per the
guidelines approved by the TVET Council;

b) Professional competences and quality of their staff, governing bodies’ appointment

committees and SSACs will be responsible for identifying, recruiting and
recommending their own staff for appointment (both fulltime and part-time); and

c) Ensure that there are linkages with the world of work in all the aspects of training
delivery for their graduates to remain relevant in the respective sectors.
6.8 ROLE OF THE STATE LEVEL GOVERNMENT IN THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE UNIFIED TVET POLICY

(1) The TVET authority in partnership and consultation with the sub national Governments
will establish a state level TVET stakeholder’s skills development working group that is
partroned by the state Governor.

(2) The state level authorities should work closely with the Sector Skills Advisory Council
(SSACs) and seek guidance where necessary since TVET delivery is a highly specialised
function.

(3) The state and county authorities will among others ensure that;
 a) The TVET policy implementation adopts the principles and guidelines of the
decentralisation policy and other applicable government policies and laws.

b) The TVET policy evaluation instruments are used to assess and measure the
performance of TVET institutions and providers;

c) They plan, budget, monitor and effectively supervise all the TVET institutions and
providers within their jurisdiction;

d) The TVET institutions and providers are rewarded and/ or sanctioned in accordance
with the rewards and sanctions framework approved by the TVET Authority and

e) Also ensure that the TVET policy provisions are integrated into the institutional
development plans and strategies of the TVET institutions and providers.

6.9:IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMPETENCY BASED TVET CURRICULUM

AND ASSEMBLY POLICY
This policy directs that :

(a) The TVET curriculum in use in South Sudan will be competency based and developed in
consultation with the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) established
within the TVET Authority, Assessment Bodies, world of work (Industry) and the TVET
institutions and service providers.

(b) The Assessment will be conducted by Assessment Bodies in consultation with the
industry, TVET Authority and National TVET assessment and Examination Council.

(c) All assessment bodies will assess and award qualifications based on the TVET Authority
approved programmes in line with the TVET qualifications Framework and the National
Qualifications Framework and set standards for ease of equating qualifications.

(d) The curriculum will be modularized where each module will be a holistic self-contained
employable skills having the tools, life skills, occupational health safety,,
6.10 TVET POLICY REVIEW, MONITORING AND EVALUATION
A Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework will be developed to support the
implementation of this Unified National TVET policy. It will contain the; underlying
assumptions, objectives, baseline data and targets, indicators, measurement methods, and results
against which the achievement of policy goals will be assessed and measured. Institutional
capacities for data collection and use of information from monitoring and evaluation will be
strengthened to inform TVET strategies and programmes, standards and curricula, and to adjust
the learning methods. Data on TVET will be analyzed using national and international standards.
The M & E processes of TVET will ensure broad participation of the relevant stakeholders to
improve the learning, performance and skill competencies in order to strengthen the connections
between findings, decision-making, transparency and accountability for results. The policy will
be reviewed periodically as and when the need arises. For avoidance of doubt, the TVET policy
review will be sanctioned by TVET Authority. Every year in the Month of November the TVET
Authority will be conducting annual review of the TVET policy and developing the subsequent
years TVET operational plan for the authority and each of the TVET line ministries as well as
Development partners in skills development programming.
The TVET authority will have information on who is doing what in the TVET sector and skills
development across South Sudan.
A prevalent weakness found in many TVET systems is the absence of a well-defined monitoring
and evaluation model and process. To ensure a smooth operation of the TVET system, and to
obtain the required feedback for the development of the system, a monitoring and evaluation
strategy should be implemented. A robust Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy shall also be
developed to periodically assess the impact of the TVET policy and the extent of realisation of
the policy goals. As the dynamics of the national economy change and new developments and
technologies emerge to create new opportunities for skills training, the TVET policy may need to
be revised in order to remain responsive to the needs of learners, employers and the national
economy. In this regard, this policy document shall be reviewed after five (5) years in operation.
The monitoring and evaluation strategy should be designed to measure the internal and external
efficiency and impact evaluation, thus paving the way for system development. The better we
can track the progress, the better we can manage it. By analyzing different feedback reports, we
can learn to detect any shortcomings and noncompliance and take necessary corrective action
promptly.
Besides, section 54 of the 2015 UNESCO TVET Recommendations1, it is stipulated that
appropriate tools and indicators should be developed for measuring the effectiveness and
efficiency of TVET policies against agreed standards, priorities and targets, including specific
targets for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
This must involve evaluations of public and private institutions, providers and programmes,
including self-evaluations, as well as tracer studies and the development of sets of indicators
including on access, completion rates and the employment status of graduates. Data collection
and processing should be conducted in accordance with legislation on data protection.
In line with the 2015 UNESCO TVET recommendation, section 53, “Member States should,
according to their specific conditions, governing structures and constitutional provisions,
evaluate TVET policies and programmes. Evaluations could include studies of the impacts and
outcomes of TVET policies and programmes and investigation of the costs and benefits of TVET
for a broad range of public and private actors including individuals, enterprises and
communities.”
In order to effectively monitor progress and assess the implementation challenges of the TVET
policy, a TVET Monitoring and Evaluation Tool shall be developed. This monitoring and
evaluation tool will identify the challenges and progress being made in the TVET system with
regard to such indicators as: a) extent of legal and governance reforms; b) training quality,
relevance and employability; c) enrolments (both males, females and disabled), trainee output
figures, and dropout rates; d) school-to-work transitions and employment status of trainees; e)
TVET financing; and f) image and attractiveness of TVET, amongst others.
The Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) issues The National Education
Statistics Booklet annually. The EMIS facilitates information-driven policy discussions and
decision-making by collecting, processing, analysing, storing and disseminating education
statistical information. It is a government owned and led programme of the South Sudan MoGEI,
which is managed by the Directorate of Planning and Budgeting’s Data and Statistics Unit
(DSU). It handles the national education census for the MoGEI and is primarily responsible for
conducting the national Annual Education Census (AEC) of all public and private educational
establishments in the country (ECDE [PPR], Primary, Secondary, AES, TTIs, TVET, and
Universities), in close coordination with counterparts and stakeholders at state, county, payam,
and school levels.

The National Education Census Booklet is a series of publications initiated in 2006, with
interruptions in 2014 and 2017 when census did not take place. Unlike the past years, the 2018
issue managed to have 98% coverage of schools in the country, which has not been the case in
the past. This is a significant milestone considering that it is the first time to be handled by
MOGEI through EMIS according to the Minister of General Education and Instruction.1

However, institutional capacities for data collection and the use of information from monitoring
and evaluation to inform TVET strategies and programmes, standards and curricula, or to adjust
learning methods, should be strengthened. Coherence between national data collection on TVET
and international standards and initiatives should be enhanced. Frequency of collection,
disaggregation of data (gender wise, disabled trainees, refugees, private v/s public details),
ensuring that indicators are aligned with other national development indicators and that relevant
information to verify progress is obtained must be addressed. Hence, the need to set up a TVET
Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC) which will be responsible to monitor and evaluate
the progress of the TVET policy on a periodic basis must be looked into. Different views have
been expressed with respect to the authority to which the MEC should report to. Some have
mentioned the Ministry of General Education and Innovation. Others stated that the MEC should
report to the TVET Council or the National TVET Council.2 There should be a policy decision to
settle this matter as the MEC is a very important mechanism to ensure follow up and
implementation of the policy decisions.
7.0 SECTION SEVEN: CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD

7.1 INTRODUCTION
This TVET policy is a strategic policy document which shall underpin the enactment of a
national legislation to govern and standardize technical and vocational education and training to
support sustainable peace, economic and sustainable development and the creation of national
wealth that will contribute to poverty reduction as articulated in the nation’s transformation plan,
Vision 2040. The policy document addresses the major issues of employability, relevance,
collaboration between training institutions and employers, accreditation of training providers (in
the formal and informal sectors), assessment, certification and quality assurance of training
programs, and portability of TVET qualifications throughout the country and across the East
African Community and Internationally. .
The policy recommends a paradigm shift in TVET from a fragmented approach to a coordinated
system; from a supply-driven to a market responsive and employment-demand driven system;
from a purely education sector, school-based system to a diversity of learning pathways; from a
system of exclusion to a system of inclusion based on equity of access and outcomes; from a
system of fixed training duration and theory-dominated system to a system that is competency-
based, modularized and demand-driven, with proficiency testing as proof of competence. It is
strongly recommended that the formal TVET be mainstreamed into the general education system
so that it becomes less dead-end. The non-formal TVET will be offered by the other 23 TVET
line Ministries. The policy document emphasizes a good basic education as a pre-requisite for
effective TVET delivery. This will entail the inclusion of numeracy and literacy skills at the
foundation and intermediate skills training.

Ministry of Labour and other Ministries could train from foundation up to level level 1
proficiency levels. The policy recommends for the creation of a 14 Centers of excellence to be
known as Institutes of Advance Technology using the name of the capital of the Sub National
Government. These may include JIAT-Juba Institute of Advance technology, BIAT – Bentiu
Institute of Advance Technology, MIAT –Malakal Institute of Advance Technology, RIAT
Rumbek Institute of Advance Technology, TIAT Torit Institute of Advance Technology. PIAT
Pariang Institite of Advance Technology. YIAT- Yambio Institute of Advance Technology.
These institutions will will be training from Level 2 Artisan, Level 3 Craft and Level 4
Technician.
established preferably at the Munuki Technical Teachers Trainers College which was built by the
Egyptian Government and is currently being used by the University of upper nile in Juba.
Taking into account the education and training environment in South Sudan, a multi-pronged
approach to the development of TVET in the country is recommended. The reality of the South
Sudan situation requires that skills development is prioritized along the skills needs of not only
the employers but the learners themselves. Three categories of skills development aligned with
learner backgrounds and academic preparation have been addressed under several of the pillars
of this policy document. They Include:

a) The acquisition of basic vocational skills training for the informal sector, under the
mentorship of master crafts persons or master trainers, combined with literacy and
numeracy and citizenship and life skills for the large pool of uneducated or poorly-
educated learners with huge education deficits. This targets 2.5 Million out of school
youths.
 a) The acquisition of intermediate level skills at the senior high school level for
employment in the formal and informal sectors of the economy.

b) The development of higher level skills at the post senior high school or tertiary level to
support economic transformation and rapid industrialization.
c) Pre employment training

The above categorizations should not be considered as rigid demarcations since the TVET policy
recommends a holistic and flexible TVET system with well-defined vertical and horizontal
linkages within the entire education and training system. In addition to the acquisition of
vocational, agricultural, technical, Development and business skills as well as skills for other
economic sectors, it is necessary to incorporate political and citizenship education and skills into
the TVET curriculum. This will be incorporated in the form of the African Union Life skills.
The critical issue of TVET research also deserves attention. Fundamental academic research on
issues such as the unit cost of TVET provision, the contribution of TVET to national economic
growth, and the economic transformational role of TVET in promoting value addition of natural
or primary resources by the country (instead of remaining an exporter of primary commodities)
are necessary. Such evidence-based and action research findings will support decision-making on
the management and funding of TVET as well as influence the policy dialogue among
stakeholders on the future direction of TVET.

Finally, the draft TVET policy affirms the primary goal of TVET as the acquisition of skills for
employment, sustainable livelihoods and promotion of lifelong learning. However, the draft
policy document also acknowledges that the acquisition of skills alone does not provide jobs or
eradicate poverty.
Good macroeconomic and fiscal policies do both. The policy therefore urges the National
Government to create an economic environment that promotes the growth of enterprises and
generally stimulates the economy. When enterprises develop and expand, additional labor-
market demands for technical and vocational training emerge, new job opportunities are created,
more people get employed, and the incidence of poverty reduces. For this to happen on a
sustainable basis, however, the TVET system must be labor-market responsive, equitable,
efficient, and of high quality.
This policy document provides the framework for building such a national TVET system which
also responds to the democratic and economic imperatives of the right to TVET for all for
gainful employment, responsible citizenship, and effective participation in the national
democratic space.
7.2 CONCLUSION
The term policy refers to a major objective or principles which are intended to guide the
implementation and resource allocation decisions of an entity. Policies can be supported by
national laws, regulations, reforms and development of relevant institutions and guidelines that
facilitates the realization of the proposed policy interventions. Policies can be set for any area of
practice – trade, foreign investment, demographic processes, employment and labour markets, as
well as for education and training. For instance, Conventions and Recommendations of the ILO
related to the Human Resources Development include the internationally-agreed policies such as
the equitable access to training and employment, lifelong learning, demand-driven provision of
skills training.
Public policy can be generally defined as a system of laws, regulatory measures, course of
action, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or
its representatives. A major aspect of public policy is law, which includes specific legislation and
more broadly-defined provisions of constitutional or international law. ILO 2018

The Republic of South Sudan, the youngest country of the world, became independent in 2011
following decades of conflict. Its governmental and public infrastructure and capacity are
severely limited, and the government capacity and delivery have nearly been halted due to the
conflict. It has an estimated population of about 12 million, with more than 70% below the age
of 30 years and 51% under the age of 18 years old (WB 2010). In the meanwhile, South Sudan
suffers from low human capital due to lack of skilled human resources with many youth
becoming restless and the risk of them joining national/inter communal conflict. TVET can
provide South Sudanese youth with basic life skills, market-relevant work readiness training,
tools, and knowledge that encourages entrepreneurship and employment, accordingly promotes
peace building, social cohesion, education and youth employment.
Besides, there is severe lack of private sector investment, high rates of child labour and 59% of
the working age population have been unemployed for a year or more (World Bank, 2017).
However, after various protracted periods of civil conflicts and peace signing agreements and
nine years of independence, South Sudan has recently witnessed the signing of a new agreement
to share power and form a unity government after the rivalry which triggered a civil war that
killed at least 400,000 people and displaced millions since December 2013. The Unity
government has been in operation since 20Th February 2020.
Once a national TVET policy has been developed it is usually followed by the development of
National TVET Act for the provision of specific regulations to strengthen the various TVET
policy recommendations.
This is then followed by the development of the key institutions that are necessary for the
realization of the proposed policy measures, development of various proposed guidelines and
manuals, development of the national skills development strategy or TVET strategy as an
instrument for the implementation of the National TVET policy, development of the operational
plan for various government TVET line Ministries, stakeholders and Sub National Government
engagement in the promotion of TVET in the country.
Successful TVET policies are those that have been supported by the above stated issues. A
strategy‟ in the managerial sense means the adopted course of action necessary for meeting the
long-term goals. It is a specific way to combine resources of all kinds – investments, institutions,
time, staff, laws and regulations, etc. – in order to achieve certain objectives. A strategy may be
further detailed, resulting in an implementation plan involving numerous objectives, time
periods, resources and outcomes.
Policy determines “what to do?”, while a strategy is about “how to do?” what has been
recommended. Strategies are assumed to be guided by the policy principles and should aim to
achieve those. The policies tend to be more generic than strategies and may not change
frequently, whereas the strategies are more dependent on the availability of resources,
institutional capabilities etc. and may need to change in shorter periods of time. There could also
be several ways (strategies) to achieve the same policy principle. The strategies should indicate
the time horizons by when related policy principles should be achieved.

A national policy response is, therefore, needed to guide the skill development strategies of the
country and coordinated action by all stake holders to avoid a piecemeal approach and
fragmentation in the delivery of TVET services. It is also important that the policies of skill
development be linked to policies in the economic, employment and social development arenas
so as to increase the pace for the attainment of national development vision, strategy and
sustainable Development goals.

In practice there can be “separate National TVET (NTVET) policy documents as well as a
separate national skills development strategy documents. However, it is observed that most
NTVET Policy documents contain both policies and strategies. The more a policy document
describes the practical details on how the policy objectives will be achieved and indicates the
resources required, the more the document becomes a strategy document. It is possible to have
only a policy and a strategy separate or combined. In developing this South Sudan unified
National TVET policy document the two concepts have been separated with a view that the
government will be supported to development the Unified National Skills development strategy
with the various operational plans, manuals and guidelines.

These may entail each ministry operational plan for implementing the national TVET policy, the
state level and administrative areas TVET strategy and operational plan, competency based
TVET curriculum development guidelines, National TVET apprenticeship guidelines, Guidelines
for management of TVET centers’ income generating activities. National TVET Quality
assurance guidelines, National TVET Qualification Frame work and Development of National
Industry occupational standards.

However, if a policy is not followed up by clear implementation strategy or plan and a budget,
which is commonly the case, then it is unlikely to be implemented effectively. It is also possible
to develop a skills development strategy without agreeing on policy objectives and target groups
but in this case, the national skills development systems run the risk of departing from the
fundamental policy principles such as for instance the TVET policy will be linked to social and
economic policies‟ or „equal access to skills training and employment opportunities‟.

One of the options could be to have a TVET policy and a national TVET /skills development
strategy as separate but closely interlinked documents. A TVET policy document should be
concise but may explain why such policy choices have been made. A national skills development
strategy document will then focus on ways of implementing the policies and may set numeric
targets for each policy objective and have an action plan.
According to the ILO The Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142),
states that the ratifying states are required to formulate and implement policies and programmes
of vocational guidance and vocational training in co-operation with employers and worker’s
organizations, closely linked with employment, in particular through public employment
services. For this purpose, the States are further required to develop open, flexible and
complementary systems of general, technical and vocational education, educational and
vocational guidance and vocational training, and to extend them gradually to young persons and
adults, including appropriate programmes for the disabled.

This unified National TVET policy has been developed in compliance with ILO Labour
standards and conventions, UNESCO TVET strategy for the 21ST century, African Union TVET
strategy, IGAD UNHCR Djibouti Declarations on Education for Refugees, East African
Community TVET strategy, South Sudan MOL Vocational Education and Training Policy 2013,
South Sudan MOGEI Technical and Vocational Education and Training Policy 2018, ILO
guideline for developing National skills development strategies.

This unified National TVET policy has been developed incompliance with ILO 2005
recommendations No 195 that calls on Member States to develop and implement, through the
process of social dialogue, education, training and lifelong learning policies that promote
people’s employability throughout their lives. This has been done with the participation of all the
10 states and three administrative areas. The national TVET and skills development policy
should be an integral part of comprehensive economic, social and labour market policies and
programmes for economic and employment growth.

It recognizes that education and training are a right of all people and advocates for promotion of
equal education and training opportunities for all. The enterprises should play an increasingly
role in enhancing the investment in training and in providing workplace-based learning (ILO,
2005). The policy has been developed in compliance with international labour conference of
2008 that recommended that government, worker and employer representatives at the
International Labour Conference (ILC) adopted a set of Conclusions on skills for improved
productivity, employment growth and development .

That stressed on education, training and lifelong learning that foster a virtuous circle of higher
productivity, more employment of better quality, income growth and development. The
Conclusions state that countries that have succeeded in linking skills to productivity,
employment, development and decent work, have targeted their TVET policy towards three main
objectives (ILO, 2008):

(a) matching supply to current demand for skills;

(b) helping workers and enterprises adjust to change; and
(c) building and sustaining competencies for future labour market needs.
This Unified National TVET policy has been developed with a view of promoting demand
driven and outcome based products of the three TVET system being followed in South Sudan.
The consultation with various stakeholders revealed a total of 30 areas that requires TVET policy
directions and interventions. These were then grouped in to 5 thematic areas of governance and
management, Equity, Access and Gender equality, Quality and Relevance, Innovative and
sustainable financing, Implementation, monitoring and Review

The ILC of 2008 made a number of useful recommendations which have been taken in to
consideration while developing this policy. They include a holistic approach for skills
development, which encompasses the:

(a) continuous and seamless pathways of learning

That starts with pre-school equivalence of learning as level 1 then progress to primary
education that adequately prepares young people for secondary and higher education and
vocational training; that provide career guidance, labour market information and
counseling, as young women and men move into the labour market; and that offer
workers and entrepreneurs opportunities for continuous learning to upgrade their
competencies and learn new skills throughout their lives;

(b) development of core skills

This includes literacy, numeracy, communication skills, teamwork , digital literacy,
business skills, and problem-solving and other relevant skills and learning ability, as well
as awareness of workers‟ rights and an understanding of entrepreneurship as the building
blocks for lifelong learning and capability to adapt to change;

(c) development of higher-level skills – professional, technical and human resource skills –
to capitalize on or to create opportunities for high-quality or high-wage jobs. In this
policy this has been provided at the National polytechnic qualification level and post
secondary school training levels.

(d) portability of skills,

This is based first on the core skills to enable workers to apply knowledge and
experience to new occupations or industries, and second, on systems that codify,
standardize, assess and certify skills, so that levels of competence can be easily
recognized by social partners in different labour sectors across national, regional or
international labour markets. The Djibouti declaration on education for refugees and
EAC strategy and guidelines has been adopted. And

(e) employability (for wage work or self-employment)

that results from all these factors – a foundation of core skills, access to education,
availability of training opportunities, motivation, ability and support to take advantage of
opportunities for continuous learning, and recognition of acquired skills – and that is
critical for enabling workers to attain decent work and manage change and for enabling
enterprises to adopt new technologies and enter new markets.
7.3 DESIRED TVET SITUATION IN SOUTH SUDAN
The overall goal of TVET in South Sudan is to provide relevant and adequate skills for industrial
development, peaceful co-existence and economic development as highlighted in Revitalized
Transitional Agreement for the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan, South Sudan
development plan, Vision 2040, Vision 2065 and global sustainable development goals. TVET
sector in South Sudan will require major transformation on the areas of :

a. Re-align TVET programmes to National goals and market needs;

b. Expanding available TVET opportunities for more accessibility by creating TVET centers of
excellence across all the states and administrative areas;
c. Devolve TVET training to sub national level of governments to ensure equal opportunities for
all;
d. Develop a conflict resolution mechanism among the key stakeholders of the TVET sector.
e. Employ affirmative action to ensure equity and inclusivity;
e. Entrench competence- based and modular training methods across all trades
f. Develop competence-based assessment with the involvement of institutions and industry and
establish a national TVET examination and certification center within the current South Sudan
National Examination council or within the TVET authority
g. Reform governance and management of the TVET sector and institutions and;
h. Assure quality of delivery of programmes;
i. Manage TVET rebranding process to boost the image of TVET and reduce association of
TVET to poverty, failure and academic dwarfs.
j. Develop and implement a mechanism for innovative sustainable financing of TVET

7.4 WAYFORWARD
This is the First draft of the Unified National TVET policy for the Republic of South Sudan. It
has been developed by incorporating the inputs of TVET stake holders who participated in the
first National TVET stakeholders workshops.
This document could now be shared with the TVET Subcommittee on Policy and Legislation and
then their inputs be adjusted. There after the first draft of the policy should be shared with the
state levels government. The sharing should focus on situational analysis of TVET in the states,
SWOT Analysis, Proposed TVET priority areas, the Implementation plan, Financing and
Monitoring and Evaluation.
The information obtained from the state consultations will be formulated in to the second version
of the Draft TVET policy report. This will then be subjected to second National TVET
stakeholders workshop. The views obtained from here will be developed in to third draft Unified
national TVET policy which will then be taken for peer review.
Corrections from the peer review will be then be made in to the Fourth Draft. The fourth Draft
will then be submitted to the Technical Committee who will make their recommendation for the
adjustment into the fifth version. The fifth version is the one that will be taken to Council of
Minister.
Upon the approval by the council of Ministers the policy will become operational and parliament
will then move to enact the TVET Act.
ANNEX I
Year Title
1.0 2011 South Sudan Vision 2040
2.0 2012 Education Act 2012
3.0 2013 TVET Policy by MoLPSHRD
4.0 2014 TVET Policy Review (UNESCO)
5.0 2012-17 Education Strategic Plan
6.0 2016 5 year TVET Sector Development (UNESCO)
7.0 2016 Regulations governing the establishment of private schools/institutions in
RSS
8.0 2017 National General Education Policy 2017-22
9.0 2017 General Education Strategic Plan 2017-22
10.0 2018 National TVET Policy (5th Draft) MoGEI
11.0 2018 Rapid Assessment of TVET in RSS (responding to TVET & Vocational
provision in Crisis) UNESCO
12.0 2018 Labour market assessment and review and assessment of TVET/VT/Skills
Development in selected locations (UNESCO/EU/MoLPSHRD)
13.0 2019 Assessment of Education and Labour related Management Information
System (MIS) TVET/VT/Skills Development (UNESCO)
15.0 2019 Report of workshop on TVET coordination and governance
16.0 2020 National Ad Hoc TVET Coordination Committee, TVET Policy Gap review,
analysis and recommendations