CHAPTER 2 - TECHNICIAN AND ARTISAN TRAINING

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Tanzania: from NVTD to VETA
2.3 Zimbabwe: the Ministry of Higher Education

2.1 Introduction

This chapter reviews the main changes that have occurred in pre-employment artisan and technician training in both countries. In Tanzania, artisan and other skilled worker training has mainly been the responsibility of the National Vocational Training Division (NVTD) in the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Development which was established in 1974 under the provisions of the 1972 Vocational Training Act. Although never explicitly spelt out, the organisational mandate of the NVTD was to train school leavers to become artisans and other (skilled workers in sufficient numbers to meet the skill requirements for rapid industrial development in the formal sector). The training needs for occupations employed elsewhere in the formal and informal sectors were to be met by other, predominantly public sector institutions.

A network of NVTD training centres was rapidly developed during the next ten years with very considerable donor support, in particular from the Danish, Swedish and Swiss governments. By 1987, there were 11 National Vocational Training Centres (NVTCs) offering training in 30 or so main manual 'trades', the most important in numerical terms being motor vehicle mechanics, fitting and turning, welding and blacksmithing, electrical installation, carpentry, and tailoring. The five largest NVTCs (Chang'ombe in Dar Es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza, Moshi and Tanga) accounted for over 80 per cent of enrolments.

For a variety of reasons which will be discussed in the first part of this chapter, both the internal and external efficiency of NVTD training remained low throughout the 20 years of its existence. By the 1990s, the main donor agencies upon whom NVTD had become heavily dependent (in particular, DANIDA and SIDA) indicated that they would only be prepared to continue to support the NVTD if organisational, financial and management reforms were introduced that would bring about major improvements in operational efficiency, increase the relevance of the training provided, and generate adequate and sustained funding from national sources. External and local consultants were appointed and a review was undertaken in 1992. The main recommendations of this review were subsequently incorporated into the 1994 Vocational Education and Training Act which established the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) to replace NVTD. Freed from direct government control and with its own independent source of funding, the overall objective of the 1994 Act is to create an efficient, demand-driven national training system capable of responding quickly to the needs of the labour market.

VETA only became operational in January 1995 so at the time the research for this chapter was undertaken in late 1996 - early 1997, it was too early to evaluate whether this major reform of a core part of the vocational training system in Tanzania has been able to reverse the unsuccessful training record of its predecessor, the NVTD. However, an assessment can still be made of the design of the various elements of the reform package along with an analysis of the prospects for their successful implementation. This will be presented in the second part of this chapter.

In Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) is responsible for the bulk of artisan, skilled worker and technician training. While its training mandate is, therefore, somewhat wider than that of NVTD/VETA in Tanzania, the position of the MOHE in the overall training system in Zimbabwe is broadly similar. In particular, it funds and manages ten polytechnics and technical colleges, two vocational training centres and is responsible for the overall planning of VET in the country as a whole. It is also administers the training levy-grant scheme.

In marked contrast with the major reforms in the funding, organisation and management of artisan training in Tanzania, there have been only relatively minor changes in MOHE training provision during the 1990s. The experiences of these two organisations provide, therefore, an interesting case study of the underlying factors that have shaped the processes of institutional reform in each country.

2.2 Tanzania: from NVTD to VETA

2.2.1 NVTD: The First Decade

Type of training provision: The NVTD provided artisan training in the industrial trades to two main clienteles, namely, pre-service training to school leavers and in-service training to those who were already employed. For the school leaver group, a traditional apprenticeship model was adopted with students initially attending VTCs for one year of full time basic theoretical and practical training followed by usually three years of on-the-job training. During this latter period, students were to be formally indentured as apprentices to the sponsoring enterprise and, on successful completion of their training, were to receive a Certificate of Apprenticeship. Apprentices and other workers wanting to take Trade Tests which were administered by NVTD attended evening classes at the VTCs. It was a formal requirement that the three Trade Tests (III to I) had to be taken sequentially.

While the need for short term training courses was recognised by policymakers and NVTD management, the actual provision of this type of training remained very limited throughout this period. This was mainly because the main concern was to build up pre-service training capacity as this was regarded as the core objective of the VTCs. Similarly, politicians and senior policymakers were preoccupied with increasing the overall number of skilled workers in order to fulfil ambitious industrial development goals.

With limited opportunities for post-school training coupled with reasonable prospects of finding appropriate wage employment once training had been completed (at least during the 1970s), competition for the limited number of training places on the Basic Training courses at the VTCs was intense. This tended to favour better educated students from relatively privileged socio-economic backgrounds. Furthermore, given the preponderance of traditional manual trades, over three-quarters of both basic training and evening class students were males.

Broadly speaking, NVTD training was confined to a limited range of traditional, male dominated artisan trades and was primarily oriented to meeting the needs of formal sector enterprises, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

Organisation and Planning: As part of the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Development, the NVTD was directly under the authority of the Minister, was administered according to the same rules and regulations as for all government departments, and was entirely reliant on government in conjunction with donors for all its funding requirements. The 1972 Vocational Training Act did establish a National Vocational Training Council which was to act as an advisory body and encourage the involvement of all key stakeholders. In practice, decision making power was highly centralised in the office of the Director of the NVTD who was directly answerable to the Minister. Membership of the NVTC was dominated by officials from other government ministries and its role remained marginal. Trade Advisory Committees were also established to assist in the development of trade curricula, but again the involvement of industry remained limited.

Planning was based on the standard 'manpower requirements approach' which was the dominant methodology in developing countries during the 1970s. A 20 year manpower training planning was published in 1981 which estimated that there were was an annual average shortfall of upwards of 60,000 artisans/skilled workers per year during the period. To ensure that the NVTD played its part in the national training effort, government policy was that there should eventually be a VTC in each district. This plan was seriously flawed mainly because no serious attempt was made to ascertain prevailing labour market demands for both pre- and in-service training. The whole process was top-down and highly centralised. Once training capacities in specific trades at individual VTCs had been established, training provision became essentially supply-driven.

2.2.2 NVTD Performance in the Context of Adjustment, 1986-1994

Attempted reforms: During the late 1980s, various efforts were made to improve the performance of NVTD. Most notable among these were: (i) making attendance at evening classes at NVTCs or other registered training institutions a prerequisite for trade test candidates; (ii) increasing the period of basic training from one to two years for a number of trades so as to improve the acceptability of NVTD graduates to industry; (iii) improving the quality of NVTC instructors by providing structured in-service training, in particular at the Morogoro Vocational Teachers Training College; and (iv) concentrating more on skills training for rural development and the informal sector. However, taken together, these reforms had little impact in improving either the relevance, quality or quantity of training outputs from NVTD nor was there any significant increase in the overall efficiency of the training process. Both planning and management remained highly centralised at NVTD head office.

Funding and Resource Management: A key reason for this continued deterioration in organisational performance was that recurrent funding for NVTD's growing network of training centres declined rapidly after the start of the economic reform programme in 1986 as government was put under increasing pressure (mainly by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) to reduce the overall size of the budget deficit. Table 2.1 shows that, in real terms, recurrent funding plummeted from 1988/89 onwards and that most of the development budget was being met by donor agencies by 1995.

Table 2.1: NVTD recurrent and development budgets for 1985/86-1994/95 (T.Sh millions, 1990 prices)

		85/86	86/87	87/88	88/89	89/90	90/91	91/92	92/93	93/94	94/95
Recurrent		357.1	369.4	380.6	339.4	248.6	235.8	212.9	200.0	180.1	165.0
Development
	Local	272.6	212.1	171.0	101.9	62.7	62.0	94.3	106.7	66.5	32.7
	Foreign	1053.6	926.2	746.3	522.5	373.9	727.9	493.6	1701.3	2526.4	2685.1

Source: VETA

Management capacity at both head office and the NVTCs remained weak (particularly in the areas of statistics, financial analysis, procurement and inventory control of equipment and materials). Costly, donor-funded management training programmes made virtually no impact. With the real value of salaries and wages falling by over a half between 1990 and 1994, staff motivation was seriously affected and most NVTD instructors and support personnel were forced to look for additional secondary incomes which farther undermined productivity. Unable to dismiss or retrench staff, already very low instructor-student ratios in most trades fell still farther as fall time and evening class enrolments stagnated and/or fell from the late 1980s onwards (see below).

Enrolments: The number of students doing basic training increased quite significantly during the late 1980s mainly as the result of new NVTCs becoming operational. Full time students increased from 2084 in 1987 to 2712 in 1989. However, during the 1990s, enrolments stagnated and by 1996 had fallen to 2523. During the same period, the number of students enrolled in evening classes appears to have fallen precipitously. Reliable statistics for all NVTCs could not be obtained so data are only available from the three centres that were visited as part of this study. In 1987, Chang'ombe VTC had 7170 evening students (nearly two-thirds of the NVTD total). By 1990-91, this figure had fallen to 3573 and during 1995-96 there were, on average, only 1435 evening class students. At Mwanza VTC, enrolments fell from 406 in 1990-91 to 152 in 1996 and at Tanga VTC from 355 to 316 during this period. All trades were affected.

There are a number of likely reasons for this pervasive decline in the number of evening class students. On the demand side, the credibility of trade tests among both employers and individuals continued to decline at a time when formal wage employment opportunities also shrank dramatically. The limited demand for trade test certification in the informal sector discouraged individuals from taking these tests.

Apprenticeships and Industrial Attachments: The proportion of NVTD students who completed their basic training and were able to either become indentured apprentices or find industrial attachments plummeted during the 1990s. As can be observed in Table 2.2, whereas approximately three-quarters of these students were receiving on-the-job training in 1990, this figure was barely 10 per cent in 1995. With no financial incentives on offer to encourage enterprises to train NVTD students, it seems clear that, during the 1990s, when most industrial enterprises have been severely affected by trade liberalisation and other adjustment policies, the large majority have simply dispensed altogether with formal pre-employment training for artisans.

Table 2.2: Incidence of VTC students undertaking industrial placements, 1990-95

Year	Total students	Total placements	Contracts of Apprenticeship	Placements as per cent of total	Apprenticeships as per cent of total
1987	2084	-	-	-	-
1990	2774	1850	295	66.7	10.6
1993	2681	650	50	24.2	1.9
1995	2523	260	45	10.3	1.8

Source: VETA records

The poor quality of the on job training received by NVTD students is also reflected in the relatively very small number of NVTD students who take the Trade Test I examination in the normal prescribed time. The files of 100 randomly selected students equally divided among five major trades at Chang'ombe VTC who completed their basic training in 1989 and 1991 were scrutinised. In Table 2.3, it can be observed that over 90 per cent of students from both cohorts had attempted Trade Test II within two years of completing basic training. However, among the 1989 cohort, only 10-25 per cent took the Trade Test I on time at the end of what is supposed to be a four year training period. By 1995, two years after the time they should have completed their training, 20-40 per cent of the 1989 cohort had still not sat for Trade Test I. Among the 1991 cohort of basic training graduates, significantly higher proportions of students attempted Trade Test I on time compared to the 1989 cohort of basic training graduates. Just why this improvement occurred is not entirely clear, but it may be because of appreciable differences in the educational attainments of trainees prior to joining NVTD.

Table 2.3: NVTD basic training graduates attempting Trade Tests II and I in normal prescribed time in selected trades, 1989 and 1991 intakes

	1989 cohort						1991 cohort
	II			I			II		I
	on time	1 year late	by 1995	on time	1 year late	by 1995	on time	1 year late	on time	1 year late
Electrical installation	65	95	100	15	40	75	65	90	35	70
Motor mechanic	75	100	100	20	40	80	70	90	35	80
Tailoring	40	75	100	10	35	60	60	95	15	65
Carpentry	60	95	100	25	55	70	55	80	25	65

Source: VETA student records

Trade Tests: Table 2.4 shows the number of trade test candidates and pass rates for Trade Tests III-I for seven major trades for 1990 and 1995. Precise data were not available, but approximately two thirds of all individuals taking trade tests during this period were from other training institutions besides NVTD. It can be observed that: (i) the number of individuals attempting these trade tests, with the exception of electrical installation, fell very significantly between 1990 and 1995; (ii) Pass rates were generally quite low - in the range of 30-60 per cent for all three trade tests; (iii) Rates of progression between Trade Test III and I were very low. Typically, only 15-20 per cent of (i.e. 1 out of every 5-6) Trade Test III candidates attempted and passed Trade Test II and this fell to just 1-5 per cent for Trade Test I. The worst example is tailoring where, in both 1990 and 1995, the number of Trade Test I passes was a mere 1 per cent of the total number of Trade Test III candidates.

2.2.3 The Establishment of VETA

The 1994 Vocational Education and Training Act: The overall objective of the 1994 Vocational Education and Training Act is to provide "a legal framework for the implementation of a flexible vocational education and training system capable of responding quickly to the needs of the labour market" (VETA, 1996). The three key features of this new framework are the creation of VETA as an autonomous government agency with its own Board exercising overall executive authority, the introduction of a training levy of two per cent of gross payroll for all enterprises with four or more employees, and greater decentralisation with the establishment of Regional VET Boards responsible for planning and provision of vocational training at the regional level and the devolution of most operational management responsibilities onto Regional Vocational Training and Service Centres.

Table 2.4: Trade test candidates and pass rates in selected trades, 1990 and 1995

Trade	Test level	1990				1995				per cent change 1990-95
		Number sat	Number pass	per cent pass	Completion indexa	Number sat	Number pass	per cent pass	Completion rate
Motor vehicle	III	2238	1018	45	45	2361	1193	51	51	5.5
	II	810	497	61	22	654	323	49	14	-19.3
	I	251	105	42	5	222	131	59	6	-11.6
Fitter mechanic	III	371	180	49	49	96	64	67	67	-74.1
	II	187	89	48	24	69	37	53	38	-63.1
	I	95	60	63	16	29	15	52	16	-69.5
Welder/blacksmith	III	608	248	41	41	349	145	42	42	-42.6
	II	207	103	50	17	132	62	47	18	-36.2
	I	87	14	16	2	40	17	42	5	-54.0
Masonry/bricklaying	III	1049	469	45	45	593	314	53	53	-43.5
	II	247	169	68	16	235	124	53	21	-4.9
	I	125	70	56	7	58	830	51	5	-53.6
Tailoring	III	926	306	33	33	973	399	41	41	5.0
	II	150	95	63	10	133	83	62	9	-11.3
	I	36	12	33	1	21	11	52	1	-41.7
Carpentry	III	1468	718	49	49	852	617	72	72	-42.0
	II	460	241	52	16	285	134	47	16	-38.0
	I	121	36	30	2	69	34	49	4	-43.0
Electrical installation	III	1135	563	50	50	1660	920	55	55	46.3
	II	512	387	76	34	630	302	48	18	23.0
	I	229	125	55	11	245	111	45	7	7.0

Source: VETA

Notes: The completion index is the number of Trade Test I passes expressed as a percentage of the number of candidates who sat Trade Test III in the same year.

A Strategic Action Plan (Phase I) for VETA for the period 1996-1999 focuses on five main 'development components', namely institutional structures and management systems, the establishment of Regional Boards and eight core Regional Vocational Training and Service Centres, development of the training system itself (including a new system of modular training and testing and certification, up-grading of the Morogoro Vocational Teachers Training College), and 'key general components', most notably improved gender balance on VETA training courses and increased emphasis on entrepreneurship training.

Strengths of the VET Act: The 1994 Act contains a number of positive features that should result in some improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of training provision. In particular, organisational and financial independence will enable a VETA to provide better quality training. Task-oriented management systems are being introduced. Comprehensive staffing reviews both at the centre and in the regions are expected to result in a smaller, more able and better motivated cadre of instructors and support staff. In real terms, salaries are to be at least tripled.

After only two years of operation, it was clear that some tangible improvements had already been achieved. The 20 NVTC respondents interviewed for this study were asked to rate the extent to which key aspects of training provision had changed since 1990. As can be observed in Tables 2.5 and 2.6, at least half stated that the quality of instructors, the number of contact hours and the ability to dismiss poor performers had 'improved' and that there had been 'limited change' with respect to training priorities, content of training and teaching techniques.

By early 1998, VETA management had started to make concerted efforts to ensure that training provided by VTCs becomes more demand driven. In particular, labour demand surveys were carried out in all eight regions during 1997 in order to assess training needs of both formal and informal sector enterprises in all sectors. New modular-based training is also being slowly introduced that covers both technical/manual and entrepreneurial/commercial skills. There is a clear recognition that traditional long, pre-employment artisan training must be increasingly replaced by short-term training that is targeted on training needs of workers already in employment. However, three and a half years after its creation, actual progress made by VETA in reorienting its training provision remains limited. While the reason for this slow progress are not entirely clear, management shortcomings have undoubtedly been a major factor. The director of VETA was dismissed by the Minister of Labour in June 1997 and a successor had still not been appointed by May 1998. Similarly, meetings of the VETA Board have been very infrequent, particularly during 1997

Weaknesses of the VET Act: According to the VET Act, VETA has a comprehensive national mandate for VET in Tanzania. However, in practice, the main weakness of the new organisational arrangements is that there is no clear separation between VETA's roles as regulator and financier of VET, on the one hand, and actual training provision on the other. The widespread perception among industry is that the sole beneficiaries of the Act are the erstwhile NVTC training centres who will receive most of the training levy for the foreseeable future. While it is clearly possible for VETA training centres to modify their courses offerings to some extent, the fact remains that these centres are intended primarily for artisan and skill worker training. It is, therefore, neither desirable nor feasible that they should attempt to cover all the areas of skills training required by all enterprises in Tanzania. As will be discussed in Chapter 4, private sector training institutions are already providing a whole range of commercial and computing courses and, in addition, specialist training organisations already exist that cater for specialist training needs of specific industries (e.g. tourism, mining, agriculture).

In total, VETA training centres enrol less then 10 per cent of all VET students. If VETA is, therefore, to be a genuine national training agency it needs to be separated from the Ministry of Labour's training centres and plan and fund VET in accordance with the training needs of all categories of personnel (from senior managers in the largest formal sector enterprises to one person microenterprises) right across the economy.

Table 2.5: Respondent assessment of extent of change in the planning and quality of training inputs since 1990 (percentages)

Change in	Deteriorated significantly	Deteriorated	No change	Improved	Improved significantly
Employer involvement	0	20	80	0	0
Student industrial attachments	5	85	5	5	0
Student intake quality	0	5	20	70	5
Planning capacity	0	0	70	30	0
Quality of management	0	0	55	45	0
Quality of instructors	0	0	15	80	5
Motivation of instructors	0	10	60	30	0
Number of contact hours	0	0	10	90	0
Ability to dismiss poor performers	0	0	10	85	5

The results of the labour demand surveys undertaken by VETA have still not been published. However, our research indicates that the pattern of skills training required by enterprises in Tanzania is much the same as for similar types of enterprises elsewhere in the world. More specifically, enterprise demand for workforce training can be subdivided into two main types: (i) technical and managerial/supervisory skill requirements for all occupations that are largely sector-specific e.g. mining, tourism, financial services, utilities; and (ii) general, mainly short term training in core areas of competence that are needed across all sectors, in particular accountancy, marketing, personnel management, computing, and secretarial. Because VETA can only realistically provide a small fraction of this training, its own training courses are likely to remain of limited interest for the majority of enterprises (especially those with more specialist training needs in the formal sector).

As with the old NVTD organisation structure, the 1994 Act stipulates that Trade Advisory Committees 'may be established in respect of such industry, trade or occupation as the Board may determine'. In the past, these committees have, as their name suggests, been mainly concerned with a fairly narrow range of trades. It is clear, however, that a demand-driven training system must be based on organisational arrangements where, collectively, employers in each major economic sector are able to identify their own training requirements and have effective control over available resources to meet at least a significant proportion of these training needs. While it is possible for TACs for specific sectors or industries to be established under the Act, as currently constituted, they will almost certainly not have sufficient status and authority and will therefore not encourage any real sense of ownership and hence interest by most employers.

Table 2.6: Respondent assessment of changes in training provision since 1990

Change in	No change	Limited change	Major change
Training priorities	30	70	0
Content of training	40	50	10
Teaching techniques	30	65	5

Even with its fairly narrow, de facto training mandate, the governance of VETA at both national and regional levels does not give sufficient representation to employers and 'for profit' training institutions so as to ensure that decisions about training priorities and resource allocations are demand-driven. With eight out of 10 members of the VETA Board from ministries (3), trade unions (2), and 'NGOs which manage VET institutions' (3), it is likely that VETA will continue to be strongly supply-driven. Again, unless employers have a greater degree of control over the training process, there is unlikely to be any real sense of ownership and commitment in making the new system work.

One of the principal arguments in support for the introduction of the training levy was that it would 'enhance participation and accountability' (SAP, pp. 4) among contributing employers. However, given that VETA training centres will be able to provide only a relatively small proportion of the training that is needed, it is unlikely that this objective can be achieved. With over 90 per cent of the training levy income to be allocated to VETA's own training centres until at least 2000, hardly any funding will be available that could be used to support other kinds of training. Faced with this situation, most enterprises regard the training levy as just another tax that, moreover, is to be used to continue to support a set of training institutions that have little or no relevance to their actual training needs. It is not surprising to find, therefore, that in 1996 only 23 per cent of the 12,000 liable enterprises were paying the VETA levy. The fact also that only 10 per cent of basic training students are able to find industrial placements is indicative of VETA's isolation from employers.

VETA is expected to introduce entirely new 'task-oriented' management systems that will lead to significant improvements in efficiency. Experience from other countries, suggests, however, that, on their own, these kind of management reforms are unlikely to achieve the desired outcomes in relation to organisational performance. More specifically, more powerful external incentives are necessary in order to compel public sector training organisations to either meet certain objectives or face the prospect of having to reduce their training activities or even close down altogether. But, with a guaranteed source of income from the training levy, such an incentive structure does not exist with respect to VETA. In effect, the proposed use of the levy means that VETA faces a 'soft budget constraint' in much same way as other parastatals did in Tanzania during the 1970s and 1980s. The failure to recruit an entirely new management team to run VETA has further compounded this problem. To outside observers, it looks as though VETA is being managed by the same NVTD managers, many of whom lack creditability among industry and other key stakeholders.

Finally, evidence from other countries strongly suggests that effective support for informal sector entrepreneurs and workers nearly always should be provided as an integrated package of services including, credit, consultancy, and training. Training as a single input provided by designated training centres rarely works. Serious consideration needs to be given, therefore, to the proposed provision of training for microenterprises by VETA training centres.

2.3 Zimbabwe: the Ministry of Higher Education

2.3.1 Governance and organisation

The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) is a good example of a supply-driven training system. The 1994 Manpower Planning and Development Act provided for the establishment of centralised, bureaucratic control over the polytechnics, technical colleges and vocational training centres, a weak advisory body to represent the interests of employers and other major stakeholders, (namely the National Manpower Advisory Council (NAMACO)), and a government-controlled training levy-grant system (the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZIMDEF)). Courses at the polytechnics and colleges cater almost exclusively for pre-employment occupational training for government and mainly large employers in the industrial and commercial sectors. Most employers are primarily concerned with job-related training. However, training provision that is geared to meeting these training needs has received little attention, both in terms of financial support from ZIMDEF and special courses at MOHE training institutions.

Employer and other stakeholder criticism of VET provision by the MOHE has continued to grow since the start of economic liberalisation in 1991. The Ministry itself accepts some of these criticisms and has attempted to introduce a number of reforms. These include encouraging greater efficiency and financial self-sufficiency at its colleges, a more positive attitude to private sector training institutions, and amendments (passed in 1994) to the Manpower Planning and Development Act in order to enable NAMACO to play a more effective role and to make the apprenticeship system more responsive to employers' needs. However, these represent only minor changes to the system and certainly do not meet the concerns of NAMACO and other organisations and individuals who want wide-ranging reforms that, collectively, would result in a genuinely demand-driven training system.

In part, this lack of response is due to the slow pace of public sector reform as a whole in Zimbabwe with government reluctant to relinquish its control over key functions and resources. However, the relatively low priority attached to VET reform by employers and their organisations has also meant that little serious pressure has been brought to bear on politicians and senior policymakers.

2.3.2 Planning

The planning and research capacity of the MOHE has remained weak during the 1990s. In the period immediately after Independence, the government attached very considerable importance to 'manpower planning', but since the late 1980s no serious attempt has been made to develop a comprehensive human resources development strategy based upon clear sectoral needs and priorities. A National Manpower Needs Analysis was finally published in 1995. Unfortunately, however, both the survey methodology and data collection are flawed. Consequently, the considerable expansion of VET provision in the public sector during the 1990s has not been guided by a proper analysis of actual and future training needs.

2.3.3 Funding

Central government: In real terms, the MOHE's budget increased, on average, by 6.3 per cent per annum between 1991/92 and 1995/96. However, the corresponding figure for VET was -1.4 per cent. Allocations for salaries and subsistence and travel have been particularly badly affected. Real expenditure per student fell by 41 per cent between 1989 and 1995. Faced with such a large fall in funding, budget over-runs have been sizeable, at least up until 1995 when the Stop Payments System was introduced. This has resulted in a very considerable tightening of the budgetary process and colleges have found it increasingly difficult to honour payments to suppliers of goods and services.

Budget cuts have had a profoundly negative impact on the training process. The annual reports of the polytechnics and technical colleges catalogue a long list of problems including grossly inadequate transport, library facilities, textbook provision and basic equipment (especially computers). Equipment has not been properly maintained. Highly bureaucratic procurement procedures have also posed a major problem for college managements.

ZIMDEF: As the real value of central government funding has declined, increasing reliance has been placed on ZIMDEF. All registered employers must pay the equivalent of one per cent of their payroll costs into the fund. In return, they can apply for the reimbursement of training costs at courses and other training activities that have been approved by ZIMDEF.

Since 1990, most consumables and equipment costs at the polytechnics and technical colleges have been met from ZIMDEF with the MOHE covering salaries only. Employers' organisations believe that this is a serious 'diversion' of ZIMDEF resources from funding job-related training which they see as the main purpose of the training levy.

Between 1990 and 1995, training levy 'collections' increased from Z$47.8 million to Z$121.1 million, a nominal increase of 153.3 per cent, but a decrease of 24.5 per cent in real terms During the same period, expenditures rose from Z$39.1 million to Z$100.5 million, a real decrease of 23.3 per cent. Between 1992 and 1995, real expenditures fell by nearly a half. And yet, the gap between total income (collections plus interest on reserves) and expenditure increased very significantly - from 11.5 per cent in 1990 to 34.8 per cent in 1995 when total reserves stood at an all time high of Z$145.4 million.

Since the start of ESAP, the only major change in the pattern of ZIMDEF expenditures has been the fall in the relative importance of 'capital projects' and the increase in the share allocated to 'industrial attachments' (see Table 2.7). However, with only 4-5 per cent of total income being devoted to rebates for employer training during the 1990s, the majority of employers have continued to express their strong dissatisfaction with the utilisation of ZIMDEF funds and, not surprisingly, continue to regard the training levy as little more than a tax. Between 1990 and 1997, the number of companies required to pay the levy increased by 5.2 per cent to 13,076. However, 27.8 per cent of these companies are 'under investigation' by ZIMDEF for not paying their levy contributions.

Table 2.7: Utilisation of ZIMDEF resources 1990-1995 (percentage)

	1990	1995
Apprenticeship	45.7	36.4
Skilled worker	1.9	3.6
Capital projects	39.9	4.4
Employer rebates	6.3	8.1
Equipment	0.3	5.8
Consumables	0.0	15.8
Industrial attachments	2.6	17.6

Source: ZIMDEF

Other Funding Sources: Faced with such an acute funding crisis, the polytechnics and colleges have tried to generate additional income through the introduction of new (mainly evening and weekend) courses and production activities. However, while many of the courses have proved popular, they have not led to any significant improvement in the funding situation. Government regulations require that all income earned by the colleges is returned to the Treasury which acts as a major disincentive for college management and teaching staff to take income generation seriously.

External assistance (in particular from Germany, the United States and, to a lesser extent, Canada and France) has been very important in the construction and equipping of the new MOHE training institutions that were established during the 1980s, including the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT), two Vocational Training Centres at Msasa and Westgate, and the Hotel School at Bulawayo Polytechnic. While no comprehensive data is available, it is clear however, that direct donor support for VET has fallen very considerably during the 1990s as donors have switched their support to basic education. Within the VET sector, donors (in particular, the Germans and the British) are now focusing mainly on training for the informal sector and other disadvantaged groups.

Finally, direct contributions by companies have remained minimal. Prior to Independence, these had been relatively substantial. However, as senior managers at most companies have become increasingly unhappy about their lack of control and effective involvement in training provision at government training centres, financial contributions have declined significantly. Over the years, enterprises and industries have been internalising their training. Increasingly, they are organising their own training activities as is evidenced by the establishment of industry training centres in textiles and clothing, printing and packaging, and leather and shoe. Growing sectoralisation of training provision is a global phenomenon.

2.3.4 Staffing and Remuneration

The staffing situation at the MOHE training centres has improved during the 1990s. The number of instructors in-post increased by nearly 70 per cent between 1989 and 1995 and the vacancy rate fell from 34.8 per cent to 8.5 per cent during the same period. At least half of all instructors have been trained at the Technical Teachers' College in Gweru. Widespread concerns have been voiced about the lack of practical experience of these instructors. Staff turnover has remained low in most subject areas.

By the mid 1990s, lecturer: student ratios for most courses were well under the MOHE's norm of 1:24. The most important exceptions were business studies (1:37) and secretarial studies (1:28).

In real terms, the basic salaries of lecturers fell by 20-30 per cent between 1990 and 1995. Combined with efforts by the MOHE to increase student contact hours, this significant decrease in real incomes has adversely affected the morale and motivation of teaching as well as support staff.

2.3.5 Enrolments

Enrolment Trends: During the 1980s, enrolments at the polytechnics and technical colleges expanded very rapidly, with an annual average rate growth of 16.5 per cent. During the 1990s, however, enrolment growth has slowed down very considerably which can be largely attributed to budget cuts. Between the start of ESAP in 1991 and 1996, the average rate of growth in total student numbers was 7.5 per cent per annum. In 1996, 60 per cent of students attended the colleges on a full-time basis. Female students comprised only 31 per cent and 27 per cent of full- and part-time students respectively.

The rationalisation of courses since 1993, and in particular the merging of the National Intermediate Diploma (NID) with the National Diploma (ND) qualification has raised formal entry requirements at colleges thereby further depressing enrolment growth. Despite the MOHE's affirmative action policy that was officially adopted in 1993, the share of female students in total enrolments fell very considerably - from 39.0 per cent in 1989 to 29.5 per cent in 1996. This has been mainly due to the decline in the relative number of enrolments in subjects such as business studies and secretarial which have the highest concentrations of female students.

While total enrolments at the three VTCs have increased in the 1990s (from 241 in 1990 to 898 in 1995), the absolute level of training remains very low for an economy the size and sophistication of Zimbabwe. There continues to be enormous pent-up demand for skills upgrading among individual workers, but most private sector employers are reluctant to allow their workers to acquire trade tests in this way, fearing considerably higher wage costs and/or increased attrition. As a result, over half of the workers who attend VTCs are employed in the public sector. Large scale retrenchments in many industrial sectors and a generally deteriorating economic climate with high inflation and interest rates for much of this period have also adversely affected the level of effective demand for this type of training. With reduced staff levels, employers have found it that much more difficult to release workers for even short periods of formal training.

Apprenticeship: The total number of craft apprentices being indentured with employers has remained very small since the start of ESAP (see Table 2.8). The apprenticeship programme in the public sector has, in fact, been shrinking with parastatals and government ministries alike facing increasingly 'hard budgets' and retrenchments. In the private sector, recruitment of new apprentices has also declined significantly in recent years. The centralisation of apprentice recruitment and the bonding of apprentices had a very negative impact on employers' attitudes to apprenticeship training. Among school leavers, however, the demand for apprenticeship remains extremely high. In 1995, for example, there were 25,425 eligible applicants for the 944 training places that were available.

Table 2.8: Newly indentured apprentices, 1991-1996

Year	Male			Female			Totals
	Public	Private	Total	Public	Private	Total	Public	Private	All
1991	518	700	1218	1	4	5	519	704	1223
1992	403	527	930	19	7	26	422	534	956
1993	341	951	1292	10	66	76	351	1017	1368
1994	466	1415	1881	23	44	67	489	1459	1948
1995	52	825	877	4	63	67	56	888	944
1996	434	829	1363	31	52	83	465	881	1346

Source: Compiled from MOHE records

While the number of employers sponsoring new apprentices has increased during the 1990s (from 134 in 1991 to 231 in 1996), a small group of less than 20 enterprises still accounts for over 40 per cent of all new apprenticeships. And, despite the fact that 9500 employers are currently paying the training levy and are, therefore, entitled to receive generous state financial support for apprenticeship training (on average, approximately Z$5000 per annum), barely 2.5 per cent are actually prepared to sponsor new apprentices in any one year.

During the 1990s, employer dissatisfaction with the apprenticeship system has been fuelled by:

(i) the reform of the apprenticeship system in 1993 with apprentices now required to attend colleges for one full academic year;

(ii) the chronic lack of training capacity at the polytechnics and colleges. In 1994, for example, 55 per cent of apprentices had to have their training deferred for at least a year; and

(iii) generally poor quality training with out-dated curriculum and instructors who lack industrial experience.

2.3.6 Capacity Utilisation

Capacity utilisation for the (male-dominated) engineering subjects has improved significantly during the 1990s, but it has remained low in key subjects such as business, hotel and catering, secretarial and computing where proportionately more women are enrolled. Inadequate equipment and staff shortages were reported as the main constraints preventing greater capacity utilisation. Faced with unchanging staff establishments, colleges have been forced to rely heavily on part-time instructors who are considerably more costly. Given existing under-capacity, there seems little point in building new technical colleges as is planned at Bindura and Marondera.

2.3.7 Course and Curriculum Development

A key objective of the MOHE's 1991-95 Human Resources Development Plan was to diversify the VET curriculum. By 1995, however, only 28 of the scheduled 165 new courses had been introduced. And, among the courses that have been developed, none of them have been based on a detailed training needs analysis. Attempts to introduce national certificate and diploma courses have been seriously affected by lack of qualified staff. The Curriculum Division at MOHE Head Office has been seriously under-staffed. An internal MOHE evaluation report found that most staff within the Ministry were not even aware of the existence of the HRD Plan. While some of the Plan's targets have been met, the evaluation concludes that this has been more by luck then judgement.

Faced with these multiple constraints, little progress has been made in developing new courses for the informal sector and other disadvantaged groups. Most colleges now run 'hobby' courses in the evenings and at weekends, but these have had little impact on informal sector entrepreneurs and workers. The most promising initiative is the Informal Sector Training and Resource Network (INSTARN) which is funded by the German Government and is based in Masvingo. However, the numbers of individuals being supported by INSTARN remains quite small.

2.3.8 Examination Performance

While the overall pass rates for all VET national (HEXCO) examinations increased significantly from 27.6 per cent in 1990 to 57.0 per cent in 1994 (the latest year for which published information is available), the phasing out of the NID, NCC, NITC, NTC and City and Guilds courses resulted in the number of examination candidates falling by 45.7 per cent - from 15,398 in 1990 to just 8,309 in 1994. The targets set by the Human Resources Development Plan were 12,000 entries by 1995 and an overall pass rate of 70 per cent. Compared with the nearly 150,000 Form IV students who sat for 'O' levels in the mid 1990s, the output of the VET system is relatively very small.

Overall pass rates at the two polytechnics and six of the seven technical colleges were between 30-50 per cent in 1994. With a pass rate of 70 per cent, students at Harare Institute of Technology performed much better. Although the pass rate at 'other private colleges and schools' was a relatively impressive 60.6 per cent, most of the students took only national certificate courses in mainly commercial subjects. Thus, without more disaggregated information, it is not possible to make meaningful comparisons between public and private sector training institutions.

Data on drop-out and repetition rates for students at MOHE training institutions are also not available. However, one-third of (one year) national certificate students enrolled in 1994 did not sit for the examination which suggests that drop-out and/or repetition rates were very high. However, for the (two year) national diploma and (one year) higher national diploma courses, the level of student attrition appears to be considerably lower (i.e. less than 10 per cent).

More up to date information on examination performance in six core subject areas is presented in Tables 2.9 and 2.10. At the national certificate level, although pass rates have improved (with the exception of electrical engineering), they are still poor. Even for the subjects with the best pass rates (namely business and secretarial), one-third of students failed in 1996. Pass rates for the national diploma and national diploma courses are equally low which, again, is a reflection of the poor quality of training at MOHE training institutions.

Table 2.9: Examination results at certificate level by discipline, 1992, 1994 and 1996

Course	1992		1994		1996
	No. entered	Pass rate	No. entered	Pass rate	No. entered	Pass rate
Electrical Engineering	138	41.3	187	55.1	143	35.0
Mechanical Eng.	128	30.5	372	41.4	375	43.2
Civil Engineering	73	8.2	257	34.2	241	39.0
Computing	-	-	424	52.6	254	53.5
Business	447	53.0	665	58.7	409	70.2
Secretarial	420	46.4	267	42.7	437	67.1

Source: Ministry of Higher Education, unpublished data

Table 2.10: Examination results at diploma level by discipline, 1992, 1994 and 1996

Course	1992		1994		1996
	No. entered	Pass rate	No. entered	Pass rate	No. entered	Pass rate
Electrical Engineering	-	-	-	-	184	66.3
Mechanical Eng.	53	43.4	-	-	76	26.3
Civil Engineering	83	44.6	84	58.3	145	46.9
Computing	86	23.3	78	59.0	128	68.0
Business	635	23.5	635	30.2	46	43.5
Secretarial	10	20.0	267	42.7	641	59.0

Source: Ministry of Higher Education, unpublished data

The overall number of students passing in these subjects remains very small - barely 1000, 700 and 100 at the certificate, diploma, and higher diploma levels respectively. Fewer than 200 engineering diplomats are being trained each year.

Poor examination setting, moderating and marking skills continue to dog the MOHE's Examinations Division. In interviews with college managements and teaching staff, frequent complaints were made about the lack of relevance of many examination questions, and mistakes in papers. Rates for examiners, moderators and invigilators are too low to attract qualified and experienced personnel.