Dr. Engr. Md. Sakawat Ali

E-mail: sakawat_ali@yahoo.com

Greening: Greening is an active and integrated appreciation, stewardship and management of living elements of social-ecological systems. Greening takes place in cities, towns, townships and informal settlements in urban and peri-urban areas, and in the battlefields of war of disaster. Greening involves active participation with nature and in human or civil society.

Greening TVET: Greening TVET indicates hope, growth and prosperity for the future world. It speaks of the revolution of industries, educational institutions and policies to being compatible with contemporary societies today. Greening TVET must be seen as a brand and thus be widely known. It's seeds must first be planted in the minds of infants, be watered and nurtured so that sustainable development will be possible. Greening Technical Vocational Education and Training and Skills Development for the World of Work. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is the strategic entry point for ensuring a world of work that contributes to social cohesion and promotes environmentally sound sustainable development.

TVET has a major role in greening the society; educating and training people about the need of greening to change their behavior. One main issue is to integrate green issues in TVET policy, to have a clear action plan, incentives and projects for TVET institutions to take up the issue and start advocating among the people, possibly with international support.

Greening mean the hazards free environment or sustainable development (economy), or to divert the maximum number of human resources to Greening TEVT? In developing countries the main problem is the behavior, how will they be diverted towards greening TEVT, how can the society have enough soft skills to give space to the TEVT workers, especially women and physically challenged people?

A prosperous green economy needs skilled employees and professionals who are adequately trained and have comprehensive knowledge about their fields.  Many jobs and occupations are currently undergoing significant changes (e.g. in the automotive industry) and new professions will come into being, simultaneously helping economies to protect resources and to work in a resource-efficient way. As a result, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions become critical for the economic and ecological development in providing demand-oriented training and further education for the workforce of a country. TVET institutions to become active drivers for a shift towards a green economy? What competencies are needed for entire staffs of TVET institutions to provide the required skills development activities and to create a supportive learning environment?

The globalization and technological changes are the main causes to change the working environment of the world. These changes impact upon the quality of social, economic and environmental conditions. Every skill oriented professions need to be called upon to reorient the sustainability management issues while maintaining the principles of 6R that is Reduce, Reuse, Renew, Recycle, Repair and Rethink perspectives. For reorient them, the curriculum for the study program need to be relevant to the changing demands of the workplace. Without TVET being relevant and responsive to skills needs in the workplace, there is the danger of learners completing their education and training without employable skills and knowledge. The specific current problem is that existing TVET curricula is full of outdated materials and methods in Nepal. The instructors and students of TVET institutions are not or very minimal oriented on new innovations of green TVET issues and the curriculum does not play a role in its delivery. A further problem is that linkages between sustainability management experts and subject experts (an integral part of an overall innovation system) are poorly developed. Very few learning activities on sustainability issues take place in collaboration with actors in this sector. Likewise another major problem of training system is the lack of communication between sustainability experts about positive developments in curricula and teaching methods: platforms for exchange of experience and ideas are largely absent. It is obvious that the most critical weaknesses in TVET curricula in Nepal fail to provide students with the necessary sustainability skills to contribute creatively to these innovation systems. Sustainable development into TVET field should be included Sustainable Development Eco-efficiency, Environmental Management System, Economic Literacy, Sustainable Production, Sustainable Consumption, Managing Small Enterprise and Application of 6Rs: Reduce Reuse, Renew, Recycle Repair and Rethink perspectives which are found lacking in the TVET curriculum. 

“Greening TVET” involves four key steps:

• Understanding the process
• Planning for the greening of TVET
• Implementing an Institutional Green Plan
• Monitoring and Assessment Strategies

The following are some common areas where we can focus on Greening TVET:

1. Greening the campus premises: growing trees and greenery is very basic.
2. Efficiency in the use of power and shifting power to sources generated from alternative energy i.e Solar, Wind and geothermal. Also subscribing to energy efficient practices in all operations that take place in the campus.
3. Reducing the use of paper and gradually moving towards paperless environment through the use of ICT solutions.
4. Reducing waste by reusing resources/ training materials, recycle waste material and use environment friendly consumable during operation of the workshop tools and equipment.
5. Use MACHINERY and equipment with energy Star and eco-star logo to ensure efficiency in the use of energy.
6. Optimize the use of water in a building.
7. There are green practices related to administrative offices, class rooms and workshops that need to be adopted.
8. Starting courses related to green energy and similar practices that ensure hydro power generation technician, PV panel installer, Alternative energy technician, and the like.
9. Integrating the aspects on green practices in the curriculum apart from the stand alone course
10. Undertaking projects on green building designs, green solutions to many social problems through the use of technology.

The above are some but not all aspects that can be considered in greening TVET systems.

 

Key Words: Greening TVET