A CRITICAL EVALUATION INTO THE ROLE OF THE LIBYAN TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN PROVIDING THE SKILLS REQUIRED BY THE NATIONAL MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

The changing demands of the workforce in the 21st century has shaped most important challenges for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) suppliers to rapidly and efficiently to the continually changing skills needs of the economy and in particular the manufacturing sector. This responsiveness is important for developed countries to stay competitive, but even more important to enable developing countries to close the gap with the industrial world. In Libya the manufacturing industry has traditionally suffered from a shortage of skilled manpower. During 1990s, a network of TVET institutions was introduced for the purpose of enhancing the supply of skilled manpower needed for the economic and social transformation plans. Increased collaboration between TVET providers and those in industry has increasingly become a factor in a number of systems for improve curricula, equipment and facilities. Nevertheless, these initiatives are still fragmented and lack strategic approach. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of the Libyan TVET system in providing the skills required by the national manufacturing industry. To achieve this target a questionnaire has been designed to test research hypothesis, and distributed to students in higher education institutions in Libya to investigate their perceptions in this regard. The result of study indicated that there is a substantial mismatch between the outcome of TVET and the exact requirements of manufacturing industry. The results also indicate how to improve technical programmes which will help serve the community by providing students with educate technical information.