Sitemap
Zoom image will be displayed
Photo: Johanna Kemper

Dual training has been well-received in Benin but roll-out has been slow.

Rubain Bankole holds a PhD in Sociology of Development and joined ETH Zürich as visiting scholar in the beginning of October 2021. We talked to him about his dissertation on the dual vocational education system in Benin, what challenges the dual system faces, how he sees the role of international donor agencies when it comes to planning and funding and why graduation ceremonies can bring young apprentices in serious trouble.

The international research initiative LELAM TVET4INCOME: Linking Education and Labor Markets aims to understand how the youth labour market situation can be improved both through stronger social institutions and the linkages between the employers and vocational training systems. As part of this initiative, Dr. Rubain Bankole studied the national dual vocational education system in his home country of Benin, which introduced a nationwide dual vocational education system in 2005 and has recently begun certifying apprentices who complete their training with traditional craftsmen. Dr. Bankole worked together with Prof. Isabel Günther and Bartlomiej Kudrzycki of ETH NADEL and was supervised for his doctoral dissertation “Appropriating of dual vocational education and training in Benin: an empirical analysis in the (in)formal sector” by Dr. Ir. Guy Sourou Nouatin of the University of Parakou. Now Dr. Bankole is a junior scientist at the Department of Rural Economy and Sociology at University of Parakou.

Rubain Bankole, you wrote your dissertation on the adoption of dual vocational education and training in Benin. How well established is the dual system, which combines technical education and practice-oriented vocational training, in your country?

Traditionally, apprenticeship in Benin has been organized by local networks of master craftsmen, professional associations, and parents. There was little government involvement in the past, and the certificate that apprentices received at the end of their training carried no official recognition.

In 2005, the government of Benin began to fundamentally restructure the apprenticeship system, with reforms that included the introduction of Swiss-style dual training and the issuance of nationally recognized graduation certificates. Dual training has been well-received in Benin by both apprentices and trainers, but roll-out has been slow. The budget for the programme has limited the number of apprentices to about a thousand per year, in just 13 of 311 officially recognized trades.

What did you study in your dissertation?

I studied how the dual training system is being implemented in the crafts sector in Benin, using a sociological lens. In dual training, apprentices attend vocational training centres once a week for formal classes and spend the rest of the week in their masters’ workshops or working on-site. The dual system combines the advantages of training with a firm — in Benin, often a craftsman’s workshop or an informal business like a hairdresser — with classroom education. And, thanks to the reform, apprentices graduate with a nationally recognized certificate of professional qualification (Certificat de Qualification Professionnelle, or CQP).

My dissertation focuses on the historical conditions under which the dual system was implemented in Benin, as well as the transformation of the crafts sector in the years since the reform. I also looked at the actors involved in dual training, their roles in the new system, their perception of its benefits and drawbacks.

How did you proceed?

After reviewing the literature on dual training across the world, I identified the public and private actors involved in apprenticeship in Benin. I interviewed officials from the relevant public institutions, staff from professional associations such as the National Confederation of Craftsmen (CNAB) and the Benin Crafts’ Chamber (UCIMB), trainers and administrators from vocational training centres, and of course the apprentices and their parents themselves. I also personally visited vocational training centres and workshops across Benin. These field visits were very helpful for a comparative analysis of the training process.

Zoom image will be displayed

What are your key findings?

Overall, my research indicates that Benin has been quite successful in adapting the dual vocational education and training model to the West African context. It has helped graduates stand out in the labour market and highlighted the importance of skills upgrading in the traditional crafts sector. Master craftsmen also expressed their support and emphasized that the nationally recognized CQP certification is much more valuable than the informal certificates that had been issued before the reform.

At the same time, much work remains to be done before dual training can really establish itself next to classical classroom-based vocational education in Benin. The trainers noted that the programme puts them at a disadvantage, as they cannot earn the CQP certificates themselves — even as they train and certify their competition. Yet their buy-in is critical to the survival of the new system, which is still overly reliant on external financing.

Although Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is a nominal priority for the government, I found that this is not reflected in its budgeting. Since its inception, many of the training centres central to the dual system have had to close as financing for the programme started to run dry. Meanwhile, government funding of privately-run training centres has incentivized profiteering, reducing trust in the programme and putting its long-term sustainability in jeopardy.

Did you expect these results? What was the most surprising finding?

The most surprising finding was the stubborn persistence of traditional graduation ceremonies.

With the introduction of the CQP legislation, the government banned the lavish ceremonies that would traditionally be celebrated at the end of an apprenticeship. In the traditional ceremonies, parents would be expected to give expensive gifts to the trainers in exchange for the “release” of their apprentices into the labour market. In some cases, this practice drove apprentices and their parents into substantial debt.

It turned out that graduation ceremonies have continued to be held in spite of the ban, albeit less publicly and on a smaller scale. I found that apprentices and parents are so attached to this practice in large part because it offers graduates an opportunity to connect with their first clients.

“Dual training in Benin is still primarily supported by external donors.”

How would you describe some of the similarities between the apprenticeship system in Benin and Switzerland? What are some of the key differences?

As in Switzerland, dual apprentices in Benin attend vocational courses once a week and learn on the job for the remainder of their training. However, in contrast to Switzerland, apprentices in Benin generally do not receive wages, as the low incomes of most master craftsmen do not allow them to pay more than a small daily food allowance. Moreover, while financing for Swiss dual vocational education and training is provided by participating firms, dual training in Benin is still primarily supported by external donors. Finally, the Swiss education system is famed for its “permeability” — apprentices have many paths to re-enter formal education at the secondary or tertiary level after completing an apprenticeship. This is not the case in Benin, where apprenticeship is seen as a terminal degree, signalling the end of a youth’s education and the start of his or her professional career.

What are the main challenges when it comes to scaling the dual system in Benin?

The first challenge remains the commitment of the government to allocate financial resources to support the TVET system in general, and dual training in particular. The rollout of dual training in Benin has been limited to just 13 of 311 officially established crafts due to limited funding.

Another challenge is to raise awareness of the dual training programme in the private sector. More craftsman buy-in would raise the profile of the programme, incentivize more cost-sharing, and encourage higher numbers of youth and trainers to participate. It would also motivate craftsmen to get more involved with the administration and management of dual training, transferring some responsibility from distant government officials to actors who are more directly impacted by the programme’s success or failure.

What is the role of international donor agencies in the planning and funding of the dual vocational education system?

International donor agencies have funded a large share of Benin’s dual vocational education system since its inception. This funding is not entirely predictable, creating major issues for recruitment and programme expansion. When external financing in a particular year falls, the data shows that the number of apprentices who enrol in dual training also drops dramatically.

Zoom image will be displayed
Rubain Bankolé taking notes during his thesis defence. Photo: Aglassa Richard

What is the status of the dual vocational education system in Benin in 2021, and what plans are envisioned for its future?

One of the first actions of the newly-elected government in 2016 was a review of its TVET governance, which led to a comprehensive reform of the entire TVET system. New strategies for vocational training in Benin were elaborated in September 2019, and included several important changes, notably the announcement to extend the dual system to ten priority occupations and to launch a programme to strengthen training capacity, i.e. a programme to “train the trainers”. In July 2020, the government launched the recruitment of 1000 craftsmen who received intensive training in December 2020 for the CQP certificate after evaluation. At the same time, a new cohort of CQP apprentices was recruited and has been receiving training for three years of dual training in 2021 in the new ten occupations.

Your research is part of the LELAM-​TVET4INCOME project that studies the impact of Technical Vocational Education and Training on the youth labour market situation in Benin, Chile, Costa Rica and Nepal. What do you hope that the project will achieve?

An important achievement by the LELAM TVET4INCOME project was the creation of a database of all apprentices enrolled in the dual system, with the cooperation of the ministry in charge of TVET. This database creates opportunities for future impact evaluations and other research related to dual vocational education and training.

The LELAM project has also set up regular meetings and roundtables involving TVET stakeholders in Benin to discuss the challenges related to the TVET system and youth unemployment in general. In addition, relationships and partnerships between public institutions and professional associations have been fostered through the CEMETS Education Systems Reform Lab summer seminars virtually and on-site at the ETH Zürich.

If you had not gone to university would you have opted for dual vocational education and training? And if so, which one?

Yes! I would have opted for dual vocational education and training as a car mechanic.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan to conduct more in-depth research on the dual system and comparative apprenticeship systems in general, in order to contribute to our understanding of how to improve TVET in a developing country context. In the long term, I plan to set up a counselling service for TVET stakeholders.

Thank you very much for your time, Dr. Bankole, and good luck with the next steps of your career!

NADEL — Center for Development & Cooperation
NADEL — Center for Development & Cooperation

Written by NADEL — Center for Development & Cooperation

We connect researchers and practitioners to build knowledge that addresses development challenges. https://nadel.ethz.ch/

No responses yet

Write a response