AGENCIFICATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE IN ZAMBIA: A case study of Technical Education Vocational Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA)

Abstract

Agencification is one of the characteristics of the wave of New Public Management (NPM) which has become prominent in the last few decades. Public management literature raises questions concerning the rationale behind agencification and how this public management reform is being implemented in Sub Sahara African countries where the NPM ideology is foreign. This study explored how the development of Technical Education Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA) can be interpreted from the perspective of the agencification of quality assurance in the TEVETA sector in Zambia. The study focused on four main issues namely: (i) establishment of TEVETA (ii) organisation and governance of TEVETA (iii) funding of TEVETA and (iv) internal and external change drivers. To undertake this study, a qualitative research strategy was employed and the study used document review and semi structured interview guides as means of data collection. The study argues that TEVETA is a product of the Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) reforms of the 1990s which swept across the country and was supported by Brentwood institutions namely the World Bank and IMF. Following the liberalisation of the economy, TEVETA was established to meet the needs of the local environment and the parastatal companies. It was established through the act of parliament, with a mandate to regulate, co-ordinate and monitor Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training. TEVETA is governed by a board of directors who serve tenures of three years and are appointed by the Minister of Education, Science Vocational Training and Early Education (MESVTEE) in accordance to the TEVET act. The Government of Republic of Zambia (GRZ) is the main source of funding at TEVETA and the current level of public funding to TEVETA is inconsistent and insufficient and has not grown to match up with the current demands of the TEVET sector in the country. The study argues that TEVETA operates with low levels of autonomisation with insufficient resources. Based on these study findings, the study recommends that if TEVETA is granted the levels of autonomisation and resources it requires fully, then it can gratify its mandate completely.