USE OF TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN REINTEGRATION OF CARE HOME LEAVERS

Abstract

The national operational policy on childcare homes clearly states that a child is considered as of 18 years and below and further states that 18 years and above cannot stay at the childcare homes and they need to be reintegrated back into society. As a vulnerable group of children is placed in childcare homes deinstitutionalizing them it has drastic negative consequences where they feel lost, unprotected, and clueless which can result in educational, housing instability, and unemployment. As a result, the government has made the care homes provide an opportunity to implement employment-oriented skills according to the care leavers’ age, interests, and abilities during reintegration. The policy on skills’ training is given importance since skills training is believed to enable people to be competent and deal with one’s competency concerning opportunities towards career development, ensuring employability, and building a social, personal, and professional identity which will help them to overcome the curse of unemployment in future. Based on the findings of this study, it aims to explore the contribution of Technical Education and Vocational Training during the reintegration of care leavers. Many of the studies have emphasized TVET skills training and role of reintegration but few have looked into the contribution of it towards care leavers. In order to seek answers to this, two research questions were formulated: a) How has TVET aided in the process of successful reintegration of youth leaving care homes? and, b) In what ways are the Child Care Homes reintegrating the care leavers in the community? Using interpretive research paradigm, I began my research journey to examine how the skills training has impacted in transitioning from institutional care to independent life for young care leavers. Conducting in-depth interviews with six care leavers who had undertaken vocational skills training and also two CCH where they had been institutionalized, I found TVET contributed in reintegration. In the study, I explored care leavers journey to why they had to leave the care of the parents and were placed in care homes, their academic attainment, their reintegration stages, their decision to take up vocational skills training, perceptions towards TVET and how the skills training contributed in reintegration. The participants’ shared experiences had been transcribed and narrated in the form of their stories and thematically analyzed. As for the CCH, their provision towards skills training, how skills’ training was implemented and the stages on how reintegrations are conducted were looked into. It was also seen that the motivation for participating in the TVET program by the care leavers was to manage employment. As the care leavers knew that once they would leave the CCH they had to be independent socially as well as financially. So, to seek skills training as a contributor in equipping them with skills and competencies to enter the labor market and lead them to employment was the major factor. TVET was also seen to help in smooth reintegration from CCH back to the community as it decreased dependency and mostly it developed confidence among the care leavers to be independent. As in the case of CCH, provision of career counseling was seen as an initial stage of reintegration. Counseling was given to SEE appeared children where the decision on continuing general education or taking up vocational skills training was given. Based on this, information on types, and natures of TVET programs were presented and career prospects were highlighted. The experienced care leavers concluded that there was huge potential in the TVET program among the care leavers. TVET was not only equipped with occupational skills but also built confidence towards smooth reintegration which justifies the provision of TVET in care leavers’ reintegration.