SINGAPORE – Technical-vocational education is not “the other choice.”

This was the running theme on Tuesday, November 3, the first day of the Singapore International TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) Conference 2015.

Although technical-vocational education is already institutionalized in many countries such as Singapore and Switzerland, there is still a notion that students who are not good at academics choose this path as the “other choice.”

Bernie Trilling, founder and chief executive officer of the 21st Century Learning Advisors said this “rift” is but a perception problem.

“In many ways, I think it’s a false dichotomy… I remember, historically, when the 21st Century Skills movement started, there was a big backlash from the academic community: ‘Oh, you are just teaching skills without content.’ And I go: skills without content? You can actually teach critical thinking by not thinking about anything? It’s impossible,” he answered.

He quickly added that there is no one to blame for the false dichotomy “because we have historically separated those two.”

“We have a differentiation in the past that was necessary for the economy of the times, and still necessary in some places in the world. But majority of work [in] the future is a combination of very good academic background and extremely good skills to apply that academic knowledge to the real world.”

For Ng Cher Pong, chief executive of Singapore’s Workforce Development Agency, the key is to make sure none of the two tracks – academic and technical-vocational – is considered a “second order.”

This entails making both tracks equally attractive, and designing a good and strong education training system flexible enough so students can progress and – if they want – switch from one track to another.

Trilling and Ng both know what they are talking about; the former is part of a movement that brings together business community, education leaders, and policymakers to talk about the importance of 21st century skills for all students in the United States.

The latter, meanwhile, heads an agency that provides support for Singaporean workers so they can become experts in their field through specialized skills training.

Ng believes in the rebalancing of learning in the workplace and in the classroom.

“For TVET systems around the world, I would put forth the key objective should shift to equipping the students with the ability to learn, unlearn and re-learn. Teaching them how to learn for life may require strengthening their foundations in some areas, such as a broad understanding of science and technology,” he said in his keynote speech.

The international TVET conference, attended by over 300 delegates from different countries, will run until Friday, November 6. It is sponsored by Singapore’s Temasek Foundation. – Rappler.com