Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

VET Contribution to Human Development Within a Context of Marginalization: The Case of Palestine

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Vocational Education and Training

Abstract

One of the advantages of a human development approach to thinking about skills development is its ability to highlight the importance of inequality and marginalization compared to the orthodox human capital approach. The case of the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) is particularly valuable in showing both the effects of marginalization and inequalities but also the possibilities for improving human development through Vocational Education and Training (VET).

The context of the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) adds additional layers of marginalization and inequalities, creating different context-related vulnerable groups. Within such a context, highlighting VET’s contribution to human development and reducing inequalities are paramount, as well as acknowledging structural challenges faced within such a context.

In this chapter I draw on my doctoral work, in which I consulted over 1000 people through a graduate survey, focus groups with students and trainers, and interviews with VET management, teachers, and government officials.

I combine human development and capabilities’ perspectives with insights from gender and development theory and intersectionality accounts to address concerns about structure and agency. This extensive dataset and these combined theoretical resources allowed me to explore how vulnerable learners are able to make genuine progress in achieving their valued functionings in spite of the multidimensional challenges they face.

I will define the context-related vulnerabilities, as other inequalities, and test their attraction to VET, as well as the intersectionality among the different inequalities. Achieved functionings are also analyzed according to the defined inequalities and vulnerability.

The analysis and findings reveal that VET has acted as an effective tool for achievement of human development and reducing inequality. It will also define evaluative methods for impact assessment of VET within a human development approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 799.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abdo-Zubi N (2006) Women and poverty in the occupied Palestinian territories a critical literature review. West Bank Palestinian Women’s Research & Documentation Centre, Al-Bireh

    Google Scholar 

  • Akram-Lodhi, A (1996) “You are not excused from cooking”: Peasants and the gender division of labor in Pakistan. Feminist Economics 2(2):87–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson D (2008) Productivism, vocational and professional education, and the ecological question. Vocat Learn 1(2):105–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-008-9007-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown P, Green A, Lauder H (2001) High skills: globalization, competitiveness, and skill formation, 1st edn. Oxford University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Collins P (1989) The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 14(4):745–773

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crenshaw K (1989) Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex. Chicago Legal Forum 1(8):139–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis A (1983) Women, race & class. New York: Vintage Books - a division of Random House

    Google Scholar 

  • DeJaeghere J (2016) Girls’ educational aspirations and agency: imagining alternative futures through schooling in a low-resourced Tanzanian community. Crit Stud Educ 1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferber M, Nelson J (1993) Beyond Economic Man: Feminist Theory and Economics. Chicago: Chicago University Press

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Folbre N (1994) Who pays for the kids? Gender and the structures of constraint. Routledge, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gideon J (1999) Looking at Economies as Gendered Structures: An Application to Central America. Feminist Economics 5(1):1–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilal R (2009) Vocational education and training for women in Pales-tine: impact on access to employment. In: The second TVET conference, Nablus, Palestine

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilal R (2011) Quantitative and qualitative training needs assessment of work force within the basic work levels. MOEHE supported by BTC, Ramallah

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilal R (2012) Vocational education and training for women and youth in Palestine: poverty reduction and gender equality under occupation. Int J Educ Dev 32(5):686–695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilal R (2013) EFA skills development- Palestinian experience and recommendations to post 2015 goals. Oxford: 12th UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilal R (2017) TVET empowerment effects within the context of poverty, inequality and marginalisation in Palestine. Int J Train Res 15(3):255–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/14480220.2017.1376384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilal R (2018) The value of VET in advancing human development and reducing inequality: the case of Palestine (PhD). University of Nottingham

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilal R, McGrath S (2016) The role of vocational education and training in Palestine in addressing inequality and promoting human development. J Int Comp Educ 5(2):87–102. https://doi.org/10.14425/jice.2016.5.2.87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Himmelweit S (1995) The Discovery of ‘Unpaid Work. Feminist Economics 1(2):1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Office (2012) Decent Work Indicators: Concepts and Definitions. ILO Manual. ILO, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer N (1994) Reversed realities. Verso, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer N (1999) Resources, agency, achievements: reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment. Dev Chang 30(3):435–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer N (2008) Mainstreaming gender in social protection for the informal economy. Commonwealth Secretariat, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer N (2010) Can the MDGs provide a pathway to social justice? Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer N (2015) Gender, poverty, and inequality: a brief history of feminist contributions in the field of international development. Gend Dev 23(2):189–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhail H (2015) Implementing the national TVET strategy: a prerequisite for meeting the labour market needs. Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute, MAS, Ramallah

    Google Scholar 

  • Leney T, Jweiles Z (2014) Mapping vocational education and training governance in Palestine. Governance for Employability in the Mediterranean. European Training Foundation

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Fogués A (2012) Theorising further education through a capability lens: vulnerability and freedoms. Jubilee Working Papers

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Fogués A (2016) A social justice alternative for framing post-compulsory education: a human development perspective of VET in times of economic dominance. J Vocat Educ Train 68(2):161–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath S (2012) Vocational education and training for development. Int J Educ Dev 32(5):623–631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath S, Powell L (2014) Advancing life projects: south African students explain why they come to FET colleges. J Int Comp Educ 3(2):213–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath S, Powell L (2015) Routledge handbook of international education and development: vocational education and training for human development. Routledge, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • National Insurance Institute (2010) Poverty and social gaps. 2009. National Insurance Institute, Jerusalem

    Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum M (2000) Women’s capabilities and social justice. J Hum Dev 1(2):219–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum M (2003) Capabilities as fundamental entitlements: Sen and social justice. Fem Econ 9(2–3):33–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum M (2011) Capabilities, entitlements, rights: supplementation and critique. J Human Dev Capabilities 12(1):23–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (2011) Poverty in the Palestinian territory: main finding report 2009–2010. PCBS, Ramallah

    Google Scholar 

  • Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (2012) Violence survey in the Palestinian society, 2011 main findings. PCBS, Ramallah

    Google Scholar 

  • Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (2016) Labour force survey: annual report: 2015. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ramallah

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell L (2012) Reimagining the purpose of VET – expanding the capability to aspire in South African further education and training students. Int J Educ Dev 32(5):643–653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell L (2014) Reimagining the purpose of vocational education and training: the perspectives of further education and training college students in South Africa. (PhD). University of Nottingham

    Google Scholar 

  • Power M (2004) Social provisioning as a starting point for feminist economics. Fem Econ 10(3):3–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robeyns I (2003) Sen’s capability approach and gender inequality: selecting relevant capabilities. Fem Econ 9(2–3):61–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (1985) Well-being, agency and freedom: the Dewey lectures 1984. J Philos 82(4):169

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (1990) Justice: means versus freedoms. Philos Public Aff 19(2):111–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (1992) Inequality re-examined, 75th edn. Clarendon Press, Oxford, p 345

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (1998) The possibility of social choice. Am Econ Rev 89(3):349–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (2000) A decade of human development. J Hum Dev 1(1):17–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (2004) Elements of a theory of human rights. Philos Public Aff 32(4):315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shalhoub-Kevorkian N (2008) The Gendered Nature of Education Under Siege: A Palestinian Feminist Perspective. International Journal of Lifelong Education 27(2):179–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) and the Ministry of Labour (MOL) (2010) Winning for a future, chances for our youth: revised TVET strategy. Ramallah

    Google Scholar 

  • The Ministry of Social Affairs (2014) Social protection sector strategy 2014–2016. MOSA, Ramallah

    Google Scholar 

  • The World Bank (2010) Checkpoints and barriers: searching for livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza gender dimensions of economic collapse. The World Bank

    Google Scholar 

  • UNCTAD (2016) Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people: developments in the economy of the occupied Palestinian territory. UNCTAD. Available from http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/app2016d1_en.pdf [05 May 2018]

  • UNESCO (2012) “Transforming TVET: Building skills for work and life” Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, Third International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training. UNESCO, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO (2015) Recommendation concerning technical and vocational education and training (TVET). UNESCO, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • UNICEF (2016) CAAC Bulletin - Fourth quarter of 2015: Children Affected by Armed Conflict, Israel and the State of Palestine. Jerusalem: UNICEF

    Google Scholar 

  • UNOCHA (2014) Area C vulnerability profile. UNOCHA

    Google Scholar 

  • UNOCHA (2016) Humanitarian response plan. UNOCHA

    Google Scholar 

  • UNOCHA (2017a) Fragmented lives humanitarian overview 2016. UNOCHA

    Google Scholar 

  • UNOCHA (2017b) UNOCHA home page/maps. Available from https://www.ochaopt.org/maps [05 May 2018]

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. OPTIMUM for Consultancy and Training, Ramallah, Palestine

    Randa Hilal

Authors
  1. Randa Hilal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Randa Hilal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Simon McGrath

  2. Social Sciences Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Martin Mulder

  3. Institute for Post-School Studies, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

    Joy Papier

  4. School of Education, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Rebecca Suart

Section Editor information

  1. Faculty of Education, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

    Lesley Powell

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Hilal, R. (2019). VET Contribution to Human Development Within a Context of Marginalization: The Case of Palestine. In: McGrath, S., Mulder, M., Papier, J., Suart, R. (eds) Handbook of Vocational Education and Training . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94532-3_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation