Moving Towards the Inclusion of Dual Education in Universities
By: Asefedu, Editor
Tags: Higher Education, Sdgs, Education, Arc

Moving Towards the Inclusion of Dual Education in Universities

The program my sister is in is great in a lot of ways. Financially, it costs nearly five times less than a typical university degree and allows her to work while studying. Its schedule and timing are fantastic, requiring her to study intensely in short bursts of a couple months and then providing a relaxed environment for the rest of the year to put into practice what was learned without extreme pressure or the risk of burning out. The teaching could be better perhaps, but she says she is learning plenty. Most importantly, she enjoys it. She likes studying and going to college. What she doesn’t like is telling people where she studies or mentioning the words ‘technical college’. By now she’s heard enough comments from others to know these sorts of educational paths are considered lower-class, beneath her. Here in Thailand, the concept of vocational or technical training in higher education programs tends to be held in lower esteem. Anyone of any decent status is expected to go to university, a ‘proper’ one. How else is one to get a reasonable, decent job?

One problem with this viewpoint is in terms of perception. Blue-collar, working-class jobs are perfectly decent, and need to be destigmatized. However, that’s an argument for another time. The point I’d like to make in this paper is that many of what are typically considered professional jobs not only can be studied acceptably with educational structures such as dual education or dual vocational training (DVT) systems, but such systems can in fact provide students with even greater benefits. For example, for a career in hospitality, tourism, or the service industry, enrolling in a dual vocational system allows one to truly experience the field they are studying in, engage more in customer service, learn how to work with and handle a wide variety of people, and see how to manage various situations that are likely to come up once fully employed in that sector. Similarly, for those studying engineering or design, actually getting to see ideas and designs in real life and as occupying space in the world — instead of just on paper, their computers, on slides, or in their mind — can be hugely informative and help solidify concepts or the images in their heads (Boud, Cohen & Walker, 1993).

There are also the benefits involved in being able to get actual practice in implementing designs and working with real materials and other people on practical projects. Commonly used in countries such as Germany and Switzerland, dual education mixes apprenticeships with time spent learning in vocational schools, and so provides far more time for hands-on experience than a typical university program can, with students’ time split evenly between studying in university and apprenticeship work. The result in about one and a half years spent in classrooms and another one and half years spent participating in an actual business. That time is spread out in chunks over the course of study, so that students can apply the concepts and theoretical ideas they study in class relatively close to when they learned it, resulting in increased retention and understanding (Hansen, 2000).

DVT also allows for greater specialisation, letting students focus particularly on the aspects that are most closely related to the job they want to pursue after graduation and allowing them to gain the exact needed skills for it. If you don’t actually want to work in that field, this educational system will make that pretty obvious right away, as opposed to the possibility in a traditional university of going through the 3–4 years of study and graduating only to learn that you don’t like the type of work you studied for after all.

There is also the benefit of the strong connection to an employer, with a near-guarantee of a job after, if one does well enough. Unlike with internships, with dual education an employer commits to spending at least a year training the student, usually for the exact purpose of that person coming to work for them once they graduate (Hummelsheim & Baur, 2014). Furthermore, they typically give vocational training pay, which is an important consideration as it makes education accessible for those from less-affluent families who might struggle to afford a traditional degree. DVT employers may also provide allowances or additional financial aid, and simply provide a greater amount of support overall, not only financially but also in terms of mentors, further training opportunities, and more involvement (Hummelsheim & Baur, 2014). All of this means that they are far more inclined to hire a student at the end of their studies. In fact, usually they have planned and are counting on that, with the training and resources they provide being considered an investment in the student (“Job guarantees through dual vocational training”, 2016). Thus, DVT systems also allow companies to gain skilled workers trained by them for them and result in less turnover, thus reducing costs that would be incurred by the hiring, recruitment, and integration processes, and there are none of the risks that hiring a new unknown and untried person would involve (Hoeckel, 2008). As such, DVT systems also contribute to other SDGs like Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Those interested in areas such as advertising, IT, or computer science could also greatly benefit from dual education; such industries change rapidly, thanks to the emergence of things like social media, digital marketing, apps, and new programming developments and technology. Entering into a DVT system is also beneficial in how it can help to get around bureaucratic entanglement issues, allow for students to learn newly relevant skills or concepts, and be more on the cutting-edge of their chosen field. With dual education, students not only gain more experience but also have greater opportunities to keep updated in real-time with upcoming breakthroughs and developments which may be too new to have made it into their typical curriculum, especially in countries like Thailand, where paperwork and bureaucratic concerns often result in changes happening infrequently and/or at a rather slow pace (Prangpatanpon, 1996; Lao, 2015).

Beyond all these very good reasons for strengthening and extending Thailand’s DVT program into the traditionally academic majors, there is also the issue of burnout, which vocational training can help sidestep by acting as a way to get disengaged students more involved and by providing them with a new, different way to learn (Kelly & Price, 2009). Literature review of studies from other countries suggests students are less likely to drop-out from vocational courses than from general ones (Hoeckel, 2008). Many students, having studied for roughly 12 years or so prior to ever going to university, are simply weary and tired of the traditional methods of education. Even if they do enroll in traditional higher education, it may not be because they have a great amount of interest in this form of continued studying, but instead because they feel it is necessary for a good future or for them to get their desired job (Moenjak & Worswick, 2003).

That’s a fair reason in and of itself. Of course people want to have a good life and should do what they reasonably can to get it. However, if it is possible to provide students with a beneficial, high-quality educational system that allows them to achieve their desired goals and which they actually enjoy, then certainly that is something we should do more of, that is an option we as a country should adequately provide to them. It’s difficult to think of a good reason why we should make them settle for less, especially when dual education also presents the sustainable and economic benefits to Thailand of having well-educated, skilled, enthusiastic labourers who have gainful employment with employers they have long worked and formed connections with. This also creates beneficial social implications in terms of potentially improved mental health and overall well-being. Including dual education systems in universities contributes not only to the SDG of Quality Education, but also to others such as Good Health and Wellbeing and Decent Work and Economic Growth.

I say include, because DVT is not a replacement to regular university programs. Even ignoring the fact that half of the education in DVT systems would still be carried out in colleges, there are many who do love steady university life and thrive in it, and many colleges do really do a great job in educating their students and preparing them for the workforce or further education. However, it can be an addition to the programs provided by universities, an option they create and supply through collaboration with companies. For those like my sister, for those who would love more hands-on experience or want more job security or are having trouble financially or are burned out and dreading every day they wake up and have to go to university, for those who know what job they want to do and want to start doing it now, for those who are discouraged and worn-down by traditional academic study or for those who want to go out there and do something, DVT is a great alternative. Or at least it could be, if we destigmatize technical and vocational learning and create, implement, build up dual education programs in such a way that provides these kinds of people with an education system that’s more suited to them, and matches hard-working, eager students to employers that would be happy to have and train them and lets them gain an education they can be proud of. How far dual education goes and how much it can help so will depend on how much effort is put into it, on how many employers and universities join, what they do when they join, and how those involved operate and regulate the system.

If done correctly, DVT can result in large benefits to students, to employers, and to the country. It also allows for greater employment possibilities and job security, an increased amount of hands-on experience and situations where one can apply concepts that have been taught, improved confidence and job readiness, the ability for specialization, and — perhaps most importantly — for students to have an education they actually want. Those are all things we should be promoting; they are opportunities and goals we as a country and as a society should be striving to provide to our youth in higher education, even if they are aiming for ‘professional’ or white-collar jobs. To quote Arthur W. Chickering (1977), an educational researcher in the area of student affairs, with dual vocational training “the learning cycle of concrete experience, observation and reflection, abstract conceptualization, active experimentation, and application holds promise of improving the substance of higher education” (p. 1).