Abstract

Despite having many factors that influence students’ attitude towards Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training (TEVET), education policies outshine all because education policies are regarded as statements of action to be preferred in generation of solutions to address the identified problems (Peters, 1999). Education policies if well designed would therefore become solutions in creating positive attitude of students towards technical and vocational education. The purpose of this study was to assess the present education policies whether they are able to enhance positive attitude of students towards technical and vocational education in Central West Education Division secondary schools and technical colleges. This study answered the following main research question: How do education policies in Malawi enhance positive attitude of students towards technical and vocational education? The specific research questions which assisted in the attainment of the above major research question were: How different are the current technical and vocational policies from the policies before 1998? How are the current policies working towards advancing the cause of technical and vocational subjects in secondary schools in Malawi? What are education policies that support students’ interest towards technical and vocational education? How do these education policies assist in attracting students to enroll in technical colleges? This was a qualitative study which employed interpretivist research paradigm. The perspective was opted for because the nature of inquiry required the researcher to interact with the students in their natural setting for the reality of their experiences. It was a case study design which used the following data generation tools: Focus group discussions, Semi-structured interviews and Documents review. Findings revealed that significance of education policies enhance positive attitude of students towards technical and vocational education in Malawi. However, education policies would be more effective in enhancing positive attitude of students towards technical and vocational education if there was vibrant implementation of technical and vocational subjects at primary school level and if formal career guidance and counseling was conducted at secondary school level.

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School	: School of Education
Issued Date	: 2024

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