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Thematic Areas: Inclusion and Youth | Digital Transformation | Private Sector Engagement | SDGs and Greening TVET
Our Key Programmes & Projects: BILT: Bridging Innovation and Learning in TVET | Building TVET resilience | TVET Leadership Programme | WYSD: World Youth Skills Day
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Events: Major TVET Events | UNEVOC Network News
Third International TVET Congress, Shanghai, China, 13-16 May 2012
The first International TVET Congress in Berlin in 1987 and the Second International Congress on TVET held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, constituted crucial moments for the international TVET community. Building on these milestones and the UNESCO Strategy for TVET which was approved by the UNESCO General Conference in 2009, the 3rd International Congress on TVET was organized to take stock of the developments since Seoul, and aimed to identify and discuss current and future challenges facing the TVET sub-sector and explore appropriate responses; build better understanding of and share knowledge on improving the contributions of TVET to sustainable development; and inform perspectives for international cooperation in the field and define strategic directions for future work and support to TVET at national, regional and international levels.
UNESCO organized the Congress in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the European Training Foundation (ETF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AFDB) and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA).
The Congress provided a unique global platform for almost 800 practitioners, experts and policy makers from around the world to share knowledge and reflection on the future of TVET. During the Congress, UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova stated that "too few young people and adults are gaining the skills, knowledge and attitudes they need to find decent employment in today's rapidly changing job market, where the capacity to learn and adapt is essential. This is a top political concern everywhere and it calls for concerted policies."
During the Congress, spanning over 3 days, various plenary, special and roundtables sessions were held on a wide range of topics related to global TVET development. Alongside the main activities, Microsoft organized the Education Leaders Forum, hosted jointly by UNESCO, UNESCO-UNEVOC, Microsoft, Nokia, Promethean and the Open University, which brought together education policy makers, experts and technology industry representatives for a regional debate on the opportunities and challenges related to ICT and TVET.
On Thursday 17 May 2012, a post-Congress meeting was held that brought together some 20 UNEVOC Centres from all parts of the world at a special UNEVOC Network meeting. During the meeting, the representatives of the UNEVOC Centres discussed how to encourage and further promote the development of TVET systems in UNESCO Member States; how to develop the capacities of UNEVOC Centres and associated TVET practitioners to serve the TVET community; and how to share knowledge, know-how and competencies through good practices and innovation in TVET.
As a result of the Congress, a new vision for TVET as a quality learning option should emerge. The recommendations that were agreed during the Congress provide directions regarding areas in which policy dialogue and capacity building are required by Member States at the national, regional and international levels.
Shanghai Consensus: Recommendations of the Third International Congress on TVET
Other links
Publications related to Third International Congress on TVET
3rd TVET Congress website with agenda, presentations and other useful documents
Video interview with Qian Tang, Assistant Director-General for Education
Photo gallery Education Leaders Forum
November 2020
The eleventh issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter focuses on UNESCO's response to ensure continuity of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the challenges that TVET teachers and learners have faced in moving to online learning.
November 2019
The tenth issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter puts in focus the reporting on UNESCO's TVET Recommendation concerning TVET (2015) as well as the Youth Employment in the Mediterranean project. It also includes an interview with Shyamal Majumdar, pr ...
October 2018
The ninth issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter puts in focus the Better Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR) initiative as well as a Learning Forum on Managing skills in times of disruption.
March 2018
The eighth issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter puts in focus a recent TVET conference and the resulting updated skills agenda, as well as issues related to greening and quality assurance.
July 2017
The seventh issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter looks at the progress made since the Third International Congress in May 2012. It presents contributions from seven leading authorities on TVET to reflect on how far UNESCO have come with each of th ...
December 2016
The sixth issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter contains information on how UNESCO is putting into practice its Strategy for TVET (2016-2021).
July 2016
The fifth issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter contains information on UNESCO´s new Strategy for TVET (2016-2021) and how it will guide the Organization´s work with regards to TVET for the coming years.
Other articles focus on UNESCO´s Recom ...
November 2015
The fourth issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter contains information on the 2030 Agenda including 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and how TVET is prominently reflected in them. Other articles inform on World Youth Skills Day, ICT in T ...
May 2015
The third issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter contains information and reflections on developments with regard to the international community's education and skills for 2030 and was distributed at the World Education Forum in Incheon, Republic of ...
March 2014
The second issue of the Shanghai Update newsletter gives an overview of the activities undertaken by UNESCO and UNEVOC to respond to the recommendations that were made to UNESCO by its Member States in Shanghai. This issue contains information about ...
Shanghai Update Issue No. 1, June 2013
In 2012, over 700 experts in technical and vocational education and training, including 40 ministers and deputy ministers, attended the UNESCO Third International Congress on TVET in Shanghai, China. They came to Shanghai in order to discuss the tran ...