Implementation of sustainability into training, upskilling, and reskilling curricula of technical and vocational education and training in south and southeast Asia

The adaptation to climate change and the adoption of circular strategies are macrotrends that require business transformations. In response, profound changes are required to skill formation systems across the world. The present empirical research study is built on the discourse on education for sustainable development as well as institutionalist and constructivist lenses to investigate the role of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in meeting skill requirements for global sustainability agendas. The objectives of the study are to investigate a) modalities in use to mainstream sustainability into course offerings, i.e., training, upskilling, and reskilling with micro-credentials and credit transfers in learning pathways, b) the implementation of six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into curricula, namely ‘Quality Education’, ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’, ‘Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure’, ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’, ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’, and ‘Climate Action’, and c) the existence of partnerships for curricula development with reference to SDG17. By adopting the positivist research paradigm and an explanatory research design, a survey was conducted in 11 countries in South and Southeast Asia to which 761 TVET teachers responded. The findings show that SDGs were incorporated into new courses supporting vertical integration as well as SDGs were embedded into existing curricula supporting horizontal integration. The findings also offer a nuanced understanding of various modalities in use to mainstream sustainability into course offerings. The findings imply intricate challenges institutes face when implementing sustainability into curricula and emphasise the value of multi-stakeholder partnerships for curricula development. Partial η 2 values, reflecting variances as much as 6%, suggest the presence of significant differences between countries that can be attributed to a country’s ‘region’ and ‘annual growth rate of real gross domestic product per employed person’. This conveys that national and regional economic conditions impact on a country’s skill formation systems.