Decolonizing Sustainability in African TVET: A Literature-Based Framework for Curriculum Integration of Indigenous Knowledge and Green Skills

African Technical education and training systems (TVET) are not entirely self-sustaining and are fragmented and misaligned with local needs. Colonial legacies predominantly influence the educational systems, prioritizing European languages and urban skills over the indigenous knowledge essential for rural resilience. This study examines how sustainability concepts are incorporated within TVET in Africa and whether such incorporation attempts to cover gaps related to environmental preservation, economic frailty, and social justice. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) was adopted to retrieve and analyze peer-reviewed journal articles, policy papers, and grey literature. Twenty peer reviewed articles met all the criteria and were included in the study. The findings have established critical challenges facing sustainable TVET systems, such as policy fragmentation, colonial curriculum formulation, and marginalization of indigenous knowledge. Particularly, the global structures, including the African TVET systems, remain disconnected from local socio-economic and environmental contexts. These findings underscore the need for decolonising Eurocentric education systems by positioning African epistemologies, such as traditional water management and agroecological know-how, at the centre of formal TVET systems. The model encourages policy harmonisation between continental and national levels, industrial collaborations, and micro-credentialing of indigenous skills. It proposes increased funding, cross-border certification systems, and culturally responsive pedagogies to render TVET responsive to Agenda 2063's vision for a climate-resilient, skills-driven Africa.