ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on one education sector – Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) – and on one dimension of that sector – National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) – in an effort to illustrate some of the dynamic interactions between the global and the local in educational policy development in the Arab region. Despite awareness of the need for wholesale transformation of education systems, and for that change to "come from within", reform of education generally, and of the TVET sub-sector specifically, are more often than not driven, designed and funded by international donors. An important source of policy influence leading some Arab countries to consider NQFs as a 'solution' to challenges in the TVET area is the European Union – particularly so within the framework of the so-called 'Barcelona Process'. The chapter also focuses on the value of peer policy learning. An emphasis on policy learning contributes to increased context relevance and ownership of reform policies.
