Evaluation of the Quality of Professional Training and Education Under the Standards of Total Quality Management

Abstract

The total quality management standards in vocational training and education are crucial for reforming the vocational training system to overcome the shortage of skilled labour in the domestic labour market and diversify the country’s income by exporting surplus labour to foreign markets. To support economic growth, especially in priority sectors, it is necessary to adhere to total quality management standards in Vocational Training and Education (used in the process of Institutional and Program Accreditation of educational institutions in Libya and Algeria). The article investigates the compliance of vocational training and education in Algeria with these standards (based on the example of the Center for Vocational Training and Apprenticeship “Ould Cheikh El Arabi” in Relizane). The solution to this research problem is relevant, among other things, because, thanks to regulated state programs in such sectors as construction, public works and agriculture, the Algerian government has allowed construction and contracting companies to hire foreign labour from China, Turkey, Egypt and other countries, which has led to an increase in unemployment in the domestic labour market. That is why it is relevant to identify why the Algerian labour market cannot provide qualified labour to meet the needs of supplier companies and contractors. The study is based on the survey of a random sample of 150 students, 40.43% of the total number of students enrolled at the Centre. To ensure the clarity and coherence of the questionnaire, a preliminary study was conducted with a random selection of 25 students, eliminating linguistic and methodological imbalances. 6 expert reviewers confirmed the validity of the questionnaire content. Reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha test. The questionnaire’s content is structured according to five main criteria contained in the Total Quality Management Standards in Vocational Training and Education, each consisting of a set of indicators and measures to assess the fulfilment degree of the criterion. They evaluate the quality of educational and training programs (6 paragraphs), the quality of teaching staff (6 paragraphs), the quality of students’ affairs (8 paragraphs), the management quality of the educational institution (9 paragraphs), and the quality of structures and services (10 paragraphs). During the questionnaire, students expressed their opinion on the importance of a particular criterion using a five-step Likert scale. Based on the results, the arithmetic means, and standard deviations of the degree of students’ approval of the importance and fulfilment degree of each criterion as a whole and its individual paragraphs were calculated. The influence of these criteria on the dependent variable − the quality of training − was assessed using the Pearson correlation matrix. Based on the study results, several recommendations have been investigated to improve the quality management efficiency of training and education at the Centre.