DEVELOPING VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN THE CONTEXT OF THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Vocational education and training play a crucial role in supplying skilled human resources to meet the needs of economic and social development in the context of international integration, and especially the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Through in-depth document analysis combined with field survey results from 700 businesses, 50 vocational education institutions, and 7,000 workers related to the following occupational groups: 1- Information technology; electronics and telecommunications; 2- Electrical, electronics; automation; the study analyzed the current state of vocational education development over the past 10 years, the demand for trained labor by 2030, as well as the need for training and retraining in industries/occupations affected by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The research results show that the training provided through vocational education has met businesses’ requirements. However, the scale, structure, and quality of the skilled workforce still do not meet development requirements and the demand for new skills and professions emerging amid automation, electronization, digitalization, and the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Therefore, this study proposes several solutions to develop vocational education and training in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.