Employment Mobility and Returns to Technical and Vocational Training: Empirical Evidence for Tanzania

ABSTRACT This article examines employment mobility and returns to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) relative to general education (GED) in Tanzania. It uses data from the 2014 Integrated Labour Force Survey (ILFS). The result shows that TVET training facilitates an individual’s easy transition into employment. As shown in both descriptive statistics and regression results, technical, on-the-job, vocational, and apprenticeship training are important in acquiring formal employment. In addition, results from ordinary least squares (OLS) and Heckman procedures indicate that returns to both GED and TVET are positive and statistically significant. However, on average, those with TVET training earn less than those with a GED, implying lower returns to TVET graduates. The results confirm that, in Tanzania, workers with university degrees earn twice as much as those with technical training and three times as much as those with vocational training. Since TVET is useful in addressing unemployment, more effort is needed to make participation attractive to parents and students. Specifically, the government of Tanzania should facilitate partnerships between TVET institutions and the productive sectors to improve employment outcomes, expand access to TVET nationwide, and prioritize the alignment of TVET curricula with both quality standards and current industry needs.