Donor Project funded ICT Initiatives in the Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) Sector of Asian Developing Countries: A Systems Approach to Managing Project Intervention Processes

Gunawardena, G and Brown, David (2011) Donor Project funded ICT Initiatives in the Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) Sector of Asian Developing Countries: A Systems Approach to Managing Project Intervention Processes. In: ICTs for Global Development and Sustainability: Practice and Applications :. Information Science Reference, Hershey, Pa., pp. 269-301. ISBN 9781615209972

Abstract

This chapter is set against a background of national ICT initiatives implemented in the Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) sectors of developing Asian countries through donor agency funded projects. This research is based on a ten year research study of ICT initiatives implemented in nine VTE sector donor funded projects covering Laos, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The empirical data was gathered through contextual observations, action research and a review of project documentation. The ICT initiatives studied focussed on MIS (management information systems) aiding strategy formulation and management in the VTE sector and computer based training (CBT). The research reveals that the projects studied were designed by host governments and donor agencies in response to perceived problems in the VTE sector. The research also reveals that process of managing donor projects, which is largely based on hard approaches, is problematic. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is based on a learning and enquiring cycle. The research uses SSM to learn about the nature and scope of the selected donor projects in VTE, which can be conceptualised as Project Intervention Processes (PIPs).