Promoting entrepreneurship education through the adoption of innovative and best practices in technical education and vocational training

To fill the gap in the literature on entrepreneurial learning plans and activities conducted by technical education and vocational training (TVET) institutions, this study covers three main issues, namely: (1) The analysis of the stages of entrepreneurial learning of TVET institutions in the Asia-Pacific based on the Entrepreneurial Learning guide published by the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for TVET; (2) The transferability of entrepreneurship initiatives documented as UNESCO-UNEVOC’s innovative and promising practices; (3) Recommendations on scaling up or replication of the entrepreneurship initiatives to improve entrepreneurial education in TVET institutions. A survey consisting of a quantitative scale and open-ended questions on the components that build an entrepreneurial learning ecosystem in a school was disseminated to TVET institutions in the Asia-Pacific countries. The result shows that participating TVET institutions in the countries have recognized the importance of entrepreneurial learning and have implemented it in various ways. The entrepreneurial learning components at their institutions are currently positioned in different stages. To analyse the transferability of the entrepreneurship best practices, the author merges the micro and macro components of the entrepreneurial learning ecosystem with the stages of entrepreneurial learning components. The author argues that TVET institutions that are already at the advanced level in their entrepreneurial learning components, will be the ones that are most ready to replicate the innovative and promising practices. By providing recommendations on scaling up or replicating entrepreneurship initiatives to improve entrepreneurial education in TVET institutions, this study contributes to the under-researched literature on entrepreneurial learning in TVET and the recent body of knowledge on green, social, and digital entrepreneurship.