Digital Integration in TVET Curricula: Global Evidence and a Strategic Framework for Ethiopia

Objectives: This review scrutinize global studies (2015-2025) on digital integration in TVET curricula. It identifies the main factors driving success and context specific barriers to implementation and it proposes a strategic framework tailored to Ethiopia. Method: Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we started with 2,347 records. After removing 478 duplicates, we screened 1,869 titles and abstracts. We then dove into 159 full texts before landing on 45 studies that made the cut. Most of the peer-reviewed sources came from databases like Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, ERIC, and IEEE Xplore. A systematized data mining form was employed. Methodological quality was examined employing recognized qualitative and mixed-methods frameworks. Findings: Three key determinants for successful digital integration were identified. First up is system alignment. This includes having policies that make sense together, aligning curriculum with assessment, and ensuring coordination across different levels; this was backed by 33 out of the 45 studies (about 73%). Next is educator capability and agency, think digital teaching methods, understanding assessments, and redesigning courses; supported by 14 studies (31.1%). Lastly, there’s infrastructure reliability and support having stable internet connections, power supply, devices, and maintenance; which had backing from 12 studies (26.7%). We also touched on financing and sustainability in about a quarter of the studies (22.2%) and industry linkages in a few (8.9%). Interestingly, only 7 out of the 45 studies looked specifically at African contexts, which makes it tough to generalize findings for Ethiopia. The literature steadily show a proportion between ambitious digitalization goals and the actual readiness of institutions and instructional practices. Novelty: The Ethiopian TVET Digital Alignment Framework (ETDAF) is proposed as a way-out for transformed global understandings into integrated measures, improving governance, institutional trends, and teaching methodologies within Ethiopia's TVET circumstances. Keywords: TVET, digital integration, digital pedagogy, infrastructure, curriculum alignment, Ethiopia, systematic review