Vocational education and training (VET) are major stepping stones in the development journey of any nation. A carefully structured and implemented VET system ensures skill development and equips the existing and prospective workforce with the necessary technical proficiency, thereby reducing unemployment and increasing productivity.

This handbook is designed to provide the readers with a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which VET has been implemented in both highly developed and developing countries around the globe, including Germany, Japan, China, India, and countries in Africa and Latin America, among others. It looks at how VET plays a crucial role in empowering a nation, acts as a comparative advantage, and contributes to nation-building. In the process, it highlights the best practices and fallacies related to VET and showcases how effective vocational training can allow countries to confront existing deficits in employment and decent work.

This detailed handbook will be of interest to policymakers, government officials, and corporate executives working in education, education policy, curriculum, teaching and learning, adult education and lifelong learning, and classroom practice. It will also be valuable to technical education students and those working with executive training programmes, public sector enterprises and NGOs related to VET.

Jagdish N. Sheth is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at Emory University. Renowned for seminal works like The Theory of Buyer Behavior and The Rule of Three, he has published over 350 works on consumer behaviour, competitive strategy, and emerging markets, profoundly impacting modern marketing. Sheth’s distinguished career includes roles at the University of Southern California, the University of Illinois, Columbia University, and MIT. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2020, India’s highest civilian honour for non-resident Indians, for his global contributions. His influence spans academia and industry, recognised by the American Marketing Association, the American Psychological Association, and numerous international bodies.

Samik Shome is a development economist and social scientist. He holds a PhD from the University of Calcutta, India, specialising in public policy and labour economics. Shome is a Professor of Economics at the Institute of Management, Nirma University, India. His research focuses on grassroots government programme implementation, model building, and strategic frameworks. He actively serves on committees for various Indian ministries and collaborates on government and community projects. He has published over 50 papers in top journals and presented his research at international conferences, contributing widely to economics and public policy.