Key Takeaways from the 4th DC dVET BarCamp
On 24 February 2026, practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and development partners gathered at the 4th BarCamp co-hosted by DC dVET and the International Labor Organization (ILO) to address a pressing question: how can we build resilient and sustainable financing models for dual vocational education and training (VET) in informal economies? The event combined international expertise with field-level knowledge — a format that is gaining significant traction in development cooperation.
The Core Problem: Who Pays for Training?
Many countries still rely almost exclusively on families and the public sector to finance formal vocational training. Micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) particularly in informal economies simply lack the resources to invest in apprenticeships. This structural gap is not new, but its consequences are severe: young people without recognised qualifications, businesses without skilled workers, and economies without competitive human capital.
The BarCamp challenged the very concept of financing. In the TVET context, financing is too often understood narrowly (as a question of cost) while overlooking structural incentives, shared responsibilities, and indirect levers that could be far more transformative.
Keynote: Setting the Conceptual Frame
The conceptual framework was established by Salim Akoojee (UNESCO-UNEVOC) and Patrick Werquin, internationally recognised experts in vocational education. Akoojee, whose research focuses on African apprenticeship systems and the interface between informal and formal training, was unambiguous: informal apprenticeship is not a transitional phenomenon but a structural reality in many development contexts — and must be treated as such in financing policy.
The keynote suggested that innovative approaches do not necessarily require more public funding, but rather smarter combinations of existing instruments — a message with direct relevance for donor strategy.
Three Financing Logics Under the Microscope
The interactive breakout sessions structured the debate around three central financing approaches:
- Demand-side financing
Voucher systems, individual learning accounts, and performance-based grants for trainees and employers strengthen demand for quality training. This approach shifts decision-making power towards learners — a crucial signal in informal markets where trust in state institutions is often limited. - Supply-side financing
Direct support for training enterprises and educational institutions — through subsidies, tax relief, or wage-cost contributions — remains a classic instrument. The critical condition, however, is that such incentives are tied to quality criteria to avoid deadweight effects and mere subsidy capture. - Indirect financing via intermediaries
Sector associations, chambers of crafts, or community-based organisations acting as brokers between the state, employers, and learners — this is arguably the most innovative thread of the discussion. In informal markets, the institutional prerequisites for direct state transfers are often absent; intermediaries can close this gap whilst simultaneously ensuring quality assurance.
Public–Private Partnerships: Beyond Cost-Sharing
A central theme was the evolution of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in vocational education. Experience in development cooperation consistently shows that PPP models work where companies see a clear economic benefit — where training directly matches operational needs and where long-term prospects for absorbing graduates exist.
The BarCamp discussions pointed towards a more mature understanding: sustainable PPPs require institutionalised dialogue structures, binding contribution models, and (especially in informal contexts) flexibility in adapting formal requirements to enterprise realities. One-size-fits-all frameworks imposed from outside rarely take root.
Policy Recommendations
For economic policymakers and development cooperation actors, the BarCamp yields the following actionable recommendations:
- A financing mix, not a single solution: No individual model works universally. Resilient systems combine demand- and supply-side instruments with indirect mechanisms — adapted to their specific context.
- Informal economy as starting point, not problem: Informal apprenticeship systems have their own logic and quality. Financing approaches must build on existing structures rather than replace them.
- Strengthen intermediaries: Sector associations and chambers in developing countries need targeted capacity-building to function as reliable financing brokers.
- Quality as a non-negotiable condition: Financial incentives without quality assurance risk expanding quantity at the expense of relevance. Monitoring and evaluation must be built in from the outset.
- ILO Recommendation 208 as reference framework: The ILO’s Recommendation No. 208 on the transition from the informal to the formal economy provides the normative basis for linking informality and vocational training policy.
Why This Debate Is Urgent Now
The global context lends particular urgency to these discussions. Two-thirds of all workers worldwide are employed in the informal sector — in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the figure often exceeds 80 per cent. At the same time, the green and digital transitions demand new skills that, without accessible and affordable training pathways, will remain out of reach for large segments of the population.
The 4th DC dVET and ILO BarCamp did not deliver ready-made answers, but it sharpened the right questions and identified practice-oriented approaches that merit further pursuit in development cooperation. The full documentation, including the keynote video and breakout session results, is available on the DC dVET website.
Further information and documentation: dcdualvet.org | Contact: coordination@dcdualvet.org