2. The representatives of 78 Member States and from one Associate Member State took part in the meeting as chief participants with the right to vote. The representatives from 1 non-Member State, 1 permanent observer mission, 2 United Nations organizations, 1 intergovernmental organization and 16 non-governmental organizations also participated in the work of the Committee as observers.

B. OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE AND ORGANIZATION OF ITS WORK

3. The Secretariat of the meeting was provided by Unesco.

4. At the opening ceremony, the Committee was addressed by the Assistant Director-General for Education, representing the Director-General of Unesco who welcomed the participants and noted that the high level of governmental experts participating in the meeting bore witness to the importance accorded by the Member States to technical and vocational education and to co-operation in this field.

5. Worldwide trends in the development of technical and vocational education show that it has been recognized by all countries as an important part of their educational system, having great bearing on socio-economic development. According to Unesco's report on technical and vocational education, published in 1983, student enrolment in this type of education between 1970 and 1980 had risen from 15.7 million to 24.3 million (in formal educational institutions), representing a growth rate of 54 per cent. In the European countries, the ratio between the number of pupils enrolled in formal full-time technical and vocational education and those enrolled in general education at the secondary level is 1: 4 whereas in the developing countries, as a whole, it stands at 1:8. This situation, was all the more disquieting as technical education today is a prerequisite for development.

6. He went on to underline the importance of international co-operation in technical and vocational education as evidenced by the large number of bilateral and multilateral projects in this field and stated that the Organization will continue to give special attention to technical and vocational education within the framework of its third Medium-Term Plan (1990-1995), to be considered by the General Conference this year.

7. The Director of the Division of Science, Technical and Environmental Education then took the floor and presented the Preliminary Draft Convention and the background documents concerning its preparation contained in Document ED-89/CONF.212/3, entitled 'Final Report presented to the Committee by the Director-General'. This document, which was sent to the Member States three months prior to the meeting, consists of an introduction and three annexes concerning (i) a report of the analysis of observations made by 30 Member States on the first Draft Convention; (ii) observations made by eight additional Member States which were received later; and (iii) a revised version of the Preliminary Draft Convention. The preparatory work for the Convention involved several stages namely: (a) a preliminary study on the legal and technical aspects of a possible Convention, initiated by the Unesco General Conference in 1980; (b) an in-depth study initiated by the 1983 General Conference; (c) a first Draft Convention initiated by the 1985 General Conference for circulation to the Member States for comments; and (d) a final Draft Convention initiated by the General Conference at its twenty-fourth session for the consideration of the Committee of Governmental Experts in 1989 for submission to the General Conference, at its twenty-fifth session. The Preliminary Draft Convention consisted of a preamble and 15 articles. Articles 1-6 were concerned with substantial aspects of technical and vocational education; the remaining nine articles dealt with the ratification, reporting procedures and other matters which are considered standard articles for Unesco conventions.

8. The Committee, at its opening session, elected Dr K. GOPALAN, Head of the Indian delegation, as its Chairman.

9. It then adopted its provisional agenda without amendments or discussion.

10. The provisional rules of procedure were adopted by the Committee as its definitive rules of procedure, after amending Rules 3 to read 'The Committee shall elect a Chairman, five Vice-Chairmen and a Rapporteur', and Rule 2.4, in accordance with the United Nations' General Assembly Resolution (43/177) to read 'Palestine' instead of 'the Palestine Liberation Organization'.

11. The Committee elected five vice-chairmen: Mr Jacques DABOUDET (France); Mr Ju A. JAKOUBA (USSR); Mr Patind?THIOMBIANO (Burkina Faso); Miss Stella Maris PELAEZ AYERRA (Argentina) and Mr Mokhtar HASBELLAOUI (Algeria), and a rapporteur, Dr W.C. HALL (Australia).

12. The Committee held six plenary meetings devoted to examination of the Draft Convention, prepared by the Unesco Secretariat and a final session to adopt it. One hundred and twenty-two written amendments to the Draft Convention were submitted to the Committee. In the course of its work the Committee formed a Drafting Committee* to harmonize the draft amendments which were reported to it. The text of the final draft as adopted by the Committee which constitutes Annex I of this report.

* Canada, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Belgium, Iraq, Malaysia, Rwanda and Venezuela.

13. Following the presentation by the Director of the Division of Science, Technical and Environmental Education of the working document submitted to the Committee, a general debate was initiated during which Member States' representatives engaged in general discussion about the Draft Convention contained in the working document 212/3.

14. Delegates from 18 Member States took the floor, as well as two observers from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and from the International Organization for Catholic Education (OIEC) respectively.

15. Several delegates commented on the importance of the Convention and expressed the satisfaction of their country with the text of the Draft Convention, which they considered to be an improvement on the earlier text and to have included most of the remarks made by the Member States in their replies to the Secretariat. One delegate expressed his country's satisfaction with the way in which the humanistic dimension had been introduced into the draft. Another delegate pointed out that the text followed the letter and the spirit of the 1974 Revised Recommendation as it had been proposed by the General Conference. He was of the opinion that a thorough application of the Convention would contribute to promote the new international economic order put forward by the United Nations.

16. Several delegates considered that application of the Convention would have the effect of improving and expanding technical and vocational education and of enhancing its value. This according to one delegate would be beneficial to the improvement of education and adult life in general.

17. The delegate of France while observing that the Draft Convention was in accordance with the 1974 Revised Recommendation, reiterated his country's view, expressed at the 1987 General Conference, that there was no pressing need for a Convention. However, he was prepared to work on the draft text which should be clear and not restrictive so as not to impede advances in a field where rapid changes were taking place.

18. The delegate of France also stated that it would also be important that evaluation of the application of the Convention should take place periodically - but not too frequently - to enable differences to be assessed.

19. Two other delegates (Japan and Belgium) expressed their countries' reservations on the need for a Convention. One delegate pointed out that 38 Member States have made their views known about the Convention and stated that his country would like to hear the views of more Member States. He noted, however, that a Convention being a legal document when adhere, it was important that it should state in clear terms the rights and responsibilities of all parties. He considered that appropriate language should be used to spur the interest of Member States to adhere to the Convention.

20. Several delegates while approving the idea of the Convention expressed concern about certain aspects of the draft text. Generally, they stressed the diversity of existing systems of technical and vocational education and considered that the Convention should be flexible enough to enable Member States to comply with its principles. Several delegates expressed their countries' difficulties with the definition of the terms 'technical' and 'vocational' education and the distinction to be drawn between the two. No such distinction is made in the document.

21. Two delegates observed that in their countries, technical education could be considered to be a part of vocational education. They, therefore, considered that the term 'technical' was not essential in the title. On the other hand, other delegates pointed out that vocational training, as practised in their countries does not necessarily fall under the term 'vocational' education as understood in the Draft Convention.

22. Some delegates considered that besides the terms 'technical' and 'vocational', the scope of the instrument had also to be defined more clearly in order to encompass the diversity encountered in Member States and enable each Member State to interpret the instrument in terms of the specific characteristics of its own system.

23. The representative from the ILO underlined the co-operation established between the two organizations over the supervision of certain instruments notably the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. He mentioned other instruments adopted by the ILO on the development of human resources, concerning the training of handicapped workers, paid educational leave, the laying down of practical guidelines for workers to undergo additional training, and the Convention concerning Vocational Guidance and Vocational Training in the Development of Human Resources.

24. The observer from the OIEC, while recognizing the quality of the work accomplished considered that more emphasis should be laid on the respect of human rights, the development of human values and of the person. The preamble should underline the link between technical and vocational education and the world of work. It should aim at reducing the social discrimination often associated with the former. Considering that technical and vocational education is a major instrument for the promotion of individual development he was of the opinion that special attention should be paid to women and young girls.

C. EXAMINATION OF THE REVISED PRELIMINARY DRAFT CONVENTION

Preamble

25. Following amendments submitted by Canada, a reference to the 'International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights' was added to preambular paragraph 3 of the Revised Preliminary Draft Convention and the following text was inserted in preambular paragraph 5 between 'Vocational Education' and 'adopted by': 'and the Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms'.

26. Following discussion on an amendment submitted by France, the following text was inserted as a new paragraph between preambular paragraphs 6 and 7 of the revised Preliminary Draft Convention: 'Taking into account the relevant recommendations of the International Conference on Education'.

27. In paragraph 8 of the Revised Preliminary Draft Convention amendments submitted by Japan and Rwanda were adopted. The phrase 'taking into account' was replaced by 'paying special attention to'.

28. After discussion of an amendment to paragraph 9 submitted by France, it was decided to retain the English text as presented and to replace respectively in the French and Spanish versions the words 'directives' by 'orientations' and 'directrices' by 'orientaciones'.

29. Strong support was given to an amendment submitted by Belgium concerning women and girls and the following new paragraph was added to the Revised Preliminary Draft Convention: 'Considering the need to make a special effort to promote the technical and vocational education of women and girls'.

30. The Committee adopted an amendment submitted by the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Accordingly the following new paragraph was added immediately before the last paragraph of the preamble: 'Convinced of the utility of an international legal instrument to reinforce international collaboration in the development of technical and vocational education'.

Article 1

31. Following the discussions on amendments submitted by the Member States to Article 1 (a), the Committee retained ideas suggested by Algeria and Guinea but disagreed with the place suggested for their insertion.

32. Algeria suggested that the phrase 'and attitudes of thought and inquiry' be inserted in the paragraph after 'general education' and Guinea proposed that the phrase 'need for links between formal and out-of-school technical and vocational education' be added in Article 1 to provide a necessary link between the notions expressed in paragraphs (a) and (b).

33. During the discussion, it was suggested by Guinea that the amendment proposed by Algeria could be inserted in Article 3.1.

34. Following the discussions on the two proposed amendments, the Committee decided to refer them to the Drafting Committee, with the observation that attention should be paid to Guinea's suggestion.

35. Concerning paragraph 1 (b), suggestions made by Australia and of Haiti were referred to the Drafting Committee. Australia wished that the phrase 'which take into account accreditation and articulation' be inserted after the 'world of work'.

36. Furthermore, following discussions on amendments submitted by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and France on Article 1 (b), the Committee decided to replace the word 'types' by 'forms and levels' and to delete the phrase 'public or private'. It was further decided for the sake of coherence to delete the phrase 'at secondary and post-secondary levels' in the same paragraph.

37. Paragraph (c) of Article I was not modified.

Article 2

38. Amendments were submitted by Australia, Finland, Algeria, Uruguay, Canada, France, Byelorussian SSR and Ecuador on the various subsections of paragraph 2 of this article. Following discussions in plenary, a working group headed by France was given the task of formulating a draft that would incorporate the changes proposed. After discussions the new formulation was adopted with some minor modifications. The new paragraph 2 of Article 2 reads as follows:

'The general framework for the development of technical and vocational education shall be determined in each Contracting State by appropriate legislation or other measures indicating:

(a) the objectives to be attained in technical and vocational fields taking into consideration economic, social and cultural development needs and the personal fulfilment of the individual;

(b) retain the initial text, deleting words "secondary and higher" (line 2);

(c) the structures for administrative organization of technical and vocational education defined by the responsible authorities;

(d) the roles of the public authorities responsible for economic, social and development planning in the various sectors of the economy and where applicable professional associations, workers, employers and other interested parties.'

39. Following discussions on amendments submitted by Australia, Haiti, Saudi Arabia, Canada, France, the Ukrainian SSR, and based mainly on the amendments submitted by France and Canada, it was decided that paragraph 3 of Article 2 should contain two sentences one dealing more with the legislative aspects of the article and the other towards other aspects which the Committee considered important. A text proposed by France was adopted after discussion and modifications proposed by Austria and Canada. The proposed formulation by France was adopted by the Committee with modifications proposed by Austria and Canada, and reads as follows:

'The Contracting States shall guarantee that no individual who has attained the educational level for admission into technical and vocational education shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, political or other opinions, economic status, birth, or on any other grounds.

The Contracting States shall work towards the right to equal access to technical and vocational education and towards equality of opportunity to study throughout the educational process.'

Article 3

40. Paragraph 1

(b) Following discussion on an amendment submitted by the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the words 'and knowledge' were replaced by the following phrase:

', knowledge and levels of qualification'.

(d) Following discussion on an amendment submitted by Malta, the following phrase was added after 'environment':

', and the common heritage of mankind'.

41. Paragraph 2

(b) After discussing amendments submitted by Japan and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, on a proposal made by the Rapporteur, the following addition was made after 'guidance':

'and information and aptitude counselling'.

(c) After discussing proposed amendments submitted by France and Belgium, on a proposal made by the Rapporteur the phrase 'competence and knowledge' was replaced by:

'an education designed for the acquisition and development of the knowledge and know-how'.

(d) It was agreed after discussion to delete the word 'general' and to replace 'professional' mobility by 'occupational' mobility.

(e) After further discussion based on an amendment submitted by France, a compromise proposal by Canada was accepted. Accordingly, the following changes were made to the text:

'initial technical training' was replaced by 'initial technical and vocational training'; and 'both inside and' was inserted after 'other training'.

(f) Following discussion on amendments submitted by Belgium, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Japan and Finland, the text was redrafted as follows:

'continuing education and training courses for adults with a view in particular to retraining as well as supplementing and upgrading the qualifications of those whose current knowledge has become obsolete because of scientific and technological progress or changes in the employment structure or the social and economic situation, and also for those in special circumstances.'

42. Paragraph 3

Following discussion on amendments submitted by France, Belgium, Japan and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, it was agreed to make the following changes to the text:

(i) replace 'include social, economic and environmental studies' by 'include, inter alia, social, economic and environmental concepts';

(ii) in the French text, replace 'instruction' by 'formation', '閠udes' by 'notions' and 'environnementales' by 'relatives a l'environnement', and adjust other languages (excluding English) as appropriate.

The Committee adopted a draft amendment submitted by Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany proposing to insert after paragraph 3 a new paragraph 4 which reads as follows:

'4. The Contracting States agree to tender support and advice to undertakings outside educational institutions which take part in co-operative programmes of technical and vocational education' and consequently renumber paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Draft Final Convention to paragraphs 5 and 6 respectively.

43. Paragraph 4 (to be renumbered paragraph 5)

Following discussion on draft amendments submitted by France, Belgium and Japan, the Committee decided to replace: 'level, competence required must be clearly defined' by 'level, the competence required must be defined as clearly as possible'; and 'continuously reviewed' by 'curricula must be continuously updated'.

44. Paragraph 5 (to be renumbered paragraph 6)

After thorough discussion based on draft amendments submitted by Australia, Burundi, the Netherlands, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic and France, a reformulation of this paragraph as proposed by the Rapporteur was adopted. The new text reads as follows:

'6. In assessing the ability to carry out occupational activities and determining appropriate awards in technical and vocational education, account should be taken of both the theoretical and practical aspects of the technical field in question, and apply both to persons who have received training and to persons who have acquired occupational experience in employment'.

Article 4

45. Amendments were submitted on this article by Australia, Finland, Algeria, Guinea, Austria, Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Byelorussian SSR and Ecuador.

46. Discussions were based largely on the draft amendments submitted by the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic and Finland who stressed the importance of global development of society.

47. The observer from the IFFTU was given the floor and he expressed the view that educational trade unions should be mentioned in this paragraph. However, it was felt that the matter of relations with representatives of professional associations had been dealt with in Article 2.2 (d).

48. Finally, a revised text as read by the Rapporteur was accepted by the Committee which is as follows:

'The Contracting States agree to review periodically the structure of technical and vocational education, study programmes, plans, training methods and materials, as well as forms of co-operation between the school system and the world of work, so as to ensure that they are constantly adapted to scientific and technological progress, to cultural progress and to changing employment needs in the various sectors of the economy and that advances in educational research and innovation are taken into account with a view to application of the most effective teaching methods.'

Article 5

Paragraph 1

49. Amendments were submitted by Finland, Morocco, Canada, China and Japan on this paragraph.

The discussion centred on the expressions 'all persons teaching' in the field of technical and vocational education and the requirement of 'an appropriate teacher training' contained in the draft. A suggestion that the first expression be replaced by 'teachers' was not retained. Furthermore, many delegates considered that it was not realistic to expect vocational instructors from industries to be trained formally as teachers, yet it was felt that pedagogic skills could not be dispensed with in the case of those persons engaged in the teaching profession. It was decided finally that the expression 'all persons teaching in the field of technical and vocational education' should be retained. In line 3 the term 'professional' should replace the word 'technical'; and the phrase 'and have received an appropriate teacher training' deleted and replaced by 'as well as appropriate teaching skills'. The rest of the paragraph was left unchanged.

50. Paragraph 2

Amendments were submitted on this paragraph by the Federal Republic of Germany and Uruguay. Again the term 'teachers' was not considered to be appropriate in the case of technical and vocational instructors, the expression 'persons teaching' was, therefore, preferred. The observer from the International Federation of Free Trade Unions took the floor to emphasize the role trade unions should play in the world of work.

The idea of participation in research was considered to be important. But rather than the expression 'participate as far as possible', it was felt that the last line of the draft version of Article 5.2 should read thus:

'...discipline and be given the opportunity to participate in relevant research and development'.

51. Paragraph 3

Amendments were submitted by Algeria, Burundi, Switzerland and Australia, as well as by Ecuador on this article. The delegate from Burundi proposed to delete 'and retain' from the phrase 'to recruit and retain in the profession...' because he felt that it would limit the freedom of teachers to move from one job to another. This was strongly supported by the French delegate. Some delegates suggested inserting 'motivation' or 'stimulation' in order to make employment conditions more attractive.

52. In the debate which ensued, delegates pointed out that a policy to retain in the profession qualified staff had to be supported by increased motivation and opportunities for improvement of qualifications and of career prospects.

53. The delegate of Algeria drew attention to the fact that the paragraph made no reference to administrative and technical staff, who from his point of view, play a vital role in the management of technical and vocational education. Other delegates, however, expressed their doubt about the necessity to include technical and administrative staff together with teaching and supervisory staff as these two categories of staff have different status.

54. The observer from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) considered that from the point of view of trade unions. Article 5.3 was most important and regretted that the revised version presented in the draft was much weaker than the text originally presented. The representative of the Director-General took the floor to point out that the purpose of the Convention was not to deal with all aspects of the status of technical and vocational teachers. This was adequately covered in other instruments, for instance the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers mentioned in the preamble to the present Convention.

55. The Chairman designated France, Belgium and Canada to prepare a draft text for Article 5.3.

56. The Australian delegate proposed that his draft amendment dealing with equal employment opportunities be incorporated in Article 5.3 and that the delegates of Belgium, Canada and France jointly prepare a modification of this article and submit it to the Drafting Committee.

57. The Australian draft amendment dealing with students had already been covered and so was withdrawn.

Article 6

58.(a) The Committee decided to adopt a new formulation of this item contained in a draft amendment submitted by Algeria. The text now reads as follows:

'to encourage the collection and dissemination of information concerning innovations, ideas and experience in technical and vocational education and to participate actively in international exchanges dealing with study and teacher-training programmes, methods, equipment standards and textbooks in the field of technical and vocational education;'

59.(b) Following a discussion on draft amendments submitted by the Netherlands, China, Finland and Czechoslovakia, the Committee amended this text to read:

'to encourage the use in technical and vocational education of international technical standards applied in industry, commerce and other sectors of the economy'.

60.(c) The discussion on this item was based on draft amendments submitted by Finland, China, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands. On a proposal by the Rapporteur, the Committee decided to replace the phrase 'equivalencies of qualifications' by 'approaches to achieving the recognition of equivalencies of qualifications'.

61.(d) Based on draft amendments submitted by the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada, a new formulation proposed by the Federal Republic of Germany was adopted as follows:

'to encourage international exchange of teachers, administrators and other specialists in technical and vocational education'.

62.(e) Following the discussion on draft amendments submitted by Saudi Arabia and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic on a proposal made by the Federal Republic of Germany the following changes were introduced in this text:

(i) 'particularly from developing countries,' was inserted between 'other countries' and 'the opportunity'.

(ii) The text after 'facilitating' was altered to read 'the study, acquisition, adaptation, transfer and application of technology;'.

63.(f) Based on draft amendments submitted by China and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Committee accepted the proposal made by the Rapporteur to reformulate the item as follows:

'to promote co-operation in technical and vocational education between all countries, but in particular between industrialized and developing countries, to encourage the development of the technologies of the countries;'.

Article 7

64. The draft amendment submitted by Saudi Arabia concerning the Arabic version only was accepted.

Article 8

65. The amendment submitted by Spain strongly supported by the delegates was adopted. Consequently the text in the Revised Preliminary Draft Convention is replaced by the following text:

'The following provisions shall apply to those States Parties to this Convention which have a non-unitary constitutional system:

(a) with regard to the provisions of this Convention, the implementation of which comes under the legal jurisdiction of the federal or central legislative power, the obligations of the federal or central government shall be the same as for those States Parties with a centralized system;

(b) with regard to the provisions of this Convention, the implementation of which comes under the legal jurisdiction of federated States and constituent countries, provinces, autonomous communities or cantons that are not obliged by the general or basic constitutional system of the federation to take legislative measures, the central government shall inform the competent authorities of such States, countries, provinces, autonomous communities or cantons of the said provisions, with its recommendation for their adoption.'

Articles 9 to 15

66. No amendments were submitted on these articles.

D. THE DRAFTING COMMITTEE*

* Ms E. Crosthwaite (Canada) as Chairperson, and the membership of Mr L. Maniquet (Belgium), Mr V. Shchebrov (Byelorussian SSR), Mr Mohamed Rashid bin Mohamed Nor (Malaysia), Mr C.O. Chalband (Venezuela), Dr Hashim M.S. Abdul-Wahab (Iraq) and Mr Bonaparte Ndekeze (Rwanda).

67. The Drafting Committee met four times and studied 29 draft amendments referred to them by the plenary. The Chairperson, Ms Elizabeth CROSTHWAITE (Canada) reported back to the sixth plenary session of the Committee on 6 April, making proposals for seven amendments to the text of the Revised Preliminary Draft Convention.

68. The Committee decided to adopt the proposals and the Revised Preliminary Draft Convention was modified to read as follows:

Preamble

(i) a new paragraph was added to the preamble between the sixth and seventh paragraphs:

'Noting further the close collaboration between Unesco and International Labour Organisation in drawing up their respective instruments so that they pursue harmonious objectives and with a view to continuing and fruitful collaboration;'

(ii) eighth paragraph:

'Paying special attention to the diversity of education systems, socio-economic and cultural conditions, in particular those in developing countries which need special considerations and provisions;'.

69. Article 1 (a)

'For the purpose of this Convention, "technical and vocational education" refers to all forms and levels of the educational process involving, in addition to general knowledge, the study of technologies and related sciences and the acquisition of practical skills, know-how, attitudes, and understanding relating to occupations in the various sectors of economic and social life;'.

70. Article 1(b)

'This Convention applies to all forms and levels of technical and vocational education provided in educational institutions or through co-operative programmes organized jointly by educational institutions, on the one hand, and industrial, agricultural, commercial or any other undertaking related to the world of work, on the other;'.

71. Article 2.1

'The Contracting States agree to frame policies, to define strategies and to implement, in accordance to their needs and resources, programmes and curricula for technical and vocational education designed for young people and adults within the framework of their respective education systems in order to enable them to acquire the knowledge and know-how that are essential to economic and social development as well as the personal and cultural fulfilment of the individual in society;'.

72. Article 2.4

'The Contracting States shall pay attention to the special needs of the handicapped and other disadvantaged groups and take appropriate measures to enable these groups to benefit from technical and vocational education.'

73. Article 5.3

'Equal employment opportunities should be offered, without discrimination, to teachers and other specialized staff in technical and vocational education, and their employment conditions should be such that it is possible to attract, recruit and retain staff qualified in their areas of competence.'

E. OTHER MATTERS



74. During the deliberations of the Committee many delegates emphasized the importance of special measures to be taken to improve technical and vocational education in developing countries. Some of the ideas are reflected in the Draft Convention. In this connection it was proposed that the Unesco General Conference at its twenty-fifth session might consider strengthening the Unesco programme for technical and vocational education. It was also suggested that efforts should be continued to co-operate and mobilize resources within the United Nations agencies and other bodies for the promotion of technical and vocational education.

F. CLOSING SESSION AND ADOPTION OF THE COMMITTEE’S REPORT



75. At its last meeting on 7 April 1989, the Governmental Experts’ Committee adopted the report, in some cases after amendments and the text of the Final Draft Convention on Technical and Vocational Education. Suggestions were made to render in the different languages the meaning of some terms rather than a literal translation. The Secretariat was authorized to make any necessary improvements in linguistic harmonization.

76. The Committee’s report and the text of the Final Draft Convention will be submitted to the General Conference at its twenty-fifth session.