Edinburgh Napier University

  The development of competent technicians for the oil and gas industries is vital for a sustainable economy in Libya. One of the major factors that brought about modernisation in the country is the export of oil and gas. This has allowed Libya to embark on profound growth and expansion in all sectors, including health and education. Technical education is one of the most significant components of Human Resources Development (HRD). Therefore, the government has embarked on establishing the Technical Education and Training (TET) programme for preparing and developing technicians to work in the oil and gas industries. This thesis focuses on an assessment of the TET programme. It is important to note that to the knowledge of the researcher, there has been no research conducted to assess TET programme in Libya. Therefore, this study can be considered as an initial source of information that is aimed to contribute to the knowledge in this field. In order to understand the nature of the TET programme and how it is perceived by the respondents, two research approaches were adopted, namely quantitative and qualitative. The results suggest that the respondents are positive about issues relating to the process of the TET programme and the relationship between the Petroleum Training and Qualifying Institute (PTQI) and the oil and gas industries in conducting this programme. To establish this, 3 questionnaires were used to collect data from the teaching staff, students and technicians who attended the TET programme. Results of the quantitative analysis suggest that respondents mostly agreed on issues related to the quality of the TET programme, the curricula, teaching and learning, educational resources and educational planning and assessment. However, although these results show a positive perception towards the TET programme, up to 38.5% of the respondents were negative on issues related to the quality of the TET programme, curricula, teaching and learning, educational resources and educational planning and assessment. In addition, results indicated that the managers at the PTQI and oil industries were working in partnership to organise and manage the TET programme. These results appear to suggest that although the majority of the respondents were happy with the TET programme further studies may be required to understand the effectiveness of the TET programme.