Vocational and technical education (VTE) has traditionally been stigmatised in Arab societies owing to the lowly image of manual work and the perception of VTE as a last resort for weak school students. This paper focuses on the transition to upper secondary VTE from the regular Lebanese school system and on students’ aspirations once they have done so. While regular school students’ career aspirations largely reflected the conventional academic orientation of the school system and few contemplated moving into the VTE realm even if they failed, students who had made the transition expressed well-informed positive views regarding VTE, mostly concerning its direct linkages with career formation and the employment market. Despite the recognised ‘job ticket’ value of the Baccalauréat Technique, most envisaged pursuing a higher VTE qualification, and the aspirations of those intending to complete the Licence Technique were comparable to those of terminating Year 12 students in the regular academic system who were contemplating university. The paper ends by addressing specific problem areas in Lebanese upper secondary VTE. © 2008 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.
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