Currently, most countries around the world are introducing national vocational
qualifications framework (NVQF) to improve relevancy, flexibility and quality of
their education and training system. Policy makers are attracted to this model as it
claims to solve issues in education, skills development and employment through;
provision of transparency, visible learning pathways promoting lifelong learning
and recognition of prior learning. These claims and rhetoric have influenced many
developing countries in to introducing NVQFs as a reform tool in their education
and training system, since it is widely endorsed by the international and donor
agencies. However, research has revealed problems with the design and
implementation that countries seeking to adopt this policy might face and there is
little evidence of NVQFs meeting its goals. It suggests that NVQFs do not
provide quick fix or simple solutions to the complex problems countries face in
relation to education, skills development, and employment. Bhutan is also in the
process of introducing Bhutan Vocational Qualifications Framework (BVQF).
While the benefits claimed for the NVQFs have caught the interest of policy
makers in Bhutan, there has been a lack of critical enquiry in to this policy. In
view of the critical debates around NVQFs, this dissertation argues if there are too
many assumptions in introducing the BVQF in Bhutan, which may have been
overlooked leading to unintended consequences. The intention is not to dismiss
the concept and idea of the BVQF, rather to analyze issues surrounding the policy
and the problems that it gives rise to. The purpose is to deepen the understanding
of what is involved in introducing a BVQF in Bhutan and its use at both the
policy level and in practice.