Post by Yonah Harif-Welker

Echoing our previous exchanges on AI literacy, including in vocational education, our colleagues at UNESCO have published a new guide dedicated to navigating AI integration in technical and vocational education. The guide translates global ethical principles into concrete institutional practice, helping TVET leaders, teachers, trainers and policy-makers respond to AI in a responsible way. In particular: • The guide was developed through extensive collaboration with the global UNEVOC Network and international TVET experts, drawing on institutional practices from over 20 countries, including Fiji, Brazil, Switzerland, Singapore, Pakistan and South Africa. • The guide sets out five core ethical principles for institutional AI governance: human agency and teacher authority, equity and non-discrimination, pedagogical purposefulness, transparency and explainability, and accountability and data protection, with AI positioned to augment professional judgement rather than replace it. • A phased, four-stage pathway is proposed for institutions at different readiness levels: diagnosing existing capacity, low-risk early applications, deepening pedagogical integration, and system-level ecosystem building, allowing institutions to progress at a pace matched to their infrastructure and resources. • The guide calls for redesigned assessment that verifies genuine vocational competence through process documentation, oral defence and project-based tasks, while reserving supervised, unassisted performance for safety-critical and foundational skills. • In safety-critical occupations, such as construction, electrical work, welding, health care and transport, among others, the guide insists on qualified human oversight, clearly defined task boundaries, and sustained hands-on competence alongside AI-enhanced simulation. Acknowledgements: Dr. Hannes Tegelbeckers George Bekiaridis Egle Celiesiene Dr Sriya C. Twaambo Chiinza Rachael Chikoore Carlos Corrales Tapia Reza Fajarsyah Dr. Mao Garzon Quiroz ing. Ramon Iriarte and many others.