Technical or vocational education and training refers to secondary or post-secondary education intended to prepare a student for participation or advancement in an occupation or trade. Different industries have different standards for the kind of training required, but this term encompasses the set of fields in which people perform work requiring [Page 450]some degree of familiarity with specialized tools or methodology, or in which some amount of hands-on experience, gained either on the job or through a training program, is a prerequisite.

Vocational education differs somewhat from other forms of education or training for the professions (some of which may require mastery of an overlapping set of skills), in that it focuses on the application of practical skills in the context of a trade or occupation, ...