Sustainable Management of Vocational Education Systems Through Virtual Reality-Based Pre-Training: Evidence from Learning Readiness and Skill Transfer

Vocational education systems face increasing pressure to deliver high-quality skills training while ensuring resource efficiency, safety, and scalability. In machining programs, traditional hands-on training relies heavily on physical equipment, consumables, and close supervision, posing challenges for sustainable management. This study employs a quasi-experimental design with pretest–posttest measures and a comparison group to examine the effects of VR-based pre-training with 50 first-year vocational students. The findings indicate that VR-based preparation supports learners’ cognitive and experiential readiness and contributes to perceived preparedness for subsequent hands-on activities. No statistically significant differences in posttest performance were observed between groups. VR-based preparatory training supports risk mitigation in learning contexts by enabling cognitive rehearsal and structured procedural familiarization before physical practice. At the system level, VR-based pre-training transforms early-stage trial-and-error learning into a guided virtual environment that incorporates predefined operational sequences, procedural cues, and embedded safety prompts. This approach helps reduce safety risks for inexperienced learners and supports the more strategic use of instructional resources. Rather than establishing generalized or causal effects, the findings provide exploratory, empirically grounded insights derived from a single institutional context, offering a structured reference framework to inform the design, scaling, and validation of future multi-site or longitudinal research in vocational education management. Furthermore, the study explicitly aligns with Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education) and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). This alignment underscores the study’s relevance to sustainability-focused vocational training initiatives.