Christine Evans-Klock Director, Skills and Employability Department International Labour...

Christine Evans-Klock Director, Skills and Employability Department

International Labour Organisation

Moscow, November 2011

Quality assurance in professional education and training

ILO mandate onDecent Work

GOAL of PEOPLE everywhere for productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity (definition 1999)

ILO POLICY AGENDA, 4 pillars, necessary elements:1. Rights at work2. Productive employment3. Social protection4. Voice and representation

Global ADVOCACY to keep productive work and social inclusion at the heart of poverty reduction and fair globalization strategies

mutually supportive & interdependent{

Bridging the world of education and training to the world of work,

• To improve the employability of workers,

• To increase the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises,

• To expand the inclusiveness of economic growth

Presentation

1. Drivers of change in labour markets for professional education and training

2. G20 Strategy for linking professional education and training to strong, sustainable and balanced growth

3. Quality assurance in professional education and training

Quality in process and outcomes

Demand-led professional education and training

Coordination

4. Examples from ILO work

Imperatives: youth employment

Youth unemployment in 2009 highest ever: 13%• 81 million unemployed, out of 620 million 15-24 year olds• Higher numbers economically inactive – “NEET” not in

education, not in training, not in work. The average in Latin America is 1 out of 4.

• One fourth of young workers were in households surviving on less than US$ 1.24 per person per day

Risks:• Social upheaval now• Loss of future productivity• Lifelong poverty

ILO , Employment Trends for Youth, September 2010

Downward tick of youth unemployment in 2010 – good news or more bad news?

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ILO, Trends Econometric Models, 2009

Imperatives: productivity

Productivity in G20 Countries GDP per person engaged in 2008 (constant 1990 US$ at PPP) and index (1990=100) change

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Imperatives: demographic trends

Dependency ratios

Developed countries and some Asian economies: Number of persons of working age to support each person aged 65 or over is shrinking:

2000: 2050:

Imperatives: social inclusion

Rural communities: improve access and quality of education and training

Informal economy: promote transition of economic activities to the formal economy

Disadvantaged youth: improve basic education, apprenticeships, employment services

Persons with disabilities: meet specific needs and be inclusive

Across all of these groups, address the special needs of women.

Imperatives: globalization

Market integration Distribution of skills

- trade of products and services

- technology diffusion

- labour migration

- production migration - outsourcing

Imperatives: climate change

Transition to lower-carbon economies...

could generate millions of new jobs by 2050

Integrating training in environmental policies is both

efficient: avoids skills gaps, smoothes the transition; and

equitable: re-skilling helps share the gains, realising the job potential

ILO, UNEP, IOE, ITUC; Green Jobs Initiative

Presentation

1. Drivers of change in labour markets for professional education and training

2. G20 Strategy for linking professional education and training to strong, sustainable and balanced growth

3. Quality assurance in professional education and trainings

Quality in process and outcomes

Demand-led professional education and training

Coordination

4. Examples from ILO work

Coordination and Global Outreach: G20 Training Strategy for strong, sustainable and balanced growth

Pittsburgh Summit, September 2009 Called for putting quality jobs at the heart of recovery Adopted framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth Asked the ILO, in partnership with other organizations and with employers

and workers, to develop a training strategy“.. to strengthen the ability of our workers to adapt to changing market demands and to benefit from innovation and investments in new technologies, clean energy, environment, health and infrastructure”

Inter-Agency Group on Technical and Vocational Education and Training

• UNESCO, World Bank, OECD, region development banks

Toronto Summit, June 2010 Received and welcomed the G20 Training Strategy document

Seoul Summit, November 2010 Adopted Multi-Year Action Plan on Development Human Resources Development Pillar builds on the G20 Training Strategy

to strengthen national skills for employment policies and institutions

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Towards an ILO skills strategyILC discussion in 2008:

How can skills development help

improve productivity and

increase employment to attain

development goals?

Linking skills development to Decent work

From a Vicious Downward Circle…Unavailable or low quality education and training: • Traps the working poor in low-skilled, low productive, low-wage jobs• Excludes workers without the right skills from participating in economic

growth• Discourages investment in new technologies

To a Virtuous Circle...More and better skills makes it easier to:• Innovate and adopt new technologies• Attract investment• Compete in new markets, and• Diversify the economy• Boost job growth

Countries sustain a “virtuous circle” link education, skills, decent work by…

1. Ensuring the broad availability of quality education

2. Matching supply to current demand for skills

3. Helping workers and enterprises adjust to change

4. Sustaining a dynamic development process: Use skills as a driver of change: move from lower to higher productivity

5. Expanding accessibility of quality training: rural, women, disadvantaged youth, persons with disabilities

HOWEVER... The potential benefits of training are not realised without job-rich growth

This is the conceptual framework of the G20 Training Strategy for strong, sustainable and balanced growth

G20 Training Strategy: Building blocks , not stumbling blocks - the “How”

Anticipating skill needs Participation of social partners Sectoral approaches Labour market information and employment services Training quality and relevance Gender equality Broad access to training Finance Assessing policy performance

G20 Seoul Summit: Multi-year Action Plan on Development

Action Points on human resources development

asked international organizations to work together to help low-income countries “develop employment -related skills that are better matched to employer and market needs in order to attract investment and decent jobs”

Action point 1 calls upon the World Bank, ILO, OECD,UNESCO to “Create internationally comparable skills indicators;”

Action point 2 asks the development banks, ILO, and UNESCO to form a “unified and coordinated team” to support Low-Income Countries to enhance employable skills strategies”.

Presentation

1. Drivers of change in labour markets for professional education and training

2. G20 Strategy for linking professional education and training to strong, sustainable and balanced growth

3. Quality assurance in professional education and training: Quality in process and outcomes

Demand-led professional education and training

Coordination

4. Examples from ILO work

Quality in skills systems

Two major purposes:

– as a key driver of reform and a driving force for change.

– as an accountability mechanism on effectiveness.

• Quality systems serve as a common reference to ensure consistency amongst different actors at all levels.

• Quality systems seek to introduce transparent processes and procedures to ensure mutual understanding and trust between different actors.

Why Focus on Quality?

• Quality mainly affects the value and success of education programmes:

– High quality programs provide a strong link between what is learnt and the needs of the labour market ie: graduates are more likely to find suitable employment;

– High quality leads to a higher status and improved attractiveness of TVET.

Social partner perspectives

For employer organisations:

• quality systems ensure training programs are properly adapted to market needs;

• quality programs support improvements to enterprise productivity and profitability;

• quality programs encourage workers to be more responsible for their own training process and progress;

• quality programs should allow for the development of competencies that meet company needs.

Social partner perspectives

For worker organisations:

• quality qualifications protects against precariousness in labour market;

• quality programs support personal development and facilitates career development and evolution;

• quality programs are certified by a label/logo which acts as an important marketing device to potential employers;

• quality programs allow for transferability of competences beyond a specific company/job;

Quality in skills systems applies to...

• Qualifications / Certification;• Competency Standards;• Curriculum and Courses;• Training Providers;• Delivery;• Intermediary services (employment services);• Assessment and accountability.

In effect, all aspects of the professional education and training system.

But what about the quality of training?

• Quality of training is reflected by a wide range of measures used by different countries, including:

– Management of the training process;– Relevance and credibility of training;– Assessment processes;– Competence of teachers delivering the program; and– Accessibility of training.

And what about the outcomes?

• Wide range of indicators used to measure quality in skills systems at a national level, including:

– Attainment;– Participation;– Progression;– Retention; – Completion;

Quality in Process and Outcomes

• Quality indicators can therefore be divided broadly into two categories:

– first, those that focus on the process of training, and – second, those that focus on outcomes or outputs of

training.

Conceptual framework Indicators of skills for employability

G20 Action point, Being developed by OECD and World Bank with ILO and UNESCO

Presentation

1. Drivers of change in labour markets for professional education and training

2. G20 Strategy for linking professional education and training to strong, sustainable and balanced growth

3. Quality assurance in professional education and training:

Quality in process and outcomes

Demand-led professional education and training

Coordination

4. Examples from ILO work

Tripartite agreement on shared responsibilities for skills development:

Governments have primary responsibility for – education– pre-employment training, core skills– training the unemployed, people with special needs

The social partners play a significant role in – further training– workplace learning and training

Individuals need to make use of opportunities for education, training and lifelong learning

HRD Recommendation (ILO, 2004)

Demand-led skills development through sectoral coordination

• Improve relevance of training, and thus: Employability of workers Productivity and competitiveness of employers

• Build Public-Private Partnerships for: Initial training Continuous learning

• Engage Employers’ and Workers’ representatives at all stages of skills policy: Design Implementation Assessment

Sectoral based professional education and training reduce skills mismatch - lessonsInstitutionalized

involvement of the private sector on all levels – curriculum,

teacher training, equipment,

workplace learning; financing through

public-private partnerships

Demand-driven training provision, in sectors with high job growth

potential, avoids bottlenecks and improves employability

Training institutions as true “service providers,” accountability based on labour market outcome combined

with regional autonomy for working with the private sector

Develop labour market information systems and analysis, disseminate

through employment services, guidance, counselling

Demand-led skills development assumes a skills-based business strategy

Should we prepare young people for the labour market?

Or prepare the labour market for young people?

What about skills utilization?

• Do employers invest in training, or is their strategy based on low-wages & low-productivity?

Do sectoral bodies include small enterprises? Workers?

Question: What is the social status and job quality of TVET?

• Answer: What is the quality of the training and of the resulting jobs?

Demand-led skills development assumes a skills-based business strategy

Can public-private partnerships encourage a skills-based strategy?

By sharing costs and benefits of training?

By supporting job creation in promising industrial sectors?

By helping small enterprises train workers?

By combining classroom and workplace learning for youth?

By targeting at-risk populations while meeting skill shortages?

By investing in lifelong learning for all workers?

Learning from examples – Netherlands, Costa Rica, Ireland

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Netherlands – Success factors

• Culture of bipartite and tripartite cooperation (“Tulip model”)

• Social acknowledgement of TVET’s as source of labour – especially for small enterprises

• Availability of effective sectoral employer branche-organisations and sectoral unions

• Stable commitment to a shared responsibility for life long learning (state, individual, employer)

• Autonomy of training institutions balanced with accountability to industry

Presentation

1. Drivers of change in labour markets for professional education and training

2. G20 Strategy for linking professional education and training to strong, sustainable and balanced growth

3. Quality assurance in professional education and training:

Quality in process and outcomes

Demand-led professional education and training

Coordination

4. Examples from ILO work

Coordinating!

Countries that sustain a “virtuous circle” link education, skills, decent work by…

… basic education, vocational training, and the world of work

… training providers and employers at sector and local levels

… skills development and industrial, trade, technology and environmental policies… development partners

Avoid skill gaps today and drive economic and social development tomorrow.

To close the gaps between…

Coordination is critical for success

Institutions for Coordination

• Social dialogue

• Inter-ministerial mechanisms

• Local and sectoral skills councils

• Value chains and clusters

• Employment services & labour market information

systems

• “Deliver as One,” UN country teams

Preparing for future jobs Integrate skills into national and sector

development strategies

Include skills in responses to global drivers of change:• technology• trade• climate change

Countries that sustain a “virtuous circle” link education, skills, decent work by…

FRANCEGERMANY

UK

DENMARK

KOREASPAIN

COSTA RICA

ESTONIABRAZILINDIA

EGYPT

CHINA

S.AFRICA

PHILIPPINES

MALIBANGLADESH

UGANDA

THAILAND

US

AUSTRALIA

Lack of skills policies for greening

Comprehensive skills policies for greening

Sound environmental policies

Lack of environmental policies

INDONESIA

Example: Findings on Environmental and Skills policy coordination

• The change is happening• Success depends on: policy coherence, targeted

measures, local initiatives, collaboration of various actors and levels

• Vocational education and training is catching up less efficiently than higher education

• There is much greater demand for greening existing jobs and occupations than for preparing for jobs in wholly new technologies.

Findings on skills for green jobs

Presentation

1. Drivers of change in labour markets for professional education and training

2. G20 Strategy for linking professional education and training to strong, sustainable and balanced growth

3. Quality assurance in professional education and training:

Quality in process and outcomes

Demand-led professional education and training

Coordination

4. Examples from ILO work

1. A closer look at NQFs

Which models of NQFs and which implementation strategies and approaches are most appropriate in which contexts?

To what extent can NQFs achieve various desired policy objectives, for example employability?

Is there, in the view of designers, managers and stakeholders of NQFs, evidence of impact, for example on productivity or improved access?

NQF Research Questions

Involvement of Social Partners in the Design, Implementation & Evaluation of NQFs

Social dialogue and the role of stakeholdersMainly government-led

Weak stakeholder involvement

Resistance from education/training institutions

«Policy borrowing » (better: adapting rather than adopting)

Speed of “Adaptation”

Top-down versus bottom-up

Donor aid and “expertise”

Implementation and use in the 16 countries

Improved communication of qualification systems: most successes although also problems

Improved transparency of individual qualifications through learning outcomes: over-specification and unused

Reduced mismatch between education and training and labour market: very little evidence

Recognizition of prior learning: little evidence

Improved access to learning opportunities: little evidence

Expectations vs Evidence thus far

2. Skills for trade and economic Diversification (STED)

• Provide guidance for strategic skills policies – Target sectors that are key to export development,

economic diversification, and job creation – Skills policies embedded in a wider strategic understanding

of what each sector needs to achieve – Promote structural transformation

– Gap in business capabilities

Gap in workplace skills Learn from successful “globalizers” that early on coordinated• Investment policy• Trade policy• Technology policies, and• Training and education policies

Scenario Employment and Skills Modelling – quantitative & qualitative data

• Demand Side– Labour Force Surveys: Occupational composition and training received in

current workforce– Business surveys / interviews: Vacancies, satisfaction with current training

system, in-house training, etc. – Collaboration with YEP on School-to-Work Transition Survey

• Supply Side– Number of graduates for main occupations from relevant schools, training

institutes, universities, etc.– Relevance and applicability of training provided (curricula, equipment,

school-to-work transition)– General level of relevant soft-skills (e.g. languages, teamwork)

How does STED work?

STED: How it works

1. Examine market trends in prospective sectors

2. Assess skills mismatch – current & anticipated – in export sectors, which have higher skill needs

3. Engage employers and workers - inside knowledge of skill needs, joint commitment to training

4. Look at broader business environment – with educatin and training as one aspect

5. Engage Government: industrial upgrading has large external benefits

6. Propose response:– Promote sustainable sector institution – skills councils– Improve, change education and training offered– Extend continuing education– Improve workplace practices

3. TREE: Training for Rural Economic Empowerment1. Start with commuinities’ aspirations and identify

employment and livelihood opportunities!!

2. Identify skills constraints

3. Assess abilities of local training providers – public, private, NGOs, businesses

4. Boost their capacity to fill the skill gaps

5. Build capacity for post-training support: entrepreneurship training, access to credit and markets

6. Help communities track results

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Post-training support

• Facilitate access to wage or self-employment

• Support small business start-up

• Facilitate access to credit advisory services, marketing, technology application, etc.

• Support to formation of groups

• Follow-up TREE graduates• i.e. tracer studies

• Facilitate access to wage or self-employment

• Support small business start-up

• Facilitate access to credit advisory services, marketing, technology application, etc.

• Support to formation of groups

• Follow-up TREE graduates• i.e. tracer studies

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Mainstreamed Elements in TREE:

1. Community and region development

2. Business cluster and supply chain approaches

3. Vocational training combined with

entrepreneurship training

4. Gender equality

5. Disability inclusion

To summarize: Policy coherence in education and training for innovation and productivity:

• Integrate skills in national & sector development strategies: Meet today’s labour market needs and attract new jobs for tomorrow.

• Respond to global drivers of change: skills to take advantage of opportunities & to mitigate negative impact of technology, trade, climate change

• Build seamless pathways from basic education to TVET, labour market entry, lifelong learning

• Extend access to education & training to rural communities, people with disabilities, disadvantaged youth

• Sustain Inter-ministerial coordination

• Demand UN and International Agency coordination

Christine Evans-Klock DirectorILO, Skills and Employability Departmentevans-klock@ilo.org

“Skills for improved productivity, employment growth and development” athttp://www.ilo.org/public/employment/skills

Thank you