Chapter 2. Progress towards the EFA goals - Unesco

PROGRESS TOWARDS THE EFA GOALS
Youth and adult skills — expanding opportunities in the new global economy
Integrate vocational programmes into national
skills strategies. Some of the most successful
models demonstrate that long-term planning
of skills development can play a critical role in
raising productivity, generating economic growth
and creating employment. The Republic of Korea
and Singapore both aligned vocational programmes
with the needs of high-growth sectors, identifying
skills bottlenecks and, as the economy developed,
gradually shifting the focus of training from
secondary schools to specialized technical
institutes and higher education (Law, 2008; Lee,
2008). More recently, Viet Nam has invested heavily
in technical and vocational education to improve
skills in light manufacturing. There is scope for
other developing regions to learn from East Asia,
but the conditions for success are difficult to
reproduce (Fredriksen and Tan, 2008). They include
the integration of vocational education into an active
policy for industrial development, rapid economic
growth, strong state capacity and – critically –
rapid progress in expanding good-quality primary
and secondary education. Two distinctive features
of the vocational success story in East Asia have
been missing from the policy environment of many
other developing countries. The first is rapid
economic growth, which has created demand for
skilled labour and resources for training. Second,
provision of technical and vocational education
in countries such as the Republic of Korea and
Singapore has been integrated into broad-based
national strategies for industrial development,
employment creation and raising living standards
through higher levels of skills and productivity
(Lall, 2001) (Box 2.18).
Conclusion
In recent decades, the rapid rise of knowledgebased
economies, along with persistent youth
unemployment and the marginalization of young
people lacking skills, has prompted governments
to review and revalue technical and vocational
education. The economic crisis is another driver
of change. Emerging reform models are
challenging the image of vocational programmes
as second-class education.
Governments face very different types of
challenges. The problems with the dual system
in Germany are not those of vocational education
Box 2.18: Singapore’s ‘jewel in the system’
By helping drive economic growth, overcome shortages of skilled labour
and reduce social inequalities, technical and vocational education has
played a central role in turning Singapore into a high-income country
with one of the world’s best-performing education systems. The
education minister has described the Institute of Technical Education
as ‘a shining jewel in our system’.
The Institute of Technical Education was established in the early 1990s
in response to growing concerns over the education system’s ability
to meet the demands of a more productive economy and the needs of
the young. It is meant for students who register low scores in general
academic education. Courses are designed by government and industry.
Companies value its graduates highly: over 90% of students were
employed within six months of graduating in 2007. As the economy
has evolved, the institute has responded with innovative programmes,
including partnering with global industry to set up centres of technology
in niche areas such as industrial automation, offering joint certificates
with companies such as Microsoft and linking with institutes in Germany
to offer diplomas in machine technology.
Perhaps the institute’s greatest success has been in combating the
stigma associated with vocational education. Successive governments
have invested heavily in training teachers, involving the private sector
as well, so that the institute’s facilities are comparable to those of the
country’s universities. Qualifications from the institute can be used
as a route into tertiary-level technical education through polytechnics,
or back into academic education through universities. The emphasis
on giving confidence to students and tackling the perception of technical
and vocational education as a sign of failure helps explain why
Singapore’s model has succeeded where others have failed.
Source: Goh and Gopinathan (2008).
in Ethiopia. As in other areas of education policy,
vocational education is not amenable to quick
fixes through the import of successful models
from other countries. Policies have to be tailored
to reflect governments’ abilities to manage them,
the realities of labour markets and education
systems, and institutional history. What is clear
is that no government can afford to ignore the
importance of skills and learning in supporting
economic growth, combating poverty and
overcoming social marginalization. Goal 3 of
the Dakar Framework for Action sets out a
vision for the learning and skills agenda. Now
governments and the international community
urgently need to develop meaningful benchmarks
for measuring progress and credible policies
for achieving greater equity.
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