Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

010CHAPTER 22Education for All Global Monitoring ReportThere is agrowing sensein which ‘whatyou know’ is lessimportant than‘what you areable to learn’29. In the Republicof Korea, the shareof secondary schoolenrolment in technicaland vocational educationdropped steadily fromaround 45% in themid-1990s to 29% in 2005.As policy-makers seek to address the twinchallenges posed by rising unemployment andan increasingly knowledge-based economy,some important lessons may be drawn fromthe better-performing programmes – alongwith some cautionary notes.Reinforce the links between education and labourmarkets. A major strength of the dual system inGermany is the direct link it establishes betweenschool, work experience and practical educationin vocational courses. Companies train studentsto acquire skills relevant to the needs of theenterprise and, through the involvement ofgovernment agencies, the wider economy. Usinga very different approach, Japan’s system hasprovided students with a route into company-basedtraining and employment. Contrasts with countriesincluding France and the United Kingdom, wherelinks between education and companies have beenfar weaker, are striking. In the United States,Career Academies operate through less formalcontractual arrangements, but establish stronglinks between students, companies and educators,combining practical employment opportunities withteaching and job counselling. Rigorous evaluationthat controls for selection bias points to strongbenefits, including an average earnings increaseof about 11% (Kemple and Willner, 2008).Recognize that past achievements are noguarantee of future success. Rapid economicchange is continually shifting the environmentfor vocational education. Germany’s dual systemhas been coming under pressure as employmentgrowth slows in metalworking, engineeringand the automobile sector. The number of newapprenticeship places available is in decline(German Federal Ministry of Education andResearch, 2006). In Japan, the ‘lost decade’ ofprotracted recession of the 1990s led companiesto lower their commitments to training andlong-term employment. This is reflected in thelarge and growing share of young workers ininsecure or temporary work (OECD, 2009c).The experience of Germany and Japan serves tohighlight the important role of economic growthand employment creation in creating demandamong employers for technical and vocationaleducation and training. It also underlines theneed for state action to renew vocationalprogrammes in the light of changingcircumstances, a task heightened by thecurrent economic downturn.Rethink the outmoded separation of technicaland vocational education from general education.Successful participation in knowledge-basedemployment markets characterized by rapidchange requires problem-solving and creativethinking as well as specific technical skills. Thereis a growing sense in which ‘what you know’ is lessimportant than ‘what you are able to learn’. Rigidtracking into vocational training, especially at anearly age, diminishes the prospect of developingflexible skills and restricts individuals’ choices.Vocational students need sufficient academiceducation to broaden their occupational choicesand general students need an opportunity todevelop practical skills. Innovative reformers arebreaking down barriers between vocational andgeneral education. In the Republic of Korea,academic and vocational students in secondaryschool share as much as 75% of a joint curriculum,creating opportunities for transition in bothdirections (Adams, 2007b). The share of studentsenrolled in vocational education at the secondarylevel has been declining as the emphasis shiftsto general education to equip students for postsecondaryspecialization. 29 Several other countries,including Australia and Switzerland, have activelyrevised qualification systems to allow for greatermobility between general and vocational education(Hoeckel et al., 2008a; Hoeckel et al., 2008b).Develop capability-based qualification systems,involving the private sector. In job markets shapedby rapid technological change, young people needexpertise that can be applied to acquiring a widerange of skills. Many countries are introducing orstrengthening national qualification frameworks,testing students on the basis of broad abilitiesand allowing training to be used for transferrablecredits into technical and general education(Adams, 2007b; Hoeckel et al., 2008b; Young, 2005).Involving companies in the development ofcapability-based training is important becausethey are well placed to pick up employmentmarket signals. In Australia, programmesdeveloped through industry associations andeducation authorities have been introduced in thefinal year of secondary school. At the same time,national skills bodies are bringing togetheremployers, teachers and education ministriesto develop and deliver curricula that are relevantto the needs of industry. One of the big challengesis to coordinate the diverse array of partnersinvolved into an administrative framework thatavoids fragmentation and duplication.92