people and planet

13
CONCLUSION
This chapter has reviewed a select set of skills ‘for
employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship’ with
three important questions in mind.
First, what skills are particularly relevant for global
monitoring across diverse economic, social and cultural
contexts? Popular accounts of ‘21st century skills’ are
criticized for cultural specificity. Some critics caution
against overemphasizing skills that reflect norms of
powerful social groups or countries. An additional challenge
relates to the mix of skills: while higher levels of cognitive
skills may be better in most contexts, this is less the case for
non-cognitive skills. Nevertheless, different skills in different
combinations are relevant for different formal and informal
jobs in poor and rich countries alike. For that reason, they
should be explored within the scope of target 4.4.
Second, once identified, are skills mainly acquired in
education and training systems, or elsewhere? Views
differ on the extent to which some skills are stable
or malleable, whether they have a genetic element
or are learned – at home or in school classrooms – or
are indelibly affected by workplace expectations and
training. Target 4.4 offers an excellent opportunity
to explore these questions. Considerable education
resources are spent on programmes that aim to develop
skills of future workers, but there is often insufficient
comparative evidence of what skills are most important
for which employment sectors and why.
Third, are available measures valid and feasible at low cost?
Several skills have been measured for decades, although
mostly from a research angle, in high income countries and
without cross-country comparability. There are limitations
in using self-reporting tools to measure employmentrelated
skills, given the temptation for respondents to
provide socially desirable responses. Socially constructed
skills are especially difficult to measure reliably across
cultures. Nevertheless, innovative approaches are being
developed to measure important complex skills such as
communication and collaboration. These approaches
involve simulating interactions in laboratory conditions,
which makes them less realistic and quite expensive, and
hence, not suitable for global monitoring. Yet, they merit
closer attention to guide future education interventions.
The debates around these questions are reflected in the
proposed indicators for target 4.4. One is the education
attainment rate in the adult population, which is not
BOX 13.2
Nurturing entrepreneurship skills in Palestine
In Palestine, a variety of interventions exists to improve entrepreneurship skills, encourage
youth to launch their own businesses and help them work productively in small and mediumsized
enterprises. However, a review has concluded that none of the programmes have made
attempts to assess their effectiveness in increasing their target population’s capacities.
The Know About Business programme, initiated by the International Labour Office
and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2009, mainstreamed
entrepreneurship courses in the curricula of vocational training centres under the
Ministry of Labour and vocational schools under the Ministry of Education and Higher
Education in 2011. A spin-off project introduced entrepreneurship courses into the
curricula of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) training centres.
In addition, the Food and Agriculture Organization implemented its worldwide Junior
Farmer Field and Life Schools programme in 16 rural schools, providing disadvantaged
youth with agricultural and life skills. The programme provided technical entrepreneurship
skills – including agricultural business management, marketing strategy and cost–
benefit analysis – and raised awareness on crops as a source of income.
Non-government organisations are also active. INJAZ Palestine helps students set
up businesses in laboratory conditions to solve real business problems. The Youth
Entrepreneurship Development programme, funded by the US Agency for International
Development and implemented by the International Youth Foundation, has trained
9,000 young people aged 14 to 29. The Palestine Education for Employment initiative
delivers a certified course on business plan formulation.
Overall, these programmes focus mostly on technical and management skills. However,
personal skills may be more critical to overcoming gaps, notably by gender, in entrepreneurial
activity. Data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor show that fear of failure, which was
more common among women, was negatively associated with the probability of becoming
an entrepreneur. The factor most associated with this fear was a negative perception
of one’s own skills, suggesting a needed area of focus for future programmes.
Sources: Daoud et al. (2015); Education for Employment (2015); FAO (2010); Hashweh
(2012); ILO (2012); Intel (2015); Youth Entrepreneurship Development (2015).
a measure of skill and whose use is an approach the
international education community seeks to distance
itself from. As the target formulation specifies technical
and vocational skills, a more reasonable approach would
be to capture acquisition of certified skills, although
the cost of developing and maintaining a related
administrative system in all countries would be high.
The new agenda makes a tentative step instead to
directly monitor a particular skill: ICT and digital literacy.
While this risks narrowing the agenda, it should be seen
as a call to begin focusing on acquisition of concrete,
measurable skills.
2016 • GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 253