It is a commonplace in debates about how to reduce poverty to assert that poor people’s main or only asset is their labour. It seems obvious that training has a critical role to play in improving productivity, incomes and equitable access to employment opportunities. Yet a striking feature of most poverty reduction strategies in developing countries is that the vocational education and training component is largely absent.
Training is in crisis nearly everywhere in the developing world.
Existing systems are underfunded and widely criticized for catering mainly to the needs of formal sector enterprises, with programmes for traditional trades mainly taken up by those able to afford the investment of time and forgone earnings in lengthy courses in mainly urban training centres. At the same time, governments are gradually coming to realize the need for substantial reforms. Training is no longer a once-and-for-all investment at the beginning of working life, but is a process of lifelong learning in which skills are constantly renewed and adapted.
The distinction between “education” at school or in colleges and universities and “training” at work or through separate skill formation institutions is becoming blurred. Ensuring that young women and men learn core work skills that equip them for a wide variety of potential jobs is particularly vital to the economically vulnerable and socially excluded. The foundation of a lifelong learning approach to training is learning how to learn. It is easier said than done, however. Governmental responsibilities for education and training are often spread over several ministries. Employers or private and public agencies have a direct role in providing training, and in many countries voluntary bodies such as unions, charities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are also active. Rationalizing these dispersed institutions into a coherent system that is focused on the needs of working people, especially the poor, while acknowledging the institutional interests of education and training providers, is a major policy challenge.
The ILO is tackling these issues from two directions. First, it has launched a major drive to help its constituents rethink human resource development policies. In partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the ILO is seeking ways to ensure that expansion and reform of school systems are linked to a strategy for improving the skills needed for a productive working life. Second, it is working on the ground in a number of countries to develop new delivery techniques focused on the needs of the working poor.
The first step in reorienting policies for education and training was a general discussion at the International Labour Conference in 2000 on human resources training and development.Amongst other things, the Conference called for a review of the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 1975 (No. 150). A first discussion on this subject will take place at the current session of the Conference, followed by a second discussion in 2004, with a view to the adoption of a new instrument.As part of this process, the ILO has compiled a database on national policies on vocational education and training providing information on different approaches to reform worldwide. The ILO has also collaborated closely with UNESCO on the preparation of a new Revised Recommendation concerning Technical and Vocational Education, adopted in 2001 by the UNESCO General Conference.
It is now widely recognized that education and training systems must make it easier for working people, especially the economically vulnerable and socially excluded, to take up decent work opportunities and refresh their skills throughout their working life. The ILO has highlighted the following key issues:
● Recognition that the primary responsibility for investment in training rests with governments but has to be shared with enterprises, the social partners, and individuals so that education and training are closely linked to economic and employment growth strategies and programmes.
● Urgent reforms are needed to improve basic education and literacy of women and men in the poorest countries. The development of core work skills (such as communication and problem solving) is an important part of a reform package to prepare individuals for the knowledgeand skills-based society.
● Training systems need to become more flexible and responsive to rapidly changing skill requirements. Reforms should focus on how learning can be facilitated, not just on training for specific occupational categories.
School-to-work schemes for young people should integrate education with workplace learning.
● The social partners must be more closely involved in discussions on training policy and skills development, if the desired reforms and increased investment are to become a reality. Experience demonstrates that a strong social dialogue process generating a powerful political constituency for training underpins the more successful systems.
● People should have their skills recognized, however they were acquired, as part of a national qualifications framework. This is particularly important in developing countries, where many of the “unskilled”
have in fact learnt skills but do not have the certificates that many employers require.
The foundation of the ILO’s work on skills formation for employment and income generation for working women and men living in poverty is its community-based training (CBT) methodology. It consists of a set of procedures for systematically identifying employment- and income-generating opportunities at the local level, designing and delivering appropriate training programmes, and providing necessary post-training support services, including credit, technical assistance and market information.
An integrated programme at community level generally requires the support of several agencies, and vital components include an interministerial committee and consultations with the social partners. By taking responsibility for training of local programme staff, such bodies help to ensure that the methodology is transferred into the national training policies. Similarly, local training committees in the selected areas are key to identifying opportunities and needs, and provide the best means of organizing delivery. In the implementation phase, flexibility is essential. Training should be delivered as close to the clients as possible, with particular attention to ensuring that women benefit fully from programmes. Important aspects in this respect are training of trainers, selection of trainees and finding sources of credit to make up lost income during training and help start up small businesses based on the new skills.
Good organization, rather than large amounts of money, is needed to apply the ILO methodology. Experience in more than 20 countries over the last ten years shows that the rewards are considerable, with a very high percentage of trainees using their skills to earn a better income. In addition, a number of countries, including Cambodia, Jamaica, Nepal, and the Philippines, have integrated the CBT methodology into their national training policies.
To learn more about this author, visit International Labour Organization's Website.
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