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The whole concept of training should be reformulated more in terms of purposeful skills development based on a variety of modalities/interventions and not just conventional, formal training courses. Because 'training' frequently has pejorative connotations, serious thought should be given to replacing it with other terms. 'Skills development' is generally preferable with 'facilitators' (rather than trainers) in appropriate supporting roles.

Equally important, the conventional training process needs to be transformed in order for the actual skills needs of the poor to be effectively addressed. Training must be directly linked to the development needs of clearly identified groups among the poor. These needs must be identified by the poor themselves using appropriate participatory research and evaluation methodologies.

There is an emerging consensus that skills development for the poor must be part and parcel of community-based economic and political development. Communities need to mobilise around specific "development alternatives" that address key political, social, and economic constraints. Skills development should be driven by a 'people-centred' pedagogy' which maximises locally available skills and empowers the poor to learn for themselves. Support for skills development should be directly linked to the actual skills needs of the poor and, invariably, will need to be closely related to on-going production activities.

It is particularly important to avoid what has been referred to as the "replicability imperative" in policy discourse and formulation. This has led to "forms, design, and delivery of a range of interventions which embody values, assume priorities, attribute beliefs, attribute benefits and require conditions which are removed from the realities of those the interventions are purportedly intended to benefit" (Kabeer, 1994:8). To do so, requires high levels of participation among the targeted beneficiaries in the design of interventions and decentralised decision making in all phases of execution.

Extreme care should also be exercised in the use of new innovative training methods. The introduction of pupil-centred, active learning methodologies in primary schools in developing countries has been largely unsuccessful, in particular because of the poor quality of teachers, the limitations of cascade training models, and lack of powerful enough incentives to introduce major changes to teaching practice (See Al-Samarrai et al, 1998).

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
PAPERS
43
Learning to change: Skills
development among the
economically vulnerable and
socially excluded in
developing countries
Paul Bennell
Employment and Training Department
International Labour Office Geneva
First published 1999

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