There is a strong consensus that demand-driven training requires comprehensive 'labour market information systems' (LMIS) based on market indicators. It is clear, however, that no operational LMIS exists anywhere in the developing or developed world that is capable of generating the kind of information that allows planners to arrive at well grounded and detailed decisions about training priorities and resource allocations (see Box 16). In practice, it is very difficult to assess trends in informal sector incomes and earnings (see Turnham, 1995) and many of the conventional labour market indicators that have been proposed are simply not valid, (including vacancy and unemployment rates). Even the use of application rates for specific training courses is questionable.
This is not to deny, however, that national information systems on training provision are urgently needed. In particular, every registered training institution should be legally obliged to provide fairly comprehensive information on training provision including: names of courses, numbers of applicants and enrolments for each course, fees, and completion rates. If public resources are received for training activities then more detailed reporting on training efficiency and effectiveness should be required.
The Training & Visit system for farmers is successful training model because information about what training is needed for target groups of farmers is generated by the agricultural research and extension system using appropriate diagnostic procedures and systematic research both off- and on-farm. Just as farmer trainer centres delivering standardised training courses have generally failed to have much of an impact on agricultural productivity and incomes among small farmers, so VET centres offering similar types of courses to informal sector entrepreneurs and workers with minimal research on the technology needs of these enterprises and very limited extension outreach have been equally ineffective.
While it would be neither desirable nor feasible to develop an altogether new national network of government research, extension and other support institutions for the informal sector, steps should be taken to build up a critical mass of researchers working across the necessary range of technical and social science disciplines.
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
To learn more about this author, visit International Labour Organization's Website.
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