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Study objectives: Learning to change

Written by: International Labour Organization

Article Overview: The main objective of this paper is to analyse the reasons for this alleged failure of national VET systems to provide the main target groups among the poor with the knowledge and skills needed to increase significantly their productivity and incomes.

Study objectives: Learning to change

The main objective of this paper is to analyse the reasons for this alleged failure of national VET systems to provide the main target groups among the poor with the knowledge and skills needed to increase significantly their productivity and incomes. With such a large literature on training to overcome economic vulnerability in both developing and developed countries, one may wonder whether this is really necessary. However, despite widespread concerns about the performance of training institutions, particularly in the public sector, remarkably little attention has been focused on trying to understand the precise nature of this training crisis, and, more important still, what should be done to resolve it.

The following discussion focuses on the two main dimensions of this crisis, namely the failure to reorient 'training systems' to support the poor (Chapters 2 and 3) and the limited outputs and impacts of the training services that have been provided by both public and private sector organisations (Chapters 4, 5 and 6). In Chapter 7, we consider some of the main reforms that are needed both with respect to training systems (in particular governance, organisation and funding) and the actual delivery of training services to the poor.

In a discussion of this kind, there is inevitably a strong 'generalisation imperative'. While generalisations are indeed unavoidable, it is important to emphasise that there is an enormous diversity of experience among national vocational training systems across developing countries. While there are, therefore, no simple 'recipes' and 'magic bullets', it is nonetheless possible to identify not only common areas of weakness in the ability of governments and individual training organisations to promote skill development among the poor, but also the key underlying characteristics of a pro-poor training system.

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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Article Tags: chapter 7, developed countries, developing countries, economic vulnerability, employment and training, enormous diversity, imperative, incomes, individual training, magic bullets, main objective, precise nature, public sector, sector organisations, simple recipes, skill development, target groups, training institutions, vet systems, vocational training



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