Asia and the Pacific

Gender, jobs and education: prospects and realities in the Asia-Pacific

Type:

Document

Content Type:

Gender, jobs and education: prospects and realities in the Asia-Pacific

Language:

Information is gathered from other international organizations that promote skills development and the transition from education and training to work. The Interagency Group on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (IAG-TVET) was established in 2009 to share research findings, coordinate joint research endeavours, and improve collaboration among organizations working at the international and national levels.

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skpIntOrg

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international-organizations

Topics:

Gender equality

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Women represent both half of the world's population – and half the world's economic potential. Their participation in the labour market reduces poverty because they often invest 90 per cent of their income in the well-being, education and nutrition of their families. Yet labour force participation by women has stagnated at about 55 per cent globally since 2010. Moreover, women are disproportionately represented in precarious work – low-paid, low-skilled and insecure jobs.

Training plays an important role in the pursuit of equality of opportunity and treatment for women and men in the world of work. Yet women often lack access to technical and vocational education and training. Many also lack the basic functional skills, such as literacy and numeracy, to participate meaningfully in the work force. Overcoming this challenge requires the adoption of a life-cycle approach. This includes improving girls’ access to basic education; overcoming logistic, economic and cultural barriers to apprenticeships and to secondary and vocational training for young women; and meeting the training needs of women re-entering the labour market and of older women who have not had equal access to opportunities for lifelong learning.

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skpGenEqul

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gender-equality

Knowledge Products:

Research papers

Working papers, reports, and other publications from international organizations, academic institutions and bilateral agencies. Research findings to stimulate informed debate on skills, employment and productivity issues.

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Identifier

skpRPS

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research-papers

Publication Date:

11 May 2016

Open

wcmstest4_174465.pdf

This report provides insights into how sociocultural factors, labour market trends and education policies influence the career perspectives and choices of young people in the Asia-Pacific region.

The report focuses on the findings from research conducted in five countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal and Viet Nam. Along with these findings, the report also provides reflections and policy recommendations to improve gender equality in the countries selected for the study and beyond.

Subject Tags:

Gender

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294

Identifier

294

Gender and development

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gender-and-development

Skills and training policy

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skills-and-training-policy

Identifier

666

Women

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women

Identifier

318

Regions:

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Countries and territories:

Cambodia

Indonesia

Mongolia

Nepal

Viet Nam

Samoa 2012 School to work transition survey

Type:

Document

Content Type:

Samoa 2012 School to work transition survey

Language:

English

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english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

Governments

Governments hold a wealth of knowledge on skills development, and are increasingly realizing the value of learning from each others’ experiences. Their policy documents, programme evaluations, and research findings contain their experience and ideas on how to better link skills to employment

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skpGov

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governments

ILO

The International Labour Organization is the tripartite U.N. agency that promotes Decent Work through employment, social security, labour standards and social dialogue. Its work on skills development is guided by the conceptual framework on Skills to improve productivity, employment growth, and development agreed in 2008 by representatives of Governments, Employers’ Associations and Workers’ Associations. Research, policy advice, and pilot projects and technical cooperation programmes to apply good practices in different circumstances across its 185 member States aims to boost the employability of workers, the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises, and the inclusiveness of economic growth. The ILO Secretariat in offices in 40 countries works with Ministries of Labour, employers’ organizations, and trade unions to integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies in order to better meet current labour market needs and to prepare for the jobs of the future; to expand access to employment-related training so that youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are better able to acquire skills and secure productive and decent work; and to improve the ability of public employment services to provide career guidance, maintain labour exchange services, and deliver active labour market programmes.For more information regarding the ILO’s work on skills and employability go to: http://www.ilo.org/skills/lang--en/index.htm; for ILO/Cinterfor's Knowledge Management Plarform, see: http://www.oitcinterfor.org

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Identifier

skpILO

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ilo

Topics:

Youth employability

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Globally, nearly 68 million young women and men are looking for and available for work, and an estimated 123 million young people are working but living in poverty. The number who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) stands at 267 million, a majority of whom are young women. Significantly, young people are three times as likely as adults (25 years and older) to be unemployed.

Skills development is a primary means of enabling young people to make a smooth transition to work. A comprehensive approach is required to integrate young women and men in the labour market, including relevant and quality skills training, labour market information, career guidance and employment services, recognition of prior learning, incorporating entrepreneurship with training and effective skills forecasting. Improved basic education and core work skills are particularly important to enable youth to engage in lifelong learning as well as transition to the labour market.

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skpYoEmp

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youth-employability

Knowledge Products:

Research papers

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Identifier

skpRPS

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research-papers

Publication Date:

11 May 2016

Open

wcmstest4_174464.pdf

This report presents the highlights of the 2012 School-to-work Transition Survey (SWTS) implemented by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics (SBS) and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour (MCIL) within the framework of the ILO Work4Youth Project. This report provides insights into youth population (aged between 15-29 years) covering topics such as their labour force participation, employment and unemployment characteristics, participation in subsistence production, informal employment, working hours, education level, stages of the transition process, out-of-school characteristics, job search and school leavers.

Subject Tags:

School-to-work transition

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school-to-work-transition

Identifier

652

Skills and training policy

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skills-and-training-policy

Identifier

666

Survey

Slug

survey

Identifier

611

Youth

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youth

Identifier

319

Youth unemployment

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youth-unemployment

Identifier

622

Regions:

Asia and the Pacific

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Countries and territories:

Samoa

Tracer study non-formal vocational education and training in Lao PDR final report 2014

Type:

Document

Content Type:

															Tracer study non-formal vocational education and training in Lao PDR final report 2014
													

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

Bilateral organizations

The development agencies of many countries make skills development a pillar of their Official Development Assistance – from the perspective of education systems, employment promotion, poverty reduction, and private sector development. Documentation of their experience, evaluations and impact assessments, mission statements, and other knowledge products are made available through the Global KSP.

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skpBiOrg

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bilateral-organizations

TVET institutions

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions play an important role in equipping young people to enter the world of work and in improving their employability throughout their careers. The Global KSP collects and shares information from TVET institutions on how they respond to changing labour market needs, adopt new training technologies, expand the outreach of their training, and improve the quality of their services including in the areas of governance, financing, teacher education, and industry partnerships.

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skpTVET

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tvet-institutions

Topics:

Lifelong learning

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There is a critical need for a greater overall investment in education and training, particularly in developing countries. Education and training investments should be closely linked to economic and employment growth strategies and programmes. Responsibility should be shared between the government (primary responsibility), enterprises, the social partners, and the individual. To make lifelong learning for all a reality, countries will need to make major reforms of their vocational and education and training systems. School-to-work schemes for young people should integrate education with workplace learning. Training systems need to become more flexible and responsive to rapidly changing skill requirements. Reforms should also focus on how learning can be facilitated, not just on training for specific occupational categories.

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skpPSLLL

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lifelong-learning

Training quality and relevance

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Identifier

skpTrainQR

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training-quality-and-relevance

Knowledge Products:

Research papers

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Identifier

skpRPS

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research-papers

Publication Date:

10 May 2016

Open

wcmstest4_174462.pdf

This study looks into the implementation of the Integrated Vocational Education and Training (IVET) strategy formulating as a duty to provide half of IVET school capacities to training in the nonformal sector (means to learners not meeting the requirements to enter formal TVET, i.e. graduating at least from lower secondary education). The study aims to provide information about the organization of such courses (frequency, subjects, financial issues) as well as labour market relevance of the provided training.

Subject Tags:

Inclusion

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inclusion

Identifier

665

Informal economy

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informal-economy

Identifier

187

TVET systems

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tvet-systems

Identifier

661

Vocational training

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vocational-training

Identifier

124

Regions:

Asia and the Pacific

Region Image

Countries and territories:

Lao People's Democratic Republic

Integrating core work skills into TVET systems: Six country case studies

Type:

Document

Content Type:

Integrating core work skills into TVET systems: Six country case studies

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

ILO

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Identifier

skpILO

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ilo

Topics:

Access to training

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Access for all to good quality education, vocational training and workplace learning is a fundamental principle of social cohesion and economic growth. Some groups of people may require targeted attention if they are to benefit from education, training and employment opportunities.

This is particularly the case for disadvantaged youth, lower skilled workers, people with disabilities, and people in rural communities. The attractiveness of vocational education and training is enhanced when combined with entrepreneurship training and when public policies encourage utilization of higher skills by business.

Identifier

skpATSU

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access-to-training

Training quality and relevance

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Identifier

skpTrainQR

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training-quality-and-relevance

Knowledge Products:

Case studies and good practices

Case studies that document good practices and illustrate the benefits and lessons learnt of particular approaches or methods in real practice.

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Identifier

skpCaseStdy

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case-studies-and-good-practices

Publication Date:

03 May 2016

Open

wcmstest4_173856.pdf

This report assesses the extent to which six diverse countries have embedded core skills for employability in their TVET and skills systems: Australia; Chile; India; Jamaica; Malawi; and the Philippines. These six case studies have demonstrated that in both developed and developing countries, much remains to be done to ensure that TVET and skills systems adequately and systematically take steps to develop the core skills that so profoundly enhance the employability of learners, jobseekers and workers.

Subject Tags:

Employability

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employability

Identifier

643

Skills and training policy

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skills-and-training-policy

Identifier

666

TVET systems

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tvet-systems

Identifier

661

Vocational training

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vocational-training

Identifier

124

Regions:

Africa

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Americas

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Asia and the Pacific

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Countries and territories:

Australia

Chile

India

Jamaica

Malawi

Philippines

Enhancing relevance in TVET: Review of progress in the Asia-Pacific since 2012

Type:

Document

Content Type:

Enhancing relevance in TVET: Review of progress in the Asia-Pacific since 2012

Language:

English

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english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

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Identifier

skpIntOrg

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international-organizations

Topics:

Training quality and relevance

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Identifier

skpTrainQR

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training-quality-and-relevance

Knowledge Products:

Research papers

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Identifier

skpRPS

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research-papers

Publication Date:

03 May 2016

Open

wcmstest4_173855.pdf

This Review assesses the progress made by countries in the Asia-Pacific in developing their TVET systems since the Third International Congress on TVET (Shanghai, 2012). It focuses on relevance of TVET and is based on a survey conducted among ministries, employers and youth organisations in the Asia-Pacific region. The survey asked questions related to five key aspects of TVET relevance - (1) responsiveness to skill needs, (2) ‘greening’ TVET, (3) responsiveness to technological changes, (4) adapting qualifications and (5) partnerships/cooperation - and focused on how countries are integrating these elements into national TVET development. The Review provides findings and offers recommendations which give an insight into recent developments in TVET in the region.

Subject Tags:

Green skills

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green-skills

Identifier

645

Skills and training policy

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skills-and-training-policy

Identifier

666

Survey

Slug

survey

Identifier

611

TVET systems

Slug

tvet-systems

Identifier

661

Vocational training

Slug

vocational-training

Identifier

124

Youth

Slug

youth

Identifier

319

Regions:

Asia and the Pacific

Region Image

Innovative strategies in technical and vocational education and training for accelerated human resource development in South Asia

Type:

Document

Content Type:

															Innovative strategies in technical and vocational education and training for accelerated human resource development in South Asia
													

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

Other sources

Experts from many international, regional and national agencies generously share their views, experiences and findings on skills, helping policy-makers among other stakeholders to understand the linkages between education, training and the world of work, and how to integrate skills into national development planning to promote employment and economic growth.

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skpOSource

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other-sources

Topics:

Training quality and relevance

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Identifier

skpTrainQR

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training-quality-and-relevance

Knowledge Products:

Research papers

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Identifier

skpRPS

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research-papers

Publication Date:

20 Apr 2016

Open

wcmstest4_172858.pdf

One of the greatest challenges faced by South Asian countries is creating productive employment for the vast numbers of young entrants to the labor market. This publication highlights priorities and strategies in meeting current and emerging needs for skills development in Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It identifies key issues, constraints and areas of improvement in making skills training more responsive to emerging labor market needs in South Asia as an important factor in sustaining high economic growth.

Subject Tags:

Gender

Slug

294

Identifier

294

Human resources development

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human-resources-development

Identifier

118

TVET systems

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tvet-systems

Identifier

661

Vocational training

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vocational-training

Identifier

124

Regions:

Asia and the Pacific

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Countries and territories:

Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a strong track record of growth and development, even in times of elevated global uncertainty. A robust demographic dividend, strong ready-made garment exports, resilient remittance inflows, and stable macroeconomic conditions have supported rapid economic growth over the past two decades. A strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continued in FY22, although a recent surge in commodity prices has presented new headwinds.

Bangladesh reached lower-middle income status in 2015. It is on track to graduate from the UN’s Least Developed Countries list in 2026. Poverty declined from 43.5 percent in 1991 to 14.3 percent in 2016, based on the international poverty line of $1.90 a day (1).

Like many of its Asian neighbours, Bangladesh faces a major challenge trying to develop modern, employability skills for tens of millions of young women and men. It has a large informal sector, which accounts for 94.7 percent of the total employment in 2017 (2). Youth continue to be highly affected by the lack of opportunities, with the share of youth aged 15-24 not in employment, education or training (NEET), estimated at 27.8 percent in 2020 (3).

TVET has a huge role to play in equipping the vast young labour force of 15-29 years referred to as the country’s “demographic dividend” with employability skills and providing enhanced support services to ensure a better transition from school to work. TVET may also contribute to reducing poverty by providing employability skills, particularly to those who drop out of school early and to a large number of unemployed and underemployed adults.

Despite many reform initiatives by the government, the TVET sector needs further strengthening through reform of policies and systems in the labour market. Enhancing industry-relevance of TVET qualifications will furthermore require closer Government cooperation with the private sector. For one and a half decade, the ILO has worked closely with the Government of Bangladesh and its Social Partners to reform the TVET sector and to improve access for people to increase their skills and employability, in particular youth, women and people from other marginalized groups.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had detrimental effects on the TVET sector, due to the nation-wide closure of all educational institutes for one and a half years, starting on 17 March 2020. Most students’ learning was effectively abolished for this duration, and learning and certification was only possible through limited online learning facilities in existence at the time. Only recently has the TVET returned to its prior activity level.

The ILO landmark programmes aim to strengthen and improve the environment for industry skills development, address the mismatch between the supply and demand for skills training, and drive the increased employability of millions of young women and men. ILO’s support to develop the skills system in Bangladesh has focused on skills system governance, development of skills policies and qualifications frameworks; delivery of quality skills training, expanding access to TVET, and involvement by the private sector.

Sources

(1) https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/bangladesh/overview

(2) https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/informality/

(3) https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/youth/

Country Assessment and Priority (CAP) – Bangladesh strategy for skills and lifelong learning (2022)

Situation Analysis of Bangladesh TVET Sector (2019) https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—asia/—ro-bangkok/—ilo-dhaka/documents/publication/wcms_735704.pdf_

Maldives

Nepal

Sri Lanka

Sustainable vocational training toward industrial upgrading and economic transformation

Type:

Document

Content Type:

															Sustainable vocational training toward industrial upgrading and economic transformation
													

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

Other sources

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Identifier

skpOSource

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other-sources

Topics:

Training quality and relevance

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Identifier

skpTrainQR

Slug

training-quality-and-relevance

Knowledge Products:

Promotional material

Presentations, discussion papers, meeting reports, promotional materials, videos, fact sheets, brochures and newsletters on skills development for employment.

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Identifier

skpAIM

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promotional-material

Research papers

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Identifier

skpRPS

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research-papers

Publication Date:

20 Apr 2016

Open

wcmstest4_172857.pdf

This report summarizes results of the “Sustainable Vocational Training toward Industrial Upgrading and Economic Transformation” workshop held on 2-5 December 2013 in Beijing and Guangzhou, the People’s Republic of China. A joint initiative of the People's Republic of China and ADB, the “Sustainable Vocational Training toward Industrial Upgrading and Economic Transformation” workshop is part of the annual PRC-ADB Knowledge Sharing Platform and supported and organized by the Regional Knowledge Sharing Initiative.

The report summarizes discussions on (i) best practice and models for supporting sustainable vocational training; (ii) the role of the government, private sector, enterprises, and vocational training schools; (iii) improving vocational training in a rapidly changing world; (iv) financing vocational training; and (v) policy environment for vocational training governance and management.

Subject Tags:

Governance

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governance

Identifier

283

Public private partnerships

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public-private-partnerships

Identifier

138

Skills and training policy

Slug

skills-and-training-policy

Identifier

666

TVET systems

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tvet-systems

Identifier

661

Vocational training

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vocational-training

Identifier

124

Regions:

Asia and the Pacific

Region Image

Countries and territories:

China

International conference on ensuring greater impact of TVET for sustainable development

Kind:

Event

Start Date:

16 Jan 2024

End Date:

18 Jun 2026

Event Location:

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

EventType:

Conference

Language:

English

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english

Identifier

skpEng

Language Version:

Sources:

TVET institutions

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Identifier

skpTVET

Slug

tvet-institutions

Topics:

Training quality and relevance

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Identifier

skpTrainQR

Slug

training-quality-and-relevance

Knowledge Products:

This conference provides an opportunity for researchers, lecturers, and policy makers to share recent findings and innovation, best practices, and policies relevant to TVET.

In the last few years, much has been happening in the area of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Region. One of the salient developments is that many countries have placed TVET as mainstream education. Initiative to increase the number of enrolment at secondary level is of the indications that TVET is gaining attention and popularity.

Considering that TVET graduates will be in the frontline of future workforces is vital particularly by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to sustain economic, cultural, and environmental development. This development is also in line with the regional initiative of ASEAN Integration whereby economic, cultural and political aspirations are highlighted. This conference provides an opportunity for researchers, lecturers, and policy makers to share recent findings and innovation, best practices, and policies relevant to vocational and technical education.

International conference on ensuring greater impact of TVET for sustainable development

Subject Tags:

Skills and training policy

Slug

skills-and-training-policy

Identifier

666

TVET systems

Slug

tvet-systems

Identifier

661

Vocational training

Slug

vocational-training

Identifier

124

Regions:

Asia and the Pacific

Region Image

Countries and territories:

Economic groups:

Fiji: Creating quality jobs - Employment diagnostic study

Type:

Document

Content Type:

Fiji: Creating quality jobs - Employment diagnostic study

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

ILO

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Identifier

skpILO

Slug

ilo

Other sources

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Identifier

skpOSource

Slug

other-sources

Topics:

Access to training

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Identifier

skpATSU

Slug

access-to-training

Gender equality

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Identifier

skpGenEqul

Slug

gender-equality

Skills policies and strategies

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Skills and employment policies should be viewed together. The full value of one policy set is realized when it supports the objectives of the other. For investments in education and training to yield maximum benefit to workers, enterprises, and economies, countries’ capacities for coordination is critical in three areas: connecting basic education to technical training and then to market entry; ensuring continuous communication between employers and training providers so that training meets the needs and aspirations of workers and enterprises, and integrating skills development policies with industrial, investment, trade, technology, environmental, rural and local development policies.

Identifier

skpPolConv

Slug

skills-policies-and-strategies

Knowledge Products:

Research papers

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Identifier

skpRPS

Slug

research-papers

Publication Date:

18 Apr 2016

Open

wcmstest4_172457.pdf

This report seeks to foster an understanding of the context, constraints, and opportunities for increasing productive employment in Fiji, and inform evidence-based policies that will promote productive employment and decent work. Chapter 3 reviews the education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system and programs, access and quality to higher education and TVET, and the school-to-work–transition interface and matching of skills. In particular, it analyzes the continuum from school to work and the ‘disconnections’ that occur because of factors related to government policy, training institutions, industry dynamics, gender equity, and individual circumstances.

Subject Tags:

Globalization

Slug

globalization

Identifier

267

Policy convergence

Slug

policy-convergence

Identifier

674

School-to-work transition

Slug

school-to-work-transition

Identifier

652

Skills and training policy

Slug

skills-and-training-policy

Identifier

666

TVET systems

Slug

tvet-systems

Identifier

661

Vocational training

Slug

vocational-training

Identifier

124

Regions:

Asia and the Pacific

Region Image

Countries and territories:

Fiji

The Public Employment Service in the Republic of Korea

Type:

Document

Content Type:

The Public Employment Service in the Republic of Korea

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

ILO

Thumbnail

Identifier

skpILO

Slug

ilo

Topics:

Career guidance and employment services

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Career guidance and counselling, career education and lifelong development of skills for employability are key for success in learning activities, effective career transitions, livelihood planning, entrepreneurship and in increasing labour market participation. They are instrumental in promoting skills utilization, recognition (RPL), as well as in improving enterprise human resource management.

Career development activities encompass a wide variety of support activities including career information and advice, counselling, work exposure (e.g. job shadowing, work experience periods), assessment, coaching, mentoring, professional networking, advocacy, basic and employability skills training (curricular and non-curricular) and entrepreneurship training. It is often an area which is fragmented across different ministries (e.g. education, TVET, employment, youth) requiring an effort to achieve the necessary coordination to provide adequate support to individuals during learning, employment and unemployment/inactivity periods.

Identifier

skpLMIES

Slug

career-guidance-and-employment-services

Knowledge Products:

Research papers

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Identifier

skpRPS

Slug

research-papers

Publication Date:

15 Apr 2016

Open

wcmstest4_172261.pdf

Employment working paper no. 192 This paper examines the legal framework, organizational structure and functions of the public employment service in Korea, with a particular emphasis on the Job Centre. The Job Centre’s functions are mainly performed in the framework of the Employment Insurance System (EIS) which was designed to prevent unemployment and support the early reemployment of the unemployed. The EIS covers unemployment benefit, employment stabilization programmes, vocational skills development programmes, and maternity protection programmes. The paper analyses the performance of the Job Centre and highlights policy implications that follow from such analysis.

Subject Tags: