Vocational education and training - VET

Reducing the number of vocational qualifications available is a current or recent priority area of many VET systems internationally, but what is the best way to achieve this and is there anything that needs to be considered? Focusing on cases studies on New Zealand, England, Finland and the Netherlands, this research summary explores approaches taken to rationalise VET qualifications, such as occupational clustering, and how they might be applied in the Australian context.

Amongst the body of national reports and policy statements classified as landmark documents on vocational education and training (VET) in Australia, research is the focus of only five. Given the documents cover a period from 1954 to 2010, clearly VET research has struggled to gain and retain a place on the VET agenda. The value of these five documents, however, should not be discounted for they raised the profile of research and consistently highlighted the challenges research has faced. Nor should the wisdom they contain be ignored as the relevance of their findings remain true for VET now and the future.

The Future of Work in Africa focuses on the key themes of creating productive jobs and addressing the needs of those left behind. It highlights how global trends, especially the adoption of digital technologies, may change the nature of work in Sub-Saharan Africa by creating new opportunities and challenges. It argues that, contrary to global fears of worker displacement by new technologies, African countries can develop an inclusive future of work, with opportunities for lower-skilled workers. Harnessing these opportunities is, however, contingent on implementing policies and making productive investments in four main areas. These are enabling inclusive digital technologies; building human capital for a young, rapidly growing, and largely low-skilled labor force; increasing the productivity of informal workers and enterprises; and extending social protection coverage to mitigate the risks associated with disruptions to labor markets. This companion report to the World Bank’s World Development Report 2019 concludes with important policy questions that should guide future research, whose findings could lead to more inclusive growth for African nations.

This joint ILO-UNESCO report provides a global, high-level overview of how digitalization is affecting TVET and skills systems. It draws on consultations with key stakeholders in a set of countries and international organizations to provide insights into the nature and scope of digitalisation and how it is likely to affect the management, delivery, assessment and certification of technical and vocational education and training. The study draws on developments in Brazil, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, New Zealand, Slovenia, Turkey and the United States.

The report captures the immediate effects of the pandemic on the lives of young people (aged 18–29) with regards to employment, education, mental well-being, rights and social activism. Over 12,000 responses were received from young people in 112 countries.

his white paper aims to build on the roundtable, summarizing what we know from past and current research, identifying knowledge gaps, and putting forward a set of potential research questions informed by the roundtable discussions that can help define future research opportunities and inform future directions for OPRE’s and other federal agencies’ research and evaluation portfolios and for the broader field of researchers and practitioners

Around the world, young people face considerable challenges. Even before the disruption of the Covid-19 crisis, policymakers were seeking to respond to rapid technological advances, climate change and – in some countries – an ageing population and workforce. While children and young people worldwide generally have high aspirations and ambitions for their futures, evidence shows that they often face problematic and protracted transitions into work. In this context, new pathways from school to employment are needed. In this paper, we review extensive evidence to provide guidance on how children and young people can be best prepared to succeed in their school-to-work transitions, both now and in the future.

This paper provides a broad, thematic overview of the Australian VET workforce from the Tregillis report in 1969 to the present. It draws on the landmark documents and refers also to others3 that, while not classified as landmark, have nevertheless helped to provide further perspectives on the VET workforce in the years since then. Following a summary of the key focus and significance of each of the four landmark reports, the paper analyses some potential reasons for the relative dearth of information about the VET workforce, and then concentrates on three main questions that arise from these reasons: what is known about the VET workforce, what capabilities does it require to carry out its roles effectively, and how can it be most appropriately prepared and developed?

Sub-Saharan Africa has the youngest population of any region of the world, and that growing working-age population represents a major opportunity to reduce poverty and increase shared prosperity. But the region’s workforce is the least skilled in the world, constraining economic prospects. Despite economic growth, declining poverty, and investments in skills-building, too many students in too many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are not acquiring the foundational skills they need to thrive and prosper in an increasingly competitive global economy. This report examines the balancing act that individuals and countries face in making productive investments in both a wide range of skills – cognitive, socio-emotional, and technical – and a wide range of groups – young children through working adults – so that Sub-Saharan Africa will thrive.

This report details the findings of research into national training funds linked to employer levies in eight countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC): Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The report includes an international literature review of levy systems globally to inform the country research which involved secondary data analysis, an online survey, and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in the eight countries involved. The research drew on the views of representatives from government, the organizations managing the training funds, workers’ organizations and employers’ organizations. The report makes high level recommendations on levy based training funds in general as well as for the eight national training funds reviewed which are documented through country briefs in Part B of this report.

Categorizing workers with generational labels like “baby boomer” or “millennial” to define their needs and behaviors is not supported by research, and cannot adequately inform workforce management decisions,. Instead of relying on generational stereotypes, employers and managers should focus on individuals’ work needs. The report, Are Generational Categories Meaningful Distinctions for Workforce Management?, says that varied values and behaviors among workers are more likely to reflect differences in their ages, career stages, job experiences, and general changes in society and work conditions, rather than their generations.