Skills Development
The present generation of young people is perhaps the largest the world will ever see. Millions of young people are without employment and life opportunities and this is already proving to be a destabilizing factor globally. In Africa, it tends to undermine development.
Focus on youth employment has become stronger in the development paradigm and access to skills most certainly provides opportunities for improved liveli-hoods. It empowers millions of young people – the coming heads of families – who would otherwise be without any future prospects.
Many adults, too, have little or no access to even basic skills training and employment opportunities are scare. Illiterates are particularly vulnerable. Most literacy programmes combine the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics with practical training in order to provide students with more scope for improving their standard of living.
Hence, skills achieved through quality and relevant technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is a precondition for social and economic progress and a tool to increase competitiveness in the globalised world. Numerous constraints hamper the development of an appropriately skilled labour force, including severe under-financing of public training institutions; supply oriented programmes uncon-nected to the needs and opportunities in the labour market; inappropriately trained and unmotivated technical teachers; poor training quality through outdated curricula and insufficient training equip-ment and material; intransparent testing and certification mechanisms; and lack of coordination and articulation between different training and career streams.
PEMconsult is committed to support the TVET reform efforts currently underway in many counties to make training sustainable and responsive to the diverse and changing demands in the labour market. A particular challenge is to articulate the different streams of TVET with education sector developments and reform, labour market policies, employment strategies and economic development policies.
We believe that contemporary training systems must facilitate life-long learning, be learner-centred and address the requirements of different target groups, including school leavers, workers and self-employed. Previously neglected groups, notably women, people in the rural areas, those working in the informal sector, unemployed and others require better access to affordable training programmes tailored to the local market and their learning requirements. Prerequisites for a successful TVET reform are favourable framework conditions, and sustainable, diversified and efficient mechanisms of financing training.
Experience shows that governments cannot shoulder the sole responsibility for skills development. Employers and other stakeholders need to share responsibility, both in terms of regulation, management and supervision of training and in terms of training delivery and financing. Strengthening of private training providers can significantly improve quality and access to training, provided mechanisms are in place to ensure that poor groups are not excluded from access. We appreciate the trend to establish integrated national TVET systems guided by participatory and stakeholder-driven bodies. Decentralisation of responsibilities and the strengthening of the role training institutions are often important steps to improve demand-orientation and quality.
PEMconsult acknowledges that competency-based and modular training provision, outcome-based testing and certification systems, and the development of qualification frameworks can contribute to sustainable quality enhancement and increased legitimacy of TVET. Recognition of non-conventional and non-formal training and learning schemes leads to more efficient use of national training resources.
PEM consultants have actively taken part in advising, supporting and promoting skills development initiatives and TVET reform in many short- and long-term assignments.
Labour Market Strategies and Employment
A well-functioning labour market facilitates efficient allocation and productive use of labour and is a key determinant of economic growth, employment creation and poverty reduction. In many countries, how-ever, labour markets are distorted by overregulation and restrictive labour and wage policies. They are characterised by severe mismatches between labour supply and demand, and a shortage of appropriately skilled and qualified manpower. As a result of weak labour market organisations, basic labour standards are often ignored and working conditions hazardous.
PEMConsult expertise related to labour and labour market development is concentrated in three broad fields:
- Labour market analysis for educational and training planning;
- Tripartism, labour market organisations and labour conditions; and
- Labour market policies.
Labour market analysis is an essential tool for planning of educational and training systems, in particu-lar for technical and vocational education and higher education. Thorough and permanently updated in-formation on qualification and skills demands is necessary to plan and deliver training and education which is relevant and in demand in the labour market thus ensuring employability of graduates. Specifically, our expertise in this field includes:
- Assessment of employment patterns, trends in qualification and skills needs and the impact of labour market regulations and employment policies on education and training;
- Assessment of training needs at local and regional levels to be used for local training planning;
- Design of user-friendly efficient solutions and methodologies to catching labour market signals.
To be competitive, companies need to maintain a fair and healthy work environment and adhere to internationally accepted labour and social standards. Strong and effective labour market organisations, competent labour administrations and well-functioning tripartite structures are an important determinant of sound labour relations and conducive working conditions. Our expertise in this field comprises:
- Design and evaluation of programmes and projects to strengthen tripartite structures and la-bour market organisations;
- Analysis of employment conditions and support to labour market organisations dealing with occupational health and safety and HIV/AIDS at the workplace.
We recognize the importance of strengthening institutional capacity to manage education resources in the TVET sector and translate these into effective learning situations for all participants.