Youth training and employment Ian Cummings International Labour Office

1. Youth training and employmentIan CummingsInternational Labour Office

2. Youth employment • Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the UN, the World Bank and ILO High-Level Policy Network on Youth Employment states that 1.2 billion young women and men “ will enter into the working age population during the next ten years.” • At the close of the last Century, it was estimated by the ILO that 60 million young people would be in search of work, but would not be able to find it (WER 98-99).

3. Youth employment: some key issues I • Many youth employment programmes are “ an end-in-themselves,” with no opportunity for improvement or articulation to professons(special programmes for out-of-work youth, trainee-ships, apprenticeships etc.) • Youth wages are sometimes given as the cause of high youth unemployment - employers have little incentive to employ and pay young people wages that do not reflect their productivity.

4. Youth employment: some key issues • Competencies and skills possessed by young people are a significant factor in determining employment of youth. • Education intensity in the “world of work” has increased beyond the general trend provided by education systems, particularly in industries that traditionally employ a high percentage of unskilled labour (OECD) • Access to education and training for work should be a available to all.

5. Youth employment: some key issues - education • “Lifelong Learning for All.” is now the goal of many countries. However, a study of 18 OECD countries suggests that, at best, only half the adult population in these countries participated in formal education or training, this is much lower in developing countries -

6. Youth employment: some key issues - education • But!, Education alone is not the answer to youth unemployment - in Indonesia, Jordan and Thailand, for example, unemployment rates are higher among the more educated (ILO 2000). Many Korean youths with academic training now enroll in practical courses in order to gain employment.

7. Youth employment: some key issues - education • Girls out-perform boys at school, but are generally streamed into traditional fields of study not related to changing job markets (ILO 2000). • Education and training are emotive as well as a cognitive issues - without the right kind of stimulus and opportunities, learning and training cannot be effective or even take place.

8. Youth employment: some key issues - education • Many young people attending education or training institutions never complete their training - this can often be traced to poor vocational guidance, assessment, job matching or poorly developed training programmes.

9. Youth employment: changes to the world of work • Economies that are able to equip their workforces with the requisite skills and adjust their education and training systems to respond quickly to the demands of a globalizing world and rapid changing technologies will gain considerably economically and reduce levels of unemployment

10. Youth employment: changes to the world of work • Employment and Training systems are now, more than ever, under enormous pressure to provide new and different skills to existing workers, as well as preparing young people leaving school for jobs in a rapidly changing workplace in which technology and skills change often to meet shorter product life-cycles.

11. Youth employment: some of the challenges to employability • The characteristics which are inherent in business, namely that it is market-driven and flexible and therefore adaptable and capable of responding rapidly to change… are precisely the qualities that are lacking in public TVET systems...

12. Youth employment: some of the challenges to employability • However, formal training courses • can enhance performance • can boost intangibles (self confidence - feeling of being valued) But • must be linked to identified needs • must be well targeted - but often tend to favour larger enterprises

13. Youth employment: some of the challenges to employability • Youth employment schemes help participants gain access to jobs, but not higher pay once in work(Grubb &Ryan 99) - this anomaly can be addressed by adapting and adopting “good practices.”

14. Youth employment: some of the challenges to employability • While work experiences clearly have benefits for young people, it is less clear exactly what they are expected to learn. There are obvious tensions between the desired and actual outcomes and methods of assessment - if assessment is only on competencies, it does not account for other work experience benefits - but little research has been done, particularly on the intangibles (NCVER Aust 2000)

15. Youth employment: some of the challenges to employability • Young people have less experience than adults, therefore they need more time for searching, matching and gaining work experience. Work experience prior to leaving school, if structured and well designed, can provide a springboard for transition from school to work. But - • Many employers drop-out of workplace placement programmes because they find that work placement students take up too much time and energy to supervise

16. Youth employment: Skill development for employability • Training for informal economic activities can reduce the exclusion of young people, but at the same time there must be an awareness that young people are still maturing (physically and mentally) for example, many youth enterprise schemes fail due to loss of capital (credit and grants), particularly where the family’s economic and social situation is precarious. Therefore, strategies must be adopted to protect young entrepreneurs

17. Youth employment: Skill development for employability • Most training occurs in the workplace and ranges from apprenticeship to informal on-the-job training - institutional training, unless well planned and targeted often does not meet the needs of the workplace.

18. Youth employment: skill development for employability • Employability now requires a new set of skills - without these skills, labour market strategies will fail (ILO-OECD). Young people need to learn “core or key competencies” to function in a rapidly changing workplace - examples of these (survival skills) include:

19. Youth employment: skill development for employability • communicating ideas/information • collecting, organising and analysing ideas and information • working with others in teams • language, literacy and numeracy • management of contingencies - decision making • using technology, particularly ICT

20. Youth employment: some findings on skill development • Most education systems were designed for a past era and are not able to be patched-up to meet the needs of today’s world of work - having knowledge is not enough - it is the ability to access knowledge, assimilate and adapt it to the changing work environment

21. Youth employment: some findings on skill development • “The mitigating or remedial function of education and training is to address the recent labour market trends … Education and training are the major instruments … for enhancing employability, productivity and income earning capacity in employment outcomes.”(ILO GB 2000)

22. Youth employment: some findings on skill development • Returns to learning and investment are higher in the workplace (than in the classroom) if: • investment is properly targeted • right organizational environment is created • a learning culture exists

23. Youth employment: some findings on skill development • As global interdependence grows the “static” role of government is no longer appropriate - governments alone cannot provide the right kind of skills to the workforce at the right time. Governments must work with the social partners to develop flexible policies and strategies that enhance the opportunities for young people to develop their full potential.

24. Youth employment: some findings on skill development • Employers must also play their part by investing in the future workforce by ensuring young people are given the opportunity to meet the challenge of new technologies

25. Youth employment: rethinking the role of government How can governments better support youth employment and training - policy formulation 1. A clear vision and a policy framework on youth are needed to:

26. Youth employment: rethinking the role of government • improve access and functioning of training markets • guide investment in human capital formation • give confidence to skill suppliers, employers and the workforce that their investment in human capital development is properly targeted and will yield results. (This includes individual financial and investment in time and effort.)

27. Youth employment: rethinking the role of government 2. Governance and incentives • Many governments are retreating from the lead role in training delivery • But they need to bring cohesion to an increasingly dispersed/autonomous delivery system • Encouraging the development of core competencies (particularly as pre-employment strategy) • Stimulating employers to provide work experience and jobs to young people and invest in lifelong learning strategies in the workplace.

28. Youth employment: rethinking the role of government 3. Supporting better information and information flows, particularly on youth education, training and employment (imperfect information produces sub-optimal human capital investment decisions) • Better information on access to education and skills programmes, particularly those linked to employment • Better labour market information • Systems that account for and measure human capital investment and returns

29. Youth employment: rethinking the role of government 4. Providing better foundation skills and tools for learning • An enhanced role in teaching core or generic skills • Remedial courses filling gaps in basic understanding of workplace technologies, particularly for youth, women and people with disabilities • Better investment in vocational guidance, assessment and job/work experience for youth

30. Youth employment: rethinking the role of government 5. Will require: • re-orientation of TVET institutions and teaching staff; • forging closer links with employers and their representative bodies; • supporting and helping structure workplace learning; • redefining workplace skills

31. Youth employment: rethinking the role of government 6. Reforming the general education system • Rethinking how learning takes place • moving away from rote-learning… to learning to think and explore • Radical reforms will require: • an overhaul of curricula; • a new approach to teacher training/retraining; • a new role for teachers as learning facilitators.

32. Youth employment: rethinking the role of government A final note: Flooding schools with computers will not transform the learning ethos… unless the whole approach to learning itself is transformed There must be fundamental changes to the way in which education and training is perceived and delivered - governments must play a major role in ensuring access, equity, develop a regulatory framework and an enabling environment, but the social partners and the community must share responsibility for the development of the future human and social capital.

33. End of Presentation