SKILLS FOR WORK, GROWTH AND POVERTY REDUCTION

1. SKILLS FOR WORK, GROWTH AND POVERTY REDUCTION Challenges and Opportunities in the Global Analysis and Monitoring of Skills in Relation to Dakar’s Goal 3 Robert Palmer and Kenneth King 30th May 2008, University of Nottingham

2. UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Reports (GMRs) have so far covered almost all aspects of both the Jomtien agenda and the subsequent Dakar goals. • But they have not treated at any length at all the Jomtien and Dakar skills’ or life skills’ goals. • This paper is a reflection on this missing EFA Goal.

3. Dakar Goal 3 • ‘Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes’

4. Outline • 1. essential background for understanding the position of skills in the evolving global EFA agenda. – skills in the existing six GMRs. • 2. political and policy case for a Skills GMR, what might feasibly be covered, what impact a skills GMR would likely have.

5. Skills for work… • Focus on the technical and vocational skills component of ‘life-skills’ Types and levels of skills development • skills at the tertiary level; school-based skills under MoE; institution-based skills under MoL; private-for-profit and private-non-profit skills; private enterprise-based skills (formal and informal)

6. The changing context for an EFA Skills Goal: from Jomtien to Dakar, and to the EFA GMRs From Jomtien to Dakar • Skills within Basic Education at Jomtien • Preparing the end of decade EFA Assessment (2000) without any data on skills • Entering the Dakar World Forum without any data on skills

7. The changing context for an EFA Skills Goal: from Jomtien to Dakar, and to the EFA GMRs The treatment of skills in the GMR, 2002-2008 • no serious attempt has so far been made in the six GMRs to monitor the coverage of skills or technical vocational education and training, apart from: • some reporting since 2003-4 of the total no. of young people taking a technical stream during secondary schooling, and the proportion of girls within that; • some very preliminary analysis of life skills and • some background papers on nonformal education profiles for the most recent GMR 2008 volume.

8. Why has monitoring of Dakar Goal 3 apparently been side-lined? • methodologically difficult. No quantitative target for what should be achieved • conceptually vague. • Very few comparable and international indicators are available • But (probably!) no conspiracy against skills

9. The Forgotten Goal? The Urgency of the Case for a Skills GMR (1) Policy and political case • 1. It would fulfill the Jomtien and Dakar global commitments if this single missing Goal could be adequately treated. • ‘Other essential skills’ - Jomtien • ‘Learning and life skills’ - Dakar

10. The Forgotten Goal? The Urgency of the Case for a Skills GMR (2) • 2. The importance of dealing comprehensively with the pledge to treat skills can be argued for many other compelling reasons.

11. What can feasibly be covered in a skills GMR?

12. Monitoring of skills development by UNESCO, UNEVOC and the ILO • GMRs currently provide only a very limited picture of the wide array of TVET modalities, referring only to formal school-based programmes. • The 2006 UNESCO-UIS/UNEVOC report, Participation in Formal TVET Worldwide • ILO neither producing statistics on proportions of young people who access skills through different TVET modalities nor is it monitoring skill training in vocational institutes or in the informal economy.

13. Challenges of monitoring skills development • In many developing countries there are currently not the mechanisms in place to collect and aggregate comprehensive data on skills (in all its types and forms). MoE bias. • the provision of skills being so fragmented in many countries (& often lack of coordinated skills strategy, with indicators that could be monitored); • government capacity for monitoring and evaluating skill remaining weak; and • methodological challenges

14. Hence gathering data for a skills GMR would not be an easy task. • It is not going to be possible to get global ‘targets’ for Goal 3 because of the impossibility of standardization. A skills GMR would take a different form.

15. Opportunities for monitoring skills development • Some major work is required to address the need for robust, internationally comparable, indicators for skills but there are already activities and initiatives on which this work can build. • it would be necessary for the skills GMR to have a two year cycle

16. What impact might a skills GMR have? • raise the profile of skills • better conceptual understanding of skills • improved conceptual understanding of skills and a GMR that outlines some of the key domains of skill acquisition, a skills GMR would result in better data collection instruments being designed. • At the national level, a skills GMR would encourage national governments to think and act more comprehensively about skills.

17. When might we see a skills GMR? • 2009 GMR, Overcoming inequality. Why governance matters • 2010 GMR, Teacher training ? • 2011 GMR, skills or fragile states?

18. SKILLS FOR WORK, GROWTH AND POVERTY REDUCTION Challenges and Opportunities in the Global Analysis and Monitoring of Skills in Relation to Dakar’s Goal 3 Robert Palmer and Kenneth King Rob.Palmer@norrag.org Kenneth.king@ed.ac.uk

19. The six Dakar goals i) expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children; ii) ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality; iii) ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes;

20. The six Dakar goals (cont.) iv) achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults; v) eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality; vi) improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognised and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.