Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Lives?

Open Forum Kinderrechtencoalitie 28/5/2013

The global youth unemployment crisis: an opportunity for technical

and vocational skills development (TVSD)?

Maud Seghers, Director

VIA Don Bosco

Belgian NGO, since more than 40 years

Affiliated with the worldwide Don Bosco « family »--globally the largest non-profit private provider of technical and vocational education and training / skills development (TVSD), with special focus on disadvantaged youth

VIA Don Bosco supports (mostly center-based) TVSD providers in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin-America & the Caribbean

Priority areas of work: o Access and retention of disadvantaged youtho Quality and relevance of TVSDo Transition to the world of work

What is VIA Don Bosco?

Youth unemployment: what’s at stake?

73.4 million young people worldwide – 12.6 % – are expected to be out of work in 2013, an increase of 3.5 million between 2007 and 2013

Global youth unemployment rate increased again: 12.7 % in 2009, 12.3 % in 2011, 12.4 % in 2012, 12.6 % in 2013, and expected to be 12.8 % in 2018

Informal employment among young people remains pervasive and transitions to decent work are slow and difficult

Though there is important variation among regions and countries, stable, quality employment is especially lacking in the developing world where 90% of the global youth population live

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013, ILO

« A generation at risk »

Expected consequences of persistently high youth unemployment:o Loss of valuable work experience and erosion of occupational skills

o Lower earnings and poorer job prospects later in life

o Negative impact on happiness, job satisfaction and health for many years

o Growing distrust in the socioeconomic and political systems among youth

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013, ILO

« A generation at risk »

Can TVSD provide the answer?

« Pro-poor policies and significant investments in people’s capabilities through a focus on education, nutrition and health, and employment skills, can expand access to decent work and provide for sustained progress »

Human Development Report 2013, UNDP

«The global economic crisis, with high levels of unemployment, in particular among young people, has added urgency to fostering better skills. At the same time, rising income inequality, largely driven by inequality in wages between high- and low-skilled workers, also needs to be addressed. The most promising solution to these challenges is investing effectively in skills throughout a lifetime: from early childhood, through compulsory education, and during the working life»

Skills Strategy 2012, OECD

Great expectations

« The global economic downturn is impacting on unemployment. One young person in eight acoss the world is looking for work. Youth populations are large and growing. The wellbeing and prosperity of young people depend more than ever on the skills that education and training can provide. Failing to meet this need is a waste of human potential and economic power. Youth skills have never been so vital. » EFA GMR 2012, UNESCO

Great expectations

« Skills development makes up a vital ingredient in productivity growth, but it is only one of several factors necessary for productivity growth. Skills development alone cannot raise enterprise and national productivity. By the same token, other factors and policies are insufficient if they are implemented in isolation of skills» Good practice in TVET, ADB, 2009

TVSD is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition

for economic growth, productivityfor access to decent work

More realistic expectations

« Skills mismatch on youth labour markets has become a persistent and growing trend. Overeducation and over-skilling* coexist with undereducation and under-skilling*, and increasingly with skills obsolescence brought about by long-term unemployment » Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013, ILO

there is a problem with access and retention (to education)

« There is a severe mismatch between the skills possessed by young workers and those demanded by employers. »

Working Paper No. 155 on Youth, Jobs and Structural Change, AfDB, 2012

there is a problem with quality and relevance (of TVSD)

Moreover … problem of skills mismatch

Challenges for TVSD

Problem of access and retentionTypical challenges at level of basic education generally compounded by:o higher cost of TVSD provision o poor image of TVSD // to some extent related to its actual “irrelevance” o length of officially recognized (“formal”) TVSD

Challenge of « skills mismatch »

Problem of quality and relevanceo TVSD approaches need to be contextualized (f.ex. adjusted to rural and

urban settings)o linkages between TVSD – especially center-based TVSD – and world of

work need to improve (f.ex. to adjust curricula; provide on-the-job training opportunities; continuous training of in-service teachers; ...)

o linkages between TVSD and f.ex. microfinance or cooperatives need to improve

o relevance of TVSD to the learning needs of the most disadvantaged, esp. girls and women needs to improve

Challenge of « skills mismatch »

Problem of definitionSkills what are we talking about? only “employment skills” as mentioned by UNDP?

EFA GMR 2012 distinguishes between:o Foundation skills // literacy and numeracy – “necessary to get work

that can pay enough to meet daily needs”o Transferable skills // self-esteem, leadership, conscientiousness,

problem-solving ability, communication skills, creativity, ... – “necessary to adapt to different working environments and stay in gainful employment”

o Technical and professional skills — needed for specific job-related tasks (incl. entrepreneurial skills)

Challenge of « skills mismatch »

Problem of fragmentation Policy responsibility for TVSD is typically divided over several Ministries (education / labor / social affairs / ...) and agencies, which decreases coherence and accountability and leads to budget fragmentation

Poor dataMore and better data are necessary to plan more effectively

Challenge of « institutional mismatch »

Low investment from donorsThe “good” news over the period 2002-2009, ODA from DAC disbursements to TVET increased threefold

Low investment from national governments in recipient countriesComparative analysis is scarce, but generally safe to say that TVSD is an undervalued part of the education systemIn Africa an average of 5% of the public education expenditure

increased investment is necessary

diversified financing strategies are necessary – f.ex.private investment

income-generating activities at level of institutionsavoid cost sharing with the most disadvantaged

Challenge of « investment mismatch »

Low investment from donorsThe “good news” over the period 2002-2009, ODA from DAC disbursements to TVET increased threefold … from 230 to 668 million USD*

Low investment from national governments in recipient countriesComparative analysis is scarce, but generally safe to say that TVSD is an undervalued part of the education systemIn Africa an average of 5% of the public education expenditure

increased investment is necessary

diversified financing strategies are necessary – f.ex.private investment

income-generating activities at level of institutionsavoid cost sharing with the most disadvantaged

Challenge of « investment mismatch »

Recommendations

Many already mentioned, but to sum up:If TVSD is to make a meaningful contribution to addressing youth unemployment:o more and more diversified financial investment is neededo attention must go to both access and retention as well as quality and

relevanceo more efforts are necessary to establish linkages at policy level as well as

“on the ground” between TVSD providers and the world of worko special attention must go to disadvantaged youth

Recommendations … if TVSD is to live up to the challenges