NN38, February 2007
Technical and Vocational Skills Development
THE ROLE OF SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN THE TRANSITION TO WORK: BACKGROUND PAPER FOR THE WORLD BANK?S WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT OF 2007
By Arvil Van Adams, World Bank
KeywordsWorld Development Report 2007, Youth, School to work transition, Skills development
Summary
This article discusses a 2007 World Development Report background paper that examines the role played by skills development in the transition from school to work. The paper explores outcomes associated with choices of general and vocational curricula in school settings, apprenticeship and other strategies for linking schooling and work, and for meeting the second-chance needs of youth who fail to acquire early education as a foundation for workplace skills
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The World Bank?s World Development Report of 2007, Development and the Next Generation, examines the choices made by youth 15-24 years of age in education, work, health, family formation, and citizenship and how these choices shape the future well-being of individuals and nations. As part of the background preparation for this study of youth transitions, a paper was prepared examining the role played by skills development in the transition from school to work (Adams, forthcoming). The paper explores outcomes associated with choices of general and vocational curricula in school settings, apprenticeship and other strategies for linking schooling and work, and for meeting the second-chance needs of youth who fail to acquire early education as a foundation for workplace skills. Findings from rigorous programme evaluations, mostly in advanced countries and some in developing countries, are emphasized along with effective strategies for equipping youth with skills to make the transition to work.
The movement from school to work is seen from a lifecycle perspective with skills development examined as it takes place in schools, in early work experience, and later as entry-level skills are upgraded. The choices for skills development and the modalities for delivery vary as the transition progresses. Workforce development is influenced by (i) education, (ii) apprenticeship and early work experience, (iii) labour market programmes, including non-formal training, that facilitate the operation of labour markets and address the needs of those encountering problems therein, and (iv) labour market policies that influence the investment climate and jobs creation for youth. Beyond, are other forces in the home, the community, and economy that shape the transition to work. The focus of the paper is on skills development that builds on early schooling foundations and that offers second chance opportunities for those who fail initially to develop these foundations.
Preparing for Entry to the Workforce
Historically, training for productive employment has been a private matter. Individuals acquired skills through apprenticeship or on-the-job training and financed their training through reduced wages during the learning period. Employers were actively involved in the training. The industrial revolution of the 19th century changed the structure of employment. A hierarchically organized work force, in which entry-level jobs required relatively few skills but a high level of industrial discipline, replaced the single craftsman who personally carried out all the tasks associated with a product. In the later part of the 19th century education reformers introduced vocational preparation to the curriculum of secondary education, and the vocational school was born. This pattern soon spread across Europe and North America. From these origins it was a short step to the common wisdom of the 1950s and 1960s that governments in developing countries needed to expand their investment in vocational skills.
Does technical and vocational education (TVE) in a school setting payoff in facilitating the transition to work? The answer from rigorous evaluations is that it can under the right conditions. TVE alone, however, is unlikely to solve the social problems of restructuring gender-biased patterns of employment or meeting all the needs of disadvantaged youth. Strategies that push vocational content earlier in the curriculum and vocationalise the curriculum with ?light? offerings of TVE amidst general education do not show evidence of connecting youth with jobs and improving their earnings prospects, but they may lead to higher educational attainment that has to be valued for its own benefits apart from those of immediate employment. In turn, good quality TVE that is closely linked with strong employment growth and aligned with the skills in demand in labour markets can pay off for youth. The payoff is more assured for obtaining employment than for higher pay, but pursuit of advanced vocational skills can lead to both. Building TVE on a strong foundation of general education, and pushing vocational content later in the secondary and post-secondary curriculum show evidence of higher benefits in relation to costs. Ending labour market discrimination will be important to assuring equal benefits to young men and women.
Apprenticeship and Work Experience
Attention to apprenticeship and structured work experience as a means to promote the school to work transition have grown over the past several decades to join the continued emphasis on school-based vocational programmes for entry-level skills. Evidence favours these programmes, but with qualifications. Employment growth is a key ingredient to demand for apprentices and interns. Employers are unlikely to take on board large numbers of youths for training when conditions for sustained employment are not present. The strongest evidence favoring formal apprenticeships is their positive impact on employment, but largely for young men. The impact on earnings is more problematic, especially for young women. Traditional apprenticeships have proven cost-effective for delivering skills in an informal economy, but face problems of quality and transfer of new technologies in modern economies. Steps can be taken to improve traditional apprenticeships. The challenge remains to expand apprenticeship and work experience beyond the traditional craft and technical trades. Efforts to do this in the U.K. and Australia have shown some successes.
Beyond apprenticeship, work-based learning as part of the school curriculum has expanded in a number of OECD countries. In Sweden, vocational studies involve unpaid internships in structured work placements occupying 15 percent of the student?s time. Recruiting employers to offer internships has proven challenging. In Australia, school-industry programmes have been introduced to provide students with structured learning in a workplace during the senior year of secondary school. This learning is assessed and accredited as part of their schoolwork. Participation in the programme was initially disappointing with only 12 percent of eligible students participating, but the outcomes have been promising. Evaluations point to enhanced student motivation, confidence, and satisfaction, along with improved personal and practical skills and time-management. National youth service programmes in a number of countries offer community service and work experience for secondary and tertiary students, but also other youth target groups. Few national youth service programmes have been rigorously evaluated against these objectives, but anecdotal evidence is favourable, particularly where national service is voluntary.
Upgrading of Skills
The movement from schooling into the workforce for youths brings with it a new set of actors and challenges for skills development and sustained employment. Rather than focusing on the provision of entry-level skills to obtain employment, attention turns to other objectives: (i) upgrading workforce skills for the employed, (ii) meeting the skill needs of the unemployed, (iii) empowering others with skills for occupational change, and (iv), responding to the skill needs of the disadvantaged with ?second-chance? options for developing qualifications. The needs of older workers facing the forces of change are merged with those of young workers. Employers, who are already engaged in apprenticeship and structured work experience for youths, emerge to play a large role in the provision and financing of training to meet these objectives. They are joined by public and private formal education institutions and technical ministries (labour, industry, agriculture, etc.) and for-profit and not-for-profit trainers that diversify programmes and modes of skills delivery to meet these diverse needs. Together, these sources add a second ?T? to TVE to yield technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
Training provision and financing by employers are frequently overlooked in favour of the alternative of public investments in skills development. Employers, however, are an active source of provision and financing for skills. The evidence shows this training culminates in higher productivity for the enterprise and wages for workers. It is self-regulating and financing. Contrary to expectations, employers are found to invest in general skills alongside skills specific to the enterprise. As a source of skills for youth, however, not all enterprises are going to train, nor will all workers in enterprises that do train have access to this training. Enterprise training is selective with workers in small and medium-sized enterprises and those with lower levels of formal education having less access to the training. On grounds of equity, if not efficiency, these conditions of employment provide a rationale for public interventions to broaden access and investment in education and skills for those left behind by enterprise-based training. These interventions may include public provision, but also public financing of private providers, including training by enterprises.
High levels of youth unemployment are unlikely to be reduced by training, unless the problem of unemployment for youth is structural in nature, meaning that youth possess the wrong skills for the jobs that exist. Where the unemployment problem is a lack of job creation, high labour costs, or unrealistic wage expectations on the part of youth, TVET is less likely to be successful unless coupled with other reforms. Understanding the core causes of youth unemployment is an essential first step before costly investments in TVET are made. Perhaps due to the lack of this understanding, much of the training offered the unemployed is said not to have lived up to its expectations when subjected to rigorous evaluation. This image has plagued youth training programmes in countries like the U.S. such that public funding has been cut back. This image, however, is incorrectly formed as the evidence of this review suggests that where jobs do exist and training is linked to this employment, investment in TVET can yield positive benefits. The type of training offered is important to the outcome. Training programmes with employer sponsorship and offered in enterprises tend to perform better, out-performing classroom training for the unemployed.
Efforts to help at-risk youth enter employment with TVET have proven more difficult. Early school leavers are especially at-risk in the transition. A key priority is helping these youth stay in school, of if they have left, to return to school. For helping youth stay in school, steps can be taken to provide services offsetting learning deficiencies, increase the benefits from and interest of parents and youth in schooling, and reduce household income constraints. Second-chance programmes for education and training can play an important role helping early school leavers enter employment. Non-formal education programmes, providing equivalency certificates for missed schooling, can open opportunities for further education and to training on the job. Programmes like the Job Corps in the U.S. and the Joven (Youth) Programmes of numerous Latin American countries have shown that training is often not sufficient by itself to help out-of-school youth make the transition. Other social services and support are needed alongside training to pay dividends. These second-chance programmes, while costly, can pay excellent dividends and reduce the social cost of first-chance failures. With their cost, targeting is important. Their cost emphasizes the importance of promoting first-chance options for assuring youth have a solid educational foundation before entry to work.
For further information see:
Adams, Arvil V. Forthcoming 2007. ?The Role of Skills Development in the Transition to Work: A Global Review.? Children and Youth Discussion Papers. World Bank: Washington, D.C.
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