NN46, September 2011
Towards a New Global World of Skills Development? TVET's turn to Make its Mark
Skills Recognition in the Informal Sector
By Madhu Singh, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Hamburg
Email: m.singh@unesco.org
Keywords: Recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning; NQFs; certification; decent employment; productive skills
Summary: Given the vast amount of non-formal and informal learning taking place in the informal sector, more discussion is warranted on the question of how recognition and certification of skills can help the disadvantaged to learn further and to enhance their employability and mobility. The lack of formal qualifications makes workers vulnerable in securing decent employment. A few documented studies are emerging that highlight the role of skills recognition in the informal sector. In addition to restructuring existing vocational training systems, bottom-up approaches to skills recognition are needed.
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Literature dealing with education and training for the informal sector has drawn attention to processes of skills acquisition and utilization. Informal learning takes place in multiple contexts, including periods in school, in formal or non-formal training centres, in short-term modular training, as apprentices, as learners on-the-job, in the family, through observation and imitation, or by means of traditional apprenticeships, and is passed from one generation to the next. These alternative routes account for the training of up to 90 per cent of a country’s workforce in some countries. In certain contexts, where literacy and numeracy do not play a significant role, learning by doing and talking is one of the most important forms of informal learning.
Given the vast amount of non-formal and informal learning taking place in the informal sector, more discussion is warranted on recognising and certifying informal learning processes in order to promote decent employment and social equality. The lack of formal qualifications makes workers vulnerable; they earn lower wages, their productivity is low; they are exploited by their employers, and they are often disadvantaged in gaining access to formal education.
While there is absence of formal skills development, the informal sector’s contribution to the GDP cannot be ignored. Rather, the informal sector with its productive skills has potential which needs to be made visible. The creativity and the competences of the people could be utilised for social development, for urban and rural development. Thus, it is important for the individual and equally for society and the economy to identify and document available competences that have not been formally recognised. Apart from having an intrinsic value for the individual, recognition and validation could encourage him towards starting a qualification; the learning that is recognised could be transferable (to the formal sector), and especially at the interfaces where the informal economy connects with the formal economy. It could reduce the amount of time needed to complete a certification and therefore require less time away from the workplace. By formally recognising workers’ skills, recognition could be a means for gaining opportunities for further learning and for enhancing employability and labour mobility. For the micro-enterprises in the informal sector, a better recognition of workers’ skills could be a way to overcome skills shortages and match skills demand with supply. It could also provide an opportunity to improve the overall skill level and work performance of an industry operating in the informal sector. The nation could have a better certified skilled workforce, empowered population, mobile and multi-skilled people which could attract investors to the micro-enterprise sector in the global village. The skill level and educational attainment of the workforce determines the productivity, income levels as well as the adaptability of the working class in a changing environment.
However, there are challenges for skills recognition in the informal sector. The process of recognition must be accompanied by provision of public infrastructure which is affordable, reliable and efficient. There will be challenges in identifying where skills exist, documenting those skills, communicating to the potential candidates, as well as administering the process. Methods will need to be established, such as portfolio review, written/oral exams, and demonstrations. A relatively open examination system relating to a national qualifications framework and the relevant standards would need to be created for more transparency, so that it benefits those people who have often had to acquire their skills under conditions of great hardships outside the education system. Guidance and information campaigns would be needed for the learner to be guided through the process.
Up to now there are few documented studies on skills recognition in the informal sector. However, a forthcoming study in six African countries – Ghana, Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa - in preparation for the ADEA Triennale in 2012, highlights the role of recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning as a means of facilitating participation in formal education and training, employability and labour mobility (Steenekamp and Singh, 2012 forthcoming). There is also direct evidence from the above study and other studies (Singh and Duvekot, 2011 forthcoming) of the growing appreciation of the role that the NQF plays as an enabler for recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning to happen.
It is important also to mention the ILO recommendation 195 on a framework for recognition and certification of skills (ILO 2004). According to this: ´Measures should be adopted in consultation with the social partners and using a national qualification framework, to promote the development, implementation and financing of a transparent mechanism for the assessment, certification and recognition of skills including prior learning and previous experience, irrespective of the countries where they were acquired and whether acquired formally or informally´ (Ibid. p. 6).
Skills development for the informal sector, marginalized for long, is beginning to re-emerge as a crucial area for TVET and skills development; however, simply restructuring existing vocational training systems alone is not sufficient. Bottom up approaches such as skills recognition and certification need to serve as a support in programmes for upgrading skills and increasing productivity in the informal sector.
References
ILO (2004) R195 Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004. In Recommendation concerning Human Resources Development: Education, Training and Lifelong learning
Singh, M. and Duvekot, R. (2011 forthcoming) Linking Recognition Practices to National Qualifications Framework: International Exchange of national developments. Papers presented at the international meeting “Linking recognition to NQFs: North-South collaborative research” held in Hamburg from 10 to 11 March 2010. UIL, Hamburg.
Steenekamp, S. and Singh, M. (2012 forthcoming) Recognition and Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning, and NQFs: Critical Levers for Lifelong Learning and Sustainable Skills Development. Comparative analysis of six African countries Paper for the ADEA Triennale on Education and Training in Africa (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, February 2012).
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Cite article as: Singh, M., (2011) ‘Skills Recognition in the Informal Sector’, in NORRAG NEWS, Towards a New Global World of Skills Development? TVET's turn to Make its Mark, No.46, September 2011, pp. 79-81, available: http://www.norrag.org
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