NN37, May 2006
Special Theme on Education and Training out of Poverty? A Status Report
SCHOOLING AND BASIC SKILLS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING PROGRAMMES IN POVERTY AREAS
By Enrique Pieck, Universidad Iberoamericana (México)
There are some pivotal questions when looking at the possibilities of training programmes within the context of developing countries. How are the problems associated with basic skills management to be solved? If the lowest schooling levels and early insertion in the labour market occur in the lower income sectors, how well-prepared are these sectors to function adequately in the labour market? In terms of basic skills training, what are the challenges that face the school system? What educational and occupational strategies have been implemented to help youth, adults, women, peasants, indigenous populations, migrants and other disadvantaged segments of the population to become productively integrated into the labour market? What lessons have we learned from them?In order to address each of these basic questions, we start with a brief introductory overview of a number of social and educational indicators in Latin America. The background comprises the level of poverty, the challenges for productive incorporation, social exclusion, the relative absence of skill development programmes in these areas and the historical ineffectiveness of educational programmes.
We then present the challenges that skills training initiatives must address in this region and the need to foster programmes that take into account the potential of local contexts and offer solutions to needs that come from both their context and the need for social inclusion. Therefore, an evaluation is provided of the potential and possibilities of education and training programmes in these contexts, looking for strategies that can provide some light for the assessment of the different factors that may contribute to social development.
A brief outline follows of the trend that has accompanied the recent concern with making occupational training programmes available in deprived sectors, with special emphasis on young people. In closing, the paper addresses the pivotal issue, namely key implications for the formulation of productive insertion policies inspired by lessons and contributions emerging from various projects undertaken in the region.
Lessons are drawn from different programmes that have been carried out in disadvantaged sectors of developing countries, some of which have had strong links with social development strategies. Some of the lessons are concerned with the need to stem from integral and interinstitutional perspectives, the need also to rely on sound strategies that can have a direct impact on both social and economic development.
We conclude pointing out some key issues to be taken into account when carrying out training programmes in developing countries, such as: permanent strategies, continuity of learning, the need to learn from local contexts (knowledge and opportunities) and evaluate the potential within these spaces, the need to properly assess the different areas (health, housing. organization, etc.) that are related to any social development process, the importance of taking productive activities ?work- as the axis and starting point of programmes. The basic underlying idea revolves around a ?what works? consideration that may help to move beyond the actual reach of programmes and allow training strategies to have a greater impact and better contribution to social development.