BAUCAU KOTA, Timor-Leste (ILO Online) – Two years ago, Manuel Gaspar, a third generation blacksmith working in the town of Baucau Kota together with one to three employees, was only able to produce seven agricultural and construction implements per week.
Today, he can produce 140 shovels, hoes and harrows, blades and machetes and other tools per day. Employing 45 workers, 23 of whom are permanent, Mr. Gaspar has successfully expanded his business and organized in rural Timor-Leste a business group called “Blacksmith”. To date, Blacksmith has produced a total of 6,000 tools, earning a total of US$50,000 to US$60,000.
Manuel Gaspar is one of the beneficiaries of a skills training course jointly organized by the ILO’s Skills Training for Gainful Employment Programme (STAGE) and the Timorese Secretariat of State for Vocational Training and Employment. Launched in 2004, this US$6 million programme jointly implemented by ILO and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and financed by the European Union (EU), promotes a flexible, effective and sustainable system of skills and enterprise training.
“I have learned the traditional blacksmith skills from my father. They were passed down for generations. But it was only after I joined the STAGE skills training course in 2006, that I have improved the quality of my products and expanded my business”, he says with a smile.
What’s more, Manuel Gaspar has not only successfully expanded his business but has also become a dedicated trainer.
“My ambition is to conduct training in all districts, sharing my expertise in producing tools so that others can also develop their own businesses and improve their living conditions. I am not afraid of competition. The market will decide”, he explains.
In the meantime, the work of the Blacksmith group has been even praised by the President of Timor-Leste, Dr Jose Ramos-Horta, and Mr. Gaspar has been able to open a new workshop – a spacious building, including offices that will allow Blacksmith to produce even more tools and train new producers in other districts.
“We are going to stamp all of our products with the official Blacksmith brand. After initially focusing on the production side, we are now concentrating on promotion and marketing. We are exploring setting up either a Blacksmith cooperative or association”, says Mr. Gaspar.
Setting the STAGE for higher productivity, employment opportunities and development
The experience of the STAGE project literally sets the stage for a global discussion on strategies to use skills development policies to increase productivity, employment and development during the ILO’s annual International Labour Conference (ILC) which started in Geneva this week. Effective ways to upgrade and enhance skills training, to improve access to skills for more women and men, and to ensure that the training actually improves employment prospects and meets employers’ needs are expected to feature in the discussion.
“Skills development is central to achieving higher productivity, which in turn stimulates growth that can translate into more and better jobs. Our discussion here in Geneva will seek lessons that are relevant for least developed, developing and more industrialized countries in linking skills development systems not only to the current needs of labour markets, but also to future needs as technologies, markets, the environment and development strategies change”, explains Christine Evans-Klock, Director of the ILO’s Skills and Employability Department.
A report (Note 1) prepared for the ILC discussion stresses three aspects of skills development that make it a success: Skills development must be an integral part of broader employment and development strategies if it is to contribute substantially to both, productivity and employment growth; social dialogue between employers, workers and government, and collective bargaining can create a broad commitment to education, training and a learning culture and strengthen support for the reform of training systems; training policies and programmes need to ensure equality of opportunity for women and men, be free from discrimination and take into account family and household obligations.
The discussion will also review the policy challenges and experiences of groups of countries at different levels of development.
“Least developed countries like Timor-Leste face a vicious circle of low education and skills, low productivity, and poverty. Only one fifth of boys and girls of secondary school age in sub-Saharan Africa attend school. Policy responses need to place emphasis on increasing the access of the poor to training, upgrading apprenticeship training and improving training in public and private institutions”, says Ms Evans-Klock.
While in developing countries, policy challenges include addressing skills shortages in high-growth sectors and promoting the formalization of the economy through training initiatives, a key policy challenge in OECD countries is to ensure the continuing relevance of skills acquired by both job entrants and mid-career workers.
Efforts by countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States include restructuring education and training systems to respond to the demands of the new market economy, and promote the flexibility and mobility of the workforce.
In examining the experience of countries that have successfully focused skills policies on meeting productivity, employment and development goals, ILO skills specialist Irmgard Nübler says that “much of their success is due to effective policy coordination through well functioning institutions at three levels: first, to align education in schools with skills development in training centres and enterprises for successful labour market entry and lifelong learning; second, to connect employers and training providers to better match the training provided to what is needed at the workplace; and third, to integrate forward-looking skills policies with investment, trade, technology and overall national development policies in order to prepare the workforce for emerging jobs in dynamic growth sectors”.
Note 1 - Skills for improved productivity, employment growth and development, Report V, International Labour Conference, 97th Session 2008, International Labour Office, Geneva.