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The cost of education
and training should be seen as an investment. Despite the growing
attention being paid to such investment, we know little about it on
a systematic basis. Without such systematic information, it is very
difficult to obtain a true picture of the magnitude and
nature of investments in human capital. Besides, without
this quantitative information on a comparative basis, it is very
difficult to encourage countries, enterprises or entrepreneurs and
individuals to increase investment in effective, responsive training
and human resource development to provide men and women improved
access to decent jobs.
Increasing investment in training can be fostered by: (i) Recognizing that investing in education and training can be a shared responsibility between the State, enterprises, individuals and other stakeholders; and; (ii) Providing a measurable and comparative basis on expenditures in VET, as a mirror and point of orientation for countries, sectors, and companies. In order to sustain increased and effective training investments by all parties concerned - governments, enterprises, sectoral and professional associations, NGOs, individuals and others - the 2000 International Labour Conference asked the ILO to "develop a database on current expenditure on vocational and continuing training; and suggest a series of benchmarks on investments in training, possibly differentiated for different regions of the world, size of companies or sector of industry". Conclusions concerning Human Resources Training and Development adopted by the General Conference of the ILO, 88th Session, 2000 (para. 12).
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