ILC91 - Report IV(1) - Learning and training for work in the knowledge society

Decision to revise the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 1975 (No. 150)

Adopted in 1975, Convention No. 142 and Recommendation No. 150 mirror the prevailing economic and social conditions of that period. Then, most countries pursued planned economic, social and industrialization policies; information and communication technologies were still in their infancy; work organization in enterprises was largely based on Taylorist principles; and much of the labour force was employed in secure wage jobs. Convention No. 142, which is general, is still recognized as a valid blueprint to guide countries in developing their training policies and systems. The Recommendation, on the other hand, has lost its relevance in many aspects, although some are still valid. “There is a need for a more dynamic instrument that is more applicable and used by member States and the social partners in formulating and implementing human resources development policies, integrated with other economic and social policies, particularly employment policies” (Conclusions concerning human resources …, paragraph 21).

Recommendation No. 150 reflects the planning paradigm of the early 1970s. It leaves little room for demand and labour market considerations and provides little or no guidance on many issues that are central to contemporary training policy and system reforms under way in member States. These issues include the policy, governance and regulatory framework of training; the roles and responsibilities of parties other than the State (e.g. the private sector, the social partners and civil society) in policy formulation and in investing in and providing learning opportunities and training; the move by many countries to provide lifelong learning and training opportunities for all people; devising appropriate policies and mechanisms for targeting learning and training programmes at particular groups with special needs; the shift towards development and recognition of “competencies” that comprise a wide range of work-related knowledge and technical and behavioural skills, and which form elements of many countries’ emerging frameworks of national qualifications; and the need to expand skill development activities that prepare workers for self-employment.

Towards knowledge- and skills-based economies and societies:
New objectives and challenges of human resources development and training

“A critical challenge that faces human society at the start of the twenty-first century is to attain full employment and sustained economic growth in the global economy and social inclusivity” (Conclusions concerning human resources …, paragraph 1). This challenge has recently become even more complex and demanding. Economic, social and technological change is gathering pace and calls for continuous policy and institutional adaptation in order to meet new needs and seize the opportunities that are opening up in a rapidly integrating world economy. It has been increasingly recognized that people’s endowment of skills and capabilities, and investment in education and training, constitute the key to economic and social development. Skills and training increase productivity and incomes, and facilitate everybody’s participation in economic and social life.

However, the difficulties involved in putting into effect employment and growth-oriented policies that give high priority to education and training are formidable. Some countries are investing heavily in their human resources, e.g. the advanced countries and rapidly industrializing countries (e.g. the Republic of Korea, Singapore and others). Other countries, particularly poor countries, have not been able to maintain investments at sufficiently high levels to meet their burgeoning needs. Unless the latter, supported by the international community, implement effective and inclusive policies and programmes for education and training for all, the skills gap is likely to grow even wider. According to the ILO, the overall goal of the global economy should be to provide opportunities for all people to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. This requires the attainment of four strategic objectives that are vital to social progress: employment creation, supported by increased and effective investment in human resources development, learning and training for employability, competitiveness, growth and social inclusion of all; promoting fundamental rights at work; improving social protection; and strengthening social dialogue. The ILO’s framework of decent work addresses both the quality and quantity of employment and provides the basis for new human resources development and training policies.

Learning, education and training benefit individuals, enterprises and society alike.

Individuals benefit from education and training – provided that these are supported by other economic and social policies. Education and training make individuals employable and help them gain access to decent work and escape poverty and marginalization. Education and training also improve individuals’ productivity and income-earning opportunities at work and their mobility in the labour market, and widen their choice of career opportunities. Research carried out in the United States found that private returns to two-year Associate degrees (middle-level, vocationally oriented training) were as high as 20 to 30 per cent, particularly in the business and technical fields for men, and health fields for women (Grubb, 1996, cited in Grubb and Ryan, 1999, p. 93). In France, during the 1970-93 period, possession of vocational post-secondary qualifications conferred substantial benefits on the individual in terms of access to employment, reduced likelihood of unemployment, and significant increases in life-cycle earnings (Minni and Vergnies, 1994; Goux and Maurin, 1994, cited in Grubb and Ryan, 1999, p. 93).

Education and training help individuals escape poverty by providing them with skills and knowledge that raise their output as farmers and workers. According to the World Bank, primary education is the single largest contributor to growth and development in developing countries. A farmer with four years’ schooling is much more productive than one who has no education. As poverty is increasingly concentrated among women, improving girls’ and women’s access to education will reduce poverty significantly.

Enterprises also reap rewards from education and training. By investing in their human resources, enterprises can improve productivity and compete successfully in increasingly integrated world markets. The economic performance of 62 worldwide car assembly plants around 1990, measured in terms of labour productivity and product quality (assembly-related defects per vehicle), proved to be closely associated with the presence of three dimensions of business strategy: lean production, team-working and innovative human resources management (HRM) practices. Training provision, for both new recruits and ongoing employees, constituted two out of five practices in the HRM dimension. The benefits of training in terms of improved productivity were found to depend strongly on the choice of a compatible organization of production, work, recruitment and remuneration (pay) structures. In Denmark, enterprises that introduced process or production innovations combined with targeted training were more likely than non-innovators to report output growth (11 versus 4 per cent), job growth (3 versus 2 per cent) and labour productivity growth (10 versus 4 per cent) (Danish Ministry of Business and Industry, cited in ILO, 1999b). Studies in many countries, including Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, concur that traditional employer-provided training raises individual productivity and wage rates. As observed by Bishop in the case of the United States, provided such investments are initiated by the enterprise, they are likely to benefit both the enterprise and the individual (1994, p. 24).

Economic growth and social development of countries are invariably associated with large and sustained investments in education and training. Countries with the highest incomes are also those where workers are most educated, as evidenced by their enrolments in primary education (universal), secondary education (almost universal) and tertiary education (about 50 per cent of the relevant age group). Some 98 per cent of the adult population in high-income countries are considered literate. By contrast, in the least developed countries (LDCs), primary education enrolment in 1997 was around 71.5 per cent, secondary education enrolment 19.3 per cent, and tertiary education enrolment a mere 3.2 per cent of the respective age groups (UNESCO, 1999, p. II-20). Basic literacy, essential for learning and “trainability”, as well as for employability and access to decent work in today’s world, eludes a significant share of adults in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Industrialized countries invest at least 30 times more per student in education and training than the least developed countries.

Human resources development and training contribute to improved productivity in the economy, reduce skill mismatches in the labour market, and promote a country’s international competitiveness. For example, a comparison of the apprenticeship systems in the United Kingdom and Germany (Ryan and Unwin, 2001) found lower coverage and qualification and completion rates in the United Kingdom, contributing to inadequate skill supplies reflected in the country’s poorer productivity and trade performance.

Finally, over and above any economic considerations, education and training bring benefits to society. Human resources development and training underpin the fundamental values of society – equity, justice, gender equality, non-discrimination, social responsibility and participation of all in economic and social life (Conclusions concerning human resources …, paragraph 1; and Conclusions on lifelong learning …).

The Conclusions concerning human resources training and development affirm that every individual has the right to education and training, as do many national constitutions, for example, in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico and Spain. This right is also acknowledged at the international level, for example in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (1948). At the regional level, this right is recognized by the Social and Labor Declaration of Mercosur (1998) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000).

More than ever before, individuals want to master their own lives and expect to contribute to the economy and society. The development of individuals as active citizens and members of society is increasingly given a central place in statements of learning, education and training objectives. According to the European Commission’s Memorandum on Lifelong Learning, active citizenship is about “how people participate in all spheres of social and economic life, the chances and risks they face in trying to do so, and the extent to which they therefore feel that they belong to and have a fair say in the society in which they live”. Decent work underpins individuals’ independence, self-respect and well-being, and is therefore key to their overall quality of life. Many countries, both industrialized and developing, are putting the individual at the centre of the education and training process, backing this up with the financial means to help him or her gain access to learning (see Chapter IV, section C.2).

Denmark is pioneering a learner-centred approach to vocational education and training. Other countries, for example Tunisia, Egypt, Singapore, Argentina and many other Latin American countries, are introducing fundamental basic education reforms that emphasize “essential”, “basic” or “key” skills intended to promote the independence and initiative of the individual. In Sweden, the Adult Education Initiative (AEI), the largest adult education investment initiative ever undertaken in the country, explicitly puts the focus on the individual. All education under the AEI is governed by the individual’s needs, wishes and capacity, and is intended to help improve the individual’s opportunities in the labour market and provide further study opportunities; it must be demand-led, in terms of organization, planning and actual courses provided. Every individual is given ample scope to choose the course of study he or she wants to undertake and its timing and location (Sweden, 1999).

The individual is becoming the architect and builder responsible for developing his or her own skills, supported by public and enterprise investment in lifelong learning. Democracy is about empowering the individual. Several factors – economic, social and technological – account for the growing emphasis on the individual. Firstly, in any modern economy today, the production of goods and services increasingly relies on human rather than physical capital, i.e. on its workers’ individual and collective endowment of knowledge and skills. For example, in 1989 Germany’s human capital, measured in terms of the cost of education and training, was a little over twice the value of its physical capital, compared to the 1920s, when the ratio of physical to human capital was 5:1 (Bosch, 1996).

Secondly, from a passive, teacher-oriented approach to gaining knowledge and skills, there is a shift towards learning for life and work, centred around the individual. The process of formal education and training is becoming less one of passing on information – as there is too much of it in today’s world – and more one of individuals learning to learn so that they can find out for themselves. The relevance of knowledge about facts is diminishing, while the need to learn how to access, analyse and exploit information and transform it into new knowledge is increasing (ILO, 2001, p. 209). It is only by giving individuals the desire and tools, including financial means, to take charge of their own learning that they will be able to live and work in the knowledge society.

Thirdly, modern information and communication technologies (ICTs), in particular the Internet-based technologies, offer great opportunities. ICTs are used by an increasing number of people as learning tools, since access to them is expanding rapidly in high- and many middle-income countries and free courses are becoming available on the Internet. A recent survey of ICT workers in Viet Nam found that 70 per cent of those trained in computer skills had learned them via CD-ROM or on the Internet (ILO, 2001, p. 210). These learning opportunities are not restricted to computer and ICT skills but now cover a vast and rapidly expanding range of learning opportunities for life and work in the knowledge economy and society. However, the “digital divide” – unequal access to ICT and the Internet – both between and within countries risks growing even wider unless serious efforts are undertaken nationally and internationally to reverse the trend.

Training objectives and strategies can be formulated at various levels (national, enterprise, training institution, individual, etc.) and also at the international (e.g. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)) and regional (e.g. European) levels. Some examples are given below.

National human resources development and training objectives have often been (re)formulated in the context of countries’ efforts to undertake major education and training reforms aimed at ensuring that their training policies and systems better meet contemporary economic and social needs; such reforms have occurred in Australia, Chile, Ireland, Malawi, Portugal and Zambia, for example. The reforms have invariably been undertaken in the context of extensive social dialogue and involvement of various stakeholders in education and training. In many less developed countries, particularly in Africa, economic stagnation and mushrooming growth of the informal economy have made a redefinition of human resources development and training objectives imperative. According to Zambia’s new policy statement, promulgated as a law in 1997, the broad aims are to balance the supply of skilled manpower at all levels with the demands of the economy and act as a vehicle for improved productivity and income generation and less inequality among people. More specific objectives were formulated, for example, to raise labour productivity; promote entrepreneurship and economic participation in order to increase economic efficiency in both the formal and the informal sectors; promote the versatility, creativity, and employability of Zambians; empower women economically; and provide skills and opportunities that will respond to Zambia’s needs for poverty alleviation, improved housing and health care.

In formulating human resources development objectives, many countries (for example, Ireland, Tunisia and Zambia), identify poverty reduction and social inclusion of disadvantaged groups, including women, as explicit objectives. Ireland was the first country in the European Union (EU) to set specific targets for poverty reduction. In fact, the original global target of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS) was to reduce the percentage of the population who are “consistently poor” from 9-15 per cent to less than 5-10 per cent by 2007. However, as a result of significant progress, in 1999 the Government set a new global target to bring “consistent poverty” down to less than 5 per cent by 2004. Education and training are important elements of the strategy (for more on the NAPS, see Chapter IV, section C.4).

The less developed countries increasingly express their ambition to harness education and training – both formal and non-formal – as the basis for sustainable economic and social progress, promoting democracy and mobilizing civil society in economic and social development efforts. Basic education empowers nations by providing citizens with the skills to make democratic institutions function effectively. Non-formal basic education plays an increasingly recognized role in providing learning opportunities for all in LDCs (UNESCO, 2001).

In the particular case of countries afflicted by or emerging from civil conflict and war, education and training are seen as the essential stabilizing factors for society, and a crucial routine in the life of children and young people returning to normal conditions. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and a number of influential non-governmental organizations (NGOs), for example, advocate education and training as fundamental components of humanitarian interventions for children affected by armed conflict. Schools are considered “zones of peace”. The Sri Lankan “National Action Programme to Address the Problem of Children and Youth affected by the Present Conflict” mentions vocational training and compulsory education.

In other countries, particularly the OECD member States, as well as the Philippines, for example, the shift – actual or perceived – towards knowledge- and skills-based societies underlies many legislative efforts in education and training. The vision of the Philippines’ Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is to develop “world-class, technically skilled and educated workers with positive work values, acting as a vital force in building a prosperous Philippines”, where citizens enjoy “greater economic security, social well-being and personal dignity”.

Lifelong learning objectives: Many countries increasingly formulate their human resources development objectives in terms of lifelong learning. For example, in Finland the Government’s development plan for the 1999-2004 period calls for, among other things, helping more young people to apply for upper secondary general or vocational education and complete their studies; developing students’ learning skills in all sectors of the education system; increasing the provision of non-university higher education; expanding opportunities for adults to study for upper secondary and post-secondary vocational qualifications and to pursue other studies that improve their employability and capacity for further learning; and developing methods for recognizing non-formal and informal learning.

Statements on the subject have also been made by various international and regional bodies or organizations (see, for example, Conclusions on lifelong learning …). The Cologne Charter on Aims and Ambitions for Lifelong Learning⁽¹⁾ (1999) of the group of eight major industrialized nations (G8) calls for “a renewed commitment ... by governments, investing to enhance education and training at all levels; by the private sector, training existing and future employees; [and] by individuals, developing their own abilities and careers”. This commitment must be underpinned by three principles, i.e. that everyone should have access to learning and training, including the disadvantaged and illiterate; that everyone should be encouraged and enabled to continue learning throughout their lives; and that developing countries should be helped to establish comprehensive, modern and efficient education and training systems. The “learning chain” has been identified as including the following: early childhood developmental education accessible to all children; universal, free and compulsory basic education; increased access for all to secondary education; training and learning opportunities in schools and enterprises; widespread opportunities to obtain further and higher education and training; accessible continuing education and training for adults; gender balance in access to education and training; access to educational opportunity for minorities and other disadvantaged groups (Conclusions on lifelong learning …).

At the European Union level, the White Paper on Education and Training (Teaching and learning: Towards the learning society) (1995) already identified the need of all citizens to develop a knowledge base that will help them find their way in the information society. It warned against the danger of social exclusion among some groups in society based on lack of knowledge. The Presidency Conclusions of the Lisbon European Council (March 2000) call for “Europe’s education and training systems … to adapt both to the demands of the knowledge society and to the need for an improved level and quality of employment”. They will have to develop individuals’ learning abilities by offering opportunities for learning and training that are tailored to target groups at different stages of their lives: young people, unemployed adults and workers who are at risk of seeing their skills overtaken by rapid change. This new approach will include three main components: the development of local learning centres; the promotion of new basic skills, in particular in information technologies; and increased transparency of qualifications.

Enterprise training and development objectives: Most large enterprises, and an increasing number of small and medium-sized firms, formulate explicit learning and training objectives that support their corporate and organizational development. Laiki Bank Group (Cyprus) has identified specific skills development objectives for all its staff. Changes in work organization require all employees to learn new competencies, e.g. to perform individual tasks; manage several different tasks within the job; respond to irregularities and breakdowns in routine; and deal with the responsibilities and expectations of the work environment. Managerial staff need skills of written and verbal communication, teamwork, interpersonal sensitivity, leadership, management planning, analytical reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, dynamism, energy and initiative, and stress management (Ashton and Sung, forthcoming).

The ILO has forcefully put forward the idea that full employment should be a central objective of the entire international system (ILO, 2000a). It also recognizes that education and training cannot, by themselves, solve the problems of employment. Rather, they “should be coherent and form an integrated part of comprehensive economic, labour market and social policies and programmes that promote economic and employment growth” (Conclusions concerning human resources …, paragraph 4). They must include “the creation of a macroeconomic climate that is conducive to enterprise and job creation, policies for economic growth and technological change that maximize employment creation, and labour market and training policies that facilitate the insertion or reinsertion of workers into productive work”.

The need to pursue integrated economic and social policies is recognized by the EU. According to the Lisbon European Council Presidency Conclusions, the EU’s objectives of learning, education and training are an integral part of the EU’s strategic goals to strengthen employment, economic reform and social cohesion in its bid “to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs”. To achieve this strategic goal, the Lisbon Conclusions formulate a set of mutually supportive objectives and strategies covering various areas of economic and social policy. In addition to education, training and lifelong learning, these objectives and strategies include creating a friendly environment for starting up and developing innovative businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); instituting economic reforms for a complete and fully operational internal market; creating efficient and integrated financial markets; coordinating macroeconomic policies and making public finances sustainable, for example by redirecting public expenditure towards increasing capital accumulation, both physical and human, and improving the incentives of the tax and benefits systems for creating employment and providing learning opportunities.

In many enterprises, workplace learning, training and staff development are becoming an integral element of their corporate and organizational objectives and strategies. This is particularly true of those enterprises, known as “high performance work organizations” (HPWOs), that produce high-value-added products and services. The ILO’s research on the subject (Ashton and Sung, forthcoming) documents the practices of these HPWOs. It shows how performance, operational and people management, and learning and training objectives and processes are aligned on organizational objectives that aim to build trust, enthusiasm and commitment to the direction taken by the organization. For example, Comfort Driving Centre, a small Singapore-based enterprise that trains drivers, promotes shared values among its staff and aligns rewards with performance against company objectives, while involving employees in their work and supporting their capabilities at all levels. Management also shares knowledge and information with staff. Teamwork is the principal mechanism for driving the process of learning at work. Thus, at the company or micro-level as well, performance and growth are the outcome of mutually supportive policies and practices that encompass learning, education and other measures.

Recent economic, employment and labour market trends in the context of the rapid globalization and integration of world markets have been documented by the ILO in recent publications (ILO, 1998a; 1999a; 2000b; 2001; Conclusions concerning human resources …), as well as many country employment policy reviews. They converge on one central point: i.e. that these trends are producing a widening gap in terms of countries’ participation in the global economy and the benefits that countries, enterprises and individuals reap from this participation. Within many countries, too, there is a growing gap between different population groups in terms of access to decent work and incomes, and participation in economic and social life. The poorly educated and trained are generally the losers in the process of economic change, even in times of economic growth and lower unemployment.

In the industrialized countries, while total employment has increased recently, the patterns of employment have changed. Within firms in industrialized countries, labour markets have become more and more segmented. Employers have reorganized their personnel systems into fixed (primary or core) and variable (secondary or peripheral) components. Most firms contain both forms of employment – primary (stable, career-oriented, male-dominated) and secondary (characterized by high turnover and little career progression and access to education and training). The former types of jobs are held by workers with high skills, the latter by those who have little or no education or possess only skills that have become obsolete. Labour markets are becoming increasingly ruthless in their treatment of unskilled workers. The absence of mutually supportive economic, employment and social policies, combined with an increase in non-standard forms of work, have made many workers more vulnerable. Their career and training prospects have been restricted and their conditions of employment adversely affected.

In the developing countries, various policies and developments associated with globalization – for example, trade liberalization, industry and enterprise restructuring, and new managerial and business practices – have had profound and often negative effects on labour markets. Unemployment has continued to rise as new labour market entrants have been unable to find productive and remunerative jobs. It has been exacerbated by massive redundancies in the private sector as the latter tries to cope with the challenges of globalization, raise productivity and find new markets. The public sector has also shed labour as governments have cut budgets in an effort to make their bloated public administrations more efficient. The “working poor” have grown in number, many eking out a living in informal, low-paid employment and in poor working conditions.

All countries are exposed to globalization and its various manifestations. The question is what policies and strategies are most likely to help countries embark on a path of sustained economic and social development, perform in the increasingly competitive international environment and reduce the growing inequalities in incomes and access to jobs. Strategies pursued by developing countries in earlier years, such as those focusing on rapid industrialization based on import substitution or land redistribution, have lost their attraction. The wealth of nations is increasingly based on the skills and knowledge of their workforces. A three-pronged strategy of education and training can be envisaged to meet the challenges of globalization and improved competitiveness, while reversing growing inequalities in labour market outcomes.

The first prong should address the challenge of developing the knowledge and skills necessary for competition in tighter international markets. Access of all to lifelong learning is becoming a prerequisite in the developed countries as they endeavour to make their emerging knowledge and information society inclusive. In the developing countries, one of the most pressing needs is to build the basic “digital literacy” skills, and ICT-related education and training, that will allow these countries to access, harness, and ultimately innovate in, new technologies for production and development. Widespread digital literacy must be based on a system of quality basic education. Wage and income inequalities increasingly reflect people’s different endowments of education and skills. Therefore, equity-based policies that give broad sections of the population access to education and training are also, in the long run, likely to contribute to reduced income inequalities within and between countries.

The second prong envisions education and training policies and programmes as instruments to mitigate the negative effects of globalization. Such policies are needed to target the large numbers of workers who have lost their jobs in industrial and public sector restructuring. Education and training efforts will have to focus on helping them develop new skills that will enhance their chances of finding jobs on their own account and in new, emerging industries. Invariably, training interventions will increasingly be seen as a crucial element of active and mutually supportive labour market policies. These will also include measures such as job-search assistance and financial support in starting up new businesses.

The third prong consists of education and training that address the increasing vulnerability of many population groups – for example, women, young people and low-skilled workers – who, for lack of education and skills, have become poor or run the danger of falling into a poverty trap. The focus will be on developing their basic skills, including basic literacy and numeracy. Supported by other economic and social measures, skill development will enhance their employability, help them develop productive income-generating activities in either wage or self-employment, and promote their integration into mainstream economic and social life.

A massive effort of education and training, supported by other economic and social measures, will be required to help workers gain access to decent work and participate in mainstream economic and social life. What, then, are the main pillars of this learning, education and training response?

In order to face the challenges ahead, education and training must meet the following requirements.

Basic education for all: Basic education is the first, and an essential, element of the process of lifelong learning. It instils “foundation skills” such as literacy, numeracy, citizenship, social skills, learning-to-learn skills, and the ability to solve problems together. Such skills are fundamental for living and working in today’s society, for acquiring advanced skills (“trainability”) and for making use of new technologies. Basic education of young girls, in particular, is likely to have a powerful effect on their future employability, income-earning capacity and economic and social emancipation. Ensuring basic education for all implies expanding access and participation to include everybody. The quality of such education is equally important: young students are less likely to drop out of quality education that meets their and their families’ needs. A major thrust in many countries is therefore to invest more resources in basic education, expand the reach of basic education to make it universal, and improve its quality by focusing on the development of the foundation skills that are necessary for living and working in society.

Core work skills for all: These skills, alternatively called “key skills” (United Kingdom), “critical enabling skills” (Singapore), “basic skills” (EU), and “essential skills” (Egypt), are the non-technical skills that everybody will need in order to perform satisfactorily at work and in society, irrespective of where they work and live. They build upon and strengthen, and often overlap with, the foundation skills developed in basic education. They are aimed at enabling workers to constantly acquire and apply new knowledge and skills. As in Singapore, for example, they include learning-to-learn skills, literacy and numeracy (reading, writing and computation skills), listening and oral communication skills, problem-solving skills and creativity, personal effectiveness (self-esteem, goal-setting and motivation, skills for personal and career development), group effectiveness (interpersonal, teamwork and negotiation skills) and organizational effectiveness and leadership skills. Core work skills can also be considered to include what are called labour market “navigation” skills. These include job-search skills, knowing how to present oneself to prospective employers, how to identify one’s career options and opportunities, and how to identify and evaluate job and education and training opportunities; they also include familiarity with the Internet, as many jobs, career opportunities and guidance services are increasingly available online.

Lifelong learning for all: Lifelong learning is the new catchword for education and training policies in the twenty-first century. It permeates new policy developments in a growing number of countries. The lifelong learning framework, according to the OECD (2001), emphasizes that learning occurs during the entire course of an individual’s life. Formal education and training contribute to learning, as do non-formal and informal learning taking place in the home, the workplace, the community and society at large. Its key features are the following: the centrality of the learner, catering to a diversity of learner needs; emphasis on the motivation to learn, e.g. through self-paced, self-directed and increasingly ICT-assisted learning; the multiplicity of educational and training policy objectives and the recognition that an individual’s learning objectives may change over the course of his or her lifetime; and that all kinds of learning – formal, non-formal and informal – should be recognized and made visible. According to the ILO, “lifelong learning ensures that the individual’s skills and competencies are maintained and improved as work, technology and skill requirements change, ensures the personal and career development of workers; results in increases in aggregate productivity and income; and improves social equity” (Conclusions concerning human resources …, paragraph 5).

Developing core work skills and ensuring lifelong learning for all is a massive undertaking for any country, even the richest ones, and can only be achieved over a very long time frame, if ever. It is a target that is continually moving out of reach. The formidable task ahead requires pursuing and speeding up the education and training reforms started in many countries. The current momentum should be maintained by building on a number of recent developments. These include: the changing perception among all the stakeholders, recently expressed by the ILO constituents at the 88th Session (2000) of the International Labour Conference, about the need for increased investment in human resources development and training; the paradigm shift towards empowering the individual to be the builder and architect of his or her own learning and self-development; the potential of new technologies for learning, education and training; and the increasing recognition of social dialogue as the catalyst to involve all the parties concerned – governments, the social partners, civil society and individuals – in policies and programmes for human resources development and training.

These developments are recent. The ILO’s Human Resources Development Recommendation (No. 150), which dates back to 1975, gives little guidance on how countries, the social partners and individuals should build on the current momentum and pursue new policies and programmes that take into account “training and education needs in the modern world of work in both developing and developed countries, and promote[s] social equity in the global economy” (Conclusions concerning human resources …, paragraph 21). The ILO has therefore embarked on developing a new Recommendation that reflects the new approach to training and will help the ILO’s constituents to:

promote lifelong learning, enhance the employability of the world’s workers, and advance the decent work concept;
improve access and equality of opportunity for all workers to education and training;
promote national, regional and international qualifications frameworks which include provisions for prior learning;
build the capacity of the social partners for partnerships in education and training.

The new Recommendation will also:

recognize the various responsibilities for investment and funding of education and training;
address the need for increased technical and financial assistance for the less advantaged countries and societies.

Major principles underlying current human resources development
and training policies, law and practice

Levels of economic, social and institutional development differ widely between countries. Similarly, human resources development and training, and the institutional framework on which they are based, have evolved in different ways. For example, the dual training system in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, countries with a tradition of strong employer and enterprise involvement in education and training, contrasts with the school-based systems that have been the hallmark of countries such as Finland, France, Sweden, the former centrally planned economies and many developing countries.

Notwithstanding the differences between countries – in terms of economic and social development, culture, the role of the State, private versus public financing, etc. – a set of common principles can be identified that should underpin countries’ efforts in developing learning, training and human resources development policies and systems. These common principles have already been endorsed – either entirely or partly – in many countries’ legislation and practice. They have also been confirmed by various international and regional institutions, such as the ILO (in particular, the Conclusions concerning human resources …), the EU, the G8 and the OECD. This report identifies five major principles that underlie contemporary policies, law and practice in the area of human resources development and training. They are:

establishing an enabling environment that encourages investment in human resources development and training by all stakeholders;
developing an institutional framework for human resources development and training that is relevant to countries’ social and economic context and level of development;
ensuring equal access to human resources development and training for all, irrespective of socio-economic and income status, ethnic origin, sex, age, income level, etc.;
developing partnerships between various stakeholders in the delivery of learning, education and training programmes;
relying on learner-centred strategies and practices, increasingly through the use of ICTs.

Various combinations of economic (e.g. macroeconomic, fiscal, trade and technology policies), labour market and social policies can encourage investment in education and training. They can be applied at macro level to boost investment in human and physical capital across the board in the economy. In one example, macroeconomic and political stability and investment-friendly economic policies, combined with targeted education and training, have promoted harmonious economic and social development. In another example, lack of investment in human and physical capital produced a downward spiral of low productivity and job growth, economic stagnation and low incomes. Synergies of policies, including education and training, can also be applied to target a particular economic sector, for example the ICT sector (the case of Malaysia is described below). Active social and labour market policies, including education and training, can also be effective in reducing unemployment and promoting social inclusion among the beneficiaries.

In a virtuous circle of investment in human and economic development, Asian “tigers”, like the Republic of Korea and Singapore, as well as countries such as Malaysia, Mauritius and Ireland, have combined carefully targeted investment in their human resources with investment in physical capital and industries. This approach has led to sustained high economic and income growth. For example, Singapore was able to shape its national human resource policy to provide the necessary skills for each phase of development. A standardized education system supplied the science, maths and technical education needed for the first, import-substitution, phase, and fostered ethnic roots and values by focusing on basic literacy and domestic languages, as well as English. The next, export-industrialization, phase attracted foreign investment by means of tax, profit repatriation and training policies. Local training institutions focused on technical skills, these measures being complemented by technology transfers from institutions in advanced countries. Foreign corporations were provided with financial resources and infrastructure to set up training programmes, resulting in a large increase in technical education. The country then moved into higher value-added production. Training subsidies and grants encouraged foreign companies to train their workers. Education reform that emphasized technical and vocational education was supported by expanding universities and polytechnics. In the future, efforts to make the country a leading knowledge-based economy will demand new learning and training approaches that encourage workers to be innovative and creative.

Singapore’s astute and mutually supportive economic, human resources development and training policies contrast with those of many sub-Saharan African countries. There, in a vicious circle, macroeconomic and political instability (and civil conflict) led to less investment and less accumulation of physical and human capital than elsewhere. While all other major regions saw primary and secondary school enrolments increase, in sub-Saharan Africa primary school enrolments declined from 59 per cent in 1980 to 51 per cent in 1992 (World Bank, 1999). With declining output per worker, economic stagnation and no employment growth, incomes and living conditions plummeted (ILO, 1998b). Recently, however, investments in education and training have been maintained and even increased in many African countries.

Fiscal policies are commonly applied to promote investment in education and training by enterprises and individuals. A typical example is Chile, where enterprises are allowed to deduct costs incurred in training staff from their annual taxable income, up to a maximum of 1 per cent of their total payroll value (Act No. 19,518 of 1997). The training plans are discussed and approved by a bipartite enterprise committee, as a prerequisite for tax deduction. The scheme is administered by the National Training and Employment Service (SENCE). In the Netherlands, fiscal policies target both individuals and enterprises. The former can deduct from their taxable income up to €15,000 annually for courses that improve their employability in present or future jobs. Employers can deduct 120 per cent from their taxable income, or 140 per cent when training targets low-skilled workers, older workers (aged over 40) or workers in small enterprises. In addition, all apprentices receive a tax incentive of some €2,500 for participation in courses of initial vocational education. Both the Government and the social partners agree that the fiscal regime has particularly benefited the abovementioned target groups.

Policy synergies at sector level: Malaysia, pursuing investment- and trade-led growth policies, has seen substantial increases in investment, which have made it a leading exporter of electronics. However, in a world of rapid ICT developments and greater reliance on knowledge for creating value, this investment strategy is no longer considered effective for achieving sustainable growth. The new strategy focuses on creating innovative ideas and knowledge, arising from significant investment in research and development which can be commercialized. Accordingly, the country has developed a National Information and Communications Technology Framework. This approach includes three strategic elements, namely people (human resources development), infrastructure and applications and contents that are demand-driven, while following the principle that all citizens need equitable access to information. The human resources development element consists of a variety of measures, such as the Computers-in-Education programme to provide digital literacy in schools; new teaching methods and curricula, including distance learning; digital literacy programmes that target non-mainstream schools; and teachers’ training. The Demonstrator Applications Grant Scheme finances grass-roots initiatives to familiarize Malaysians with the Internet and its usefulness for knowledge acquisition and learning. The scheme encourages access to Internet kiosks and seeks to raise awareness among diverse audiences, such as the poor, orphans and paddy farmers in rural communities (ILO, 2001, Chapter 7).

Many countries pursue active labour market policies in order to give people a “second chance” in employment after they have dropped out of the labour force, or to help them return to work after periods of unemployment. Increasingly, labour market training offers – within the context of lifelong learning – opportunities for skills upgrading, retraining and knowledge development. Such learning helps individuals gain access to new jobs and cope with changes in the knowledge and information economy and society. It also assists in integrating people into mainstream economic life and combats social exclusion. Active labour market policies have a long tradition in countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Germany and are more or less systematically pursued today in all EU Member States. They are also being applied in many transition economies as they address the rise in unemployment resulting from economic restructuring and market-based economic reforms. In east Asia, active measures have played a relatively minor role; however, the financial crisis and the rise in unemployment in the late 1990s suggest that these countries also need to consider active labour market policies in order to respond better to future crises and meet the long-term requirements of development (Betcherman and Islam, 2001, p. 296).

Active labour market measures tend to increase when unemployment rises. Training and retraining programmes generally account for a significant share of expenditures on active labour market initiatives (usually between 40 and 60 per cent, but over 75 per cent in Denmark). Active labour market policies and measures include job-search assistance and employment services; training for the long-term unemployed; retraining workers displaced in mass lay-offs; employment and wage subsidies; and public works programmes. They generally target population groups that are disadvantaged in the labour market, such as women, young people, the unemployed, migrants, laid-off workers and workers who run the risk of being laid off as a result of enterprise restructuring and technological change.

Evaluations suggest that active labour market measures are likely to be most effective in (re)integrating people into employment when they are part of a package of mutually supportive services that may include remedial education, job training, job- search assistance and direct provision of work experience. A first important requirement for success is that the demand for labour is buoyant. Little success can be expected when there is no (net) job creation. Macroeconomic and microeconomic policies are important factors in improving job prospects because they affect labour demand and supply.

The absence of meaningful social dialogue hinders the development of effective and equitable policies for achieving broad-based social progress (ILO, 2000a, p. 22). As recently observed in many of the ILO’s country employment policy reviews, social dialogue is essential for formulating sound employment policies and for mobilizing the broad support in society that is necessary for their successful implementation. Workers’ and employers’ representatives can offer invaluable support in areas such as work safety, job training and skills development. Dialogue creates incentives for employers’ associations, trade unions and educators to use their influence in joint regulatory bodies to expand employer training beyond that provided by individual employers. It also increases the level of commitment, particularly of employers, to training goals which might otherwise be evaded if a purely administrative approach is taken (ILO, 1998a, p. 87).

The Conclusions concerning human resources training and development provide the ILO’s constituents with an ambitious agenda for social dialogue on education and training. “The social partners should strengthen social dialogue on training, share responsibility in formulating education and training policies, and engage in partnerships with each other or with governments for investing in, planning and implementing training. In training, networks of cooperation also include regional and local government, various ministries, sector and professional bodies, training institutions and providers, non-governmental organizations, etc. Government should establish a framework for effective social dialogue and partnerships in training and employment. This should result in a coordinated education and training policy at national level, and long-term strategies, which are formulated in consultation with the social partners and are integrated with economic and employment policies. It should also include tripartite, national and sector training arrangements, and provide for a transparent and comprehensive training and labour market information system. Enterprises are primarily responsible for training their employees and apprentices, but also share responsibility in initial vocational training of young people to meet their future needs.”

The experience of Germany and the Scandinavian countries suggests that tripartite and bipartite dialogue, negotiation and agreement on social issues have been decisive in building up effective training and learning partnerships. In Latin America, collective agreements that include provisions for learning and training of workers are increasingly being codified in labour legislation. European countries commonly recognize collective bargaining legally. The collective agreements that are the outcome of the bargaining process are subsequently given force of law. They are negotiated at the national, branch, industry and enterprise levels. Many countries have seen the need for national legislation that leaves room for flexibility at the regional and provincial levels and allows for greater private sector influence in policy implementation. Recent legislative trends, for example in Australia, Egypt, Fiji, Ireland, Malta, Mauritius and Portugal, suggest that legislation is less concerned with laying down detailed provisions and more with promoting the involvement of the social partners and other stakeholders.

Social dialogue on economic and labour matters commonly takes place in national bodies that comprise representatives of the State, the social partners and also civil society. South Africa’s National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), the National Human Resource Development Council in Mauritius and the Economic Development Board in Singapore are examples of such high-powered forums for social dialogue that also touches upon education and training. These bodies give the broad policy orientations for national economic, social and labour policies. National training boards are often members of these top-level councils. Tripartite national training boards formulate training policies and define the content and orientation of training programmes. They are responsible for training system management and determine modes and criteria for financing of training. Boards operating at the sector or industry level are generally bipartite.

There has been a shift away from state-controlled, centralized and supply-driven delivery of training towards a diversified, flexible system of public and private institutions and enterprise-based supply. There are several reasons underlying these changes in policy. One is the intention to make training supply respond better to economic and social needs and make it more flexible in the face of rapid demand shifts. An effort is also being made to increase efficiency in training by cutting training costs and encouraging competition between training providers. Another reason for diversification is the growth of “non-standard” and informal activities as a major source of employment generation in many countries, particularly in the developing world. In Latin America, increasing economic participation by women, in particular, has prompted more diversified course offerings by existing institutions and has led to a proliferation of new training providers.

Governments are increasingly introducing “quasi-markets” in training in an effort to diversify training supply, increase competition and develop veritable training markets, while endeavouring to protect consumers from high prices and malpractice. While governments continue to set priorities and finance training, independent organizations – both public and private training providers – contract with government agencies to provide specified training services. Already in the 1980s, Sweden opened up the market for labour market training to private providers and invited them to compete for public tenders. Quasi-markets are commonly used in the United Kingdom and the United States. Publicly sponsored training is delivered through a variety of providers. These may include community and further education colleges, non-profit organizations, charities and (for-profit) private training companies. Australia has introduced competitive bidding among training providers, including the public Technical and Further Education (TAFE) colleges, the major vehicle for post-compulsory vocational education in the country.

Diversification of training provision has much to do with the incentives, including clear and transparent legislation, that encourage private providers to offer training services. Legislative reform in Chile in 1989 on private training companies resulted in rapid growth of private supply of post-secondary training in universities, professional institutes and training centres (Gill et al., 2000). In South Africa, private training is expected to play an important role in expanding access to further education and training, in particular by responding to labour market opportunities and learner demand. The key challenge is “to create an environment that neither suffocates educationally sound and sustainable private institutions with state over-regulation, nor allows a plethora of poor quality, unsustainable ‘fly-by-night’ operators into the [training] market” (South Africa, 1998). Therefore, the country’s Further Education and Training Act, 1998, endeavours to ensure that only private institutions with the necessary infrastructure and resources to provide and sustain quality training will be registered and accredited. According to the World Bank, however, experiences in Chile, the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation suggest that national accreditation systems – intended to inform people about the quality of training – may neither be necessary nor sufficient for a balanced system of privately provided training. In fact, they may rule out innovative non-conforming training providers and discourage the development of a vigorous training market (Gill et al., 2000, p. 28).

Social dialogue and partnership in training typically involve significant elements of decentralization in both policy formulation and implementation. The rationale for decentralizing decisions on training is that these are best made at the regional, local and sectoral levels, close to economic demand and social needs. For example, decisions on training in an area of booming economic growth will differ greatly from those where deindustrialization and job loss are prevalent. Such differences can be accommodated by devolving training decisions closer to local realities. Institutions and local organizations are given autonomy and, most importantly, accountability, within a framework of national policy, priorities and targets. Greater innovation is likely to follow when local initiatives can be harnessed effectively. However, devolution can impair the attainment of national objectives by allowing local actors to pursue their own (parochial) agendas. Devolution is not an easy process. Vested interests among those with central decision-making power may need to be overcome. Local bodies will need the necessary resources, both human and financial, to be able to discharge adequately their newly acquired functions and responsibilities. Notwithstanding these possible drawbacks, devolution of decision-making on training is a common trend in most countries.

The United States offers perhaps the best example of a decentralized, loosely coordinated, locally administered and strongly market-driven approach that is responsive to local training needs. Local training networks, based on a complex set of relationships between training providers and enterprises, are able to secure training services and funds, and also influence policy decisions (Herschbach, 1997, cited in Mitchell, 1998, p. 20). Nevertheless, the role of the federal Government remains important as it provides fiscal incentives for initiating such local capacity building.

In the Philippines, the national Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (TESDA) centralized functions – e.g. planning, setting of standards, monitoring and evaluation – are balanced by decentralization of decision-making and training functions. TESDA (TESDA Act, 1994, section 29) is expected to formulate, implement and finance specific plans to develop the capability of local government to assume responsibility for promoting community-based technical education and skills development. Similarly, in Indonesia planning and implementing skills training programmes, previously a function of the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, have been devolved to provincial and district levels (Law 22, 1999). Recently, the Governor of East Java identified key training issues that require action at the provincial level, including development of skills for income-generating activities and retraining of laid-off workers. These issues are being addressed, with support from the ILO, jointly by the provincial government, the province’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other provincial and local partners.

Knowledge and skills are increasingly important as the source of competitiveness in markets characterized by rapid change due to globalization and technological advances. Those with low skill levels, outdated skills or no employable skills are more and more likely to be excluded from the labour market. Disadvantaged groups are also denied opportunities that are central to participation in the social, political and cultural life of society, as a result of their limited access to education, skills training, health care and employment. Their exclusion incurs high costs for social security systems and society in general. In addition, the opportunity cost to national economies of having so many inactive people is substantial.

Motivated by these concerns, governments throughout the world are taking action to promote access of these groups to education, training and skills development in different ways. Women in general, young workers, long-term unemployed, older displaced workers and people with disabilities are among those specifically targeted by many government training and employment support programmes. Such programmes set out to ensure that people have access to training which is relevant to labour market opportunities. They include off-the-job classroom-based training, or on-the-job training during a work placement, or both in combination.

Work experience and on-the-job training provide an opportunity for trainees to demonstrate their abilities to employers. In the case of people with disabilities, on-the-job training, provided as part of a supported job placement, has been effective in securing placement of the person on completion of training. This option is now favoured in Australia, the United States and Canada and is receiving increased attention in European countries (see Thornton and Lunt, 1997). The issue of how on-the-job training may be satisfactorily accredited and certified has yet to be resolved.

Training programmes for disadvantaged groups, including the poor, have been successful in improving skill levels and employability. This is particularly true of training that is geared to market opportunities and provided as part of an integrated and targeted set of measures to promote labour market inclusion of such groups, rather than as a stand-alone programme. Job-search training, vocational guidance and counselling, and remedial basic education, combined with training in specific skills, can improve prospects of finding a job.

In addition to remedial programmes, many governments have introduced measures to improve the relevance, flexibility, accessibility and reach of the mainstream training system. These measures endeavour to ensure that marginalization of disadvantaged groups is minimized in the long term. Hence, they reduce the need for special measures. The introduction of competency-based training, involving the recognition of knowledge and skills acquired through practical experience, is likely to improve access to further training of people who learned informally through practical work.

Given the current trend towards market-driven training systems and workplace-based training, which tends to benefit those already employed, state intervention will continue to be essential to ensure access for all. A variety of policy and programme measures will be required to encourage training providers to take the constraints and requirements of disadvantaged groups into account in reviewing existing training and skills development services, and in designing new ones.

The fifth major paradigm shift in human resources development and training is the use by more and more people, institutions and programmes of learner-centred education and training strategies and methods, primarily by using ICT. These technologies can also expand access of hitherto deprived population groups to opportunities for education and training.

The onus of learning is on the individual: As the amount of information available expands at an unprecedented pace, the onus of selecting, using and transforming information for knowledge creation is increasingly put on the individual. He or she is expected to organize his or her own learning. Rather than being a passive recipient of information, the individual must actively, and interactively, participate in the learning process. Teachers and trainers are no longer expected to instruct and pass on information. Instead, they are becoming facilitators, mentors and coaches who remove the roadblocks to the learner’s acquisition of knowledge. Hence, learning-to-learn and knowledge creation become the central skills taught at school and harnessed at the workplace. Being accessible to rapidly growing numbers of people, ICTs are increasingly used for such learner-centred strategies. Indeed, across countries and professional disciplines, a considerable number of skilled workers – so far mostly in the ICT-related professions – teach themselves, or combine some formal training with self-learning.

ICT has expanded opportunities for learning in the workplace: Enterprises have pioneered the use of computers and ICT, first in production, management and communications, and then in providing opportunities for staff learning and training. In fact, online or e-learning in the workplace is the fastest expanding area of learning, education and training today. In the United States, the market for online learning is estimated to jump from US$550 million in 1998 to $11.4 billion in 2003. Typically, a large company makes available an array of education and training programmes on the computers of thousands of employees, often dispersed across the globe, via their Intranet or the Internet. Employees have instant access to learning resources in the workplace and, increasingly, at home, and can choose and pace their learning according to their needs, work schedules and family responsibilities. Box 2.1 illustrates how workplace-based learning using ICT can save training time and costs.

“Blending” ICT-based learning with traditional methods: In addition to their penetration in the workplace, ICT and e-learning are also making inroads in schools, colleges, community centres, training institutions and universities. As ICT and Internet applications in education and training proliferate, they are increasingly used in combination, or “blended”, with other more traditional learning and training methods, such as classroom teaching. Such blending can overcome the sense of isolation and lack of human contact often observed with pure ICT-based learning. At Xerox, an office equipment manufacturer, half of all learning programmes are delivered through electronic means, but are supplemented by classroom-based, student-trainer approaches. The Virtual University of the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico exploits a variety of teaching and learning methods for its 40,000 students: printed material, live and pre-recorded television, and computer-facilitated interaction between teaching staff and students.

The EU-financed Socrates basic skills project, led by Lewisham College (United Kingdom) and with partners in Austria, Finland and Portugal, helps young learners who have difficulty learning by conventional teaching methods to develop basic literacy skills. Initial findings suggest that the CD-ROM developed for the purpose needs to be accompanied by high-quality learning materials. These could help structure the activities of the student. Guidelines are being prepared for developing learning materials to accompany selected CD-ROM-based multimedia resources. Teachers are also assisted in using such resources in order to improve the students’ learning outcomes.

Learning at a distance: Distance learning programmes that exploit ICT are expanding at a rapid pace. As the costs of new technologies plummet, traditional distance learning tools (e.g. correspondence, radio) are being supplemented or even replaced by ICT-based technologies. Eleven “mega-universities” (in China, France, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom) provide distance learning programmes to a total of some 2.8 million students a year at an average yearly cost per student of US$350, compared to the average cost of $12,500 per student per year for college and university students in the United States (ILO, 2001, p. 213).

Distance learning may increase access of disadvantaged groups to learning opportunities. Physically disabled people who cannot attend training programmes in an institution owing to lack of mobility and transport or because costs are prohibitive can, with the help of a computer, access Internet-based learning programmes at home. In Portugal, the THINK project illustrates an innovative use of telework for creating new opportunities for disabled people. A training package has been developed that prepares teleworkers for providing consultancy services, including computer programming, translations, direct marketing and web design. The project has enabled people with disabilities to become active contributors to society, providing a quality service to customers. Based on its success, the approach will be applied in four other European countries.

People in remote communities are another group that can benefit from the use of ICT in education and training. A classic example is the Telesecundaria programme in Mexico that reaches some 700,000 students in 100,000 small remote communities endowed with few schools and teachers. The programme uses a powerful satellite to cover a vast territory and deliver interactive, dynamic and action-oriented learning content that can be watched live on television or recorded on video. Teachers follow a basic teaching schedule, but can adapt the television programmes to their particular teaching style and learners’ needs.

The potential of harnessing ICT in education and training is therefore huge. So are the challenges. A shift from instruction and passing on information to learning and knowledge creation will require a huge effort in terms of teacher and trainer (re)training. Ingrained professional and cultural habits and attitudes will have to be overcome; resources need to be invested in new learner-based techniques of education and training; and the ICT infrastructure, including in schools and training institutions, will need strengthening. These are challenges even in the richest countries. They are even more formidable in large parts of the developing world, where communication infrastructure is weak, incomes are low, education systems are resource-poor, and teachers lack materials and equipment that could support a shift to learner- and ICT-based education and training. But perhaps the greatest challenge of all is providing basic education to all people, as a prerequisite for access to the information and knowledge society. As the World Employment Report 2001 strongly argues, “digital literacy is essential, but there remains an order of priorities in which literacy and access to a basic education of high quality are most fundamental” (ILO, 2001, p. 324).

As contemporary societies become more complex, many countries are broadening the scope of basic education to incorporate new knowledge and portable skills for the world of work and for living in the knowledge and information society. Secondary education at lower level is increasingly part of compulsory basic education, and its objective is more than just preparing students for higher education. The role of basic education is to “ensure to each individual the full development of the human personality and citizenship; and to lay the foundation for employability”. Initial training helps to “develop further his or her employability by providing general core work skills, and the underpinning knowledge, and industry-based and professional competencies which are portable and facilitate the transition into the world of work” (Conclusions concerning human resources …, paragraph 5). Good-quality basic education and initial training, availability of adult and second-chance education, buttressed by a culture of learning, also ensure high levels of participation in continuous education and training. As spelt out in article 1 of the World Declaration on Education for All and Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs, “basic education is more than an end in itself. It is the foundation for lifelong learning and human development on which countries may build, systematically, further levels and types of education and training” (World Conference on Education for All, 1990).

Basic education has a decisive bearing on an individual’s ability to find and retain a job; the less education individuals have, the more likely they are to be unemployed. General education should provide individuals with the minimum requirements (such as literacy and numeracy) to function productively in the workplace. It should also focus on foundation skills, including the ability to identify, analyse and solve problems, the capacity to learn new skills, computer literacy and a grasp of simple scientific knowledge and technology. Basic education should develop children’s social skills at an early age, as well as an understanding of citizenship and culture of work, as these skills help them to understand both social rights and claims, and social obligations and responsibilities. Many education systems have neglected this task. As the Conclusions emphasize, “individuals are most employable when they have broad-based education and training, basic and portable high-level skills, including teamwork, problem solving, information and communications technology (ICT) and communication and language skills, learning to learn skills, and competencies to protect themselves and their colleagues against occupational hazards and diseases” (Conclusions concerning human resources …, paragraph 9). These skills, often also called “core work skills”, should be every individual’s intellectual baggage when leaving school.

Education should prepare young people for non-linear career paths and the likelihood of several career changes during their working lives. It should convey a positive image of enterprise and entrepreneurship, break down sex stereotypes and promote gender sensitivity. It should also develop their capacity to improvise and be creative and, in general, equip them to deal with the complexities of a rapidly changing world. Instilling these skills for the promotion of each individual’s employability is, now more than ever, a major task of basic education.

Vocational education and initial training should instil knowledge of science and technology within a broad occupational area and develop the requisite technical and professional competencies and specific occupational skills. A critical issue for vocational education and training is the emphasis placed upon general academic education and development of portable skills, on the one hand, and on occupationally oriented training on the other, in order to facilitate the smooth transition from school to work and enhance individuals’ basic employability.

In most countries, at some intermediate age between 11 and 15, students tend to be channelled into streams of the education system that emphasize either academic or vocational skills. The academic stream usually prepares for tertiary education and entry to university and has relatively little job-related content, given the pressure to meet the competitive entry requirements of higher education. Increasingly, however, academic education in schools also develops portable core work skills, such as teamwork, problem solving, ICT skills, understanding of entrepreneurship, communication and language skills, and learning-to-learn skills. These are skills needed to build up individuals’ employability, which will subsequently help them to adapt to rapid changes in the workplace and society. The vocational stream includes a wide range of programmes with various levels of work-based content, but entry into these tends to occur later as the duration of compulsory basic education is extended. Like academic education, vocational education and training also increasingly emphasize portable core work skills and employability. At one end of the spectrum is school-based learning, which includes work familiarization and practical exercises designed primarily to prepare students for work or for post-secondary vocational training. At the other end, alternating periods of accredited learning are rigorously organized at school and in an enterprise, often in the form of a modern apprenticeship. The aim is to produce skilled workers who can gain access to jobs smoothly. These streaming decisions, which generally involve some form of individual assessment, have traditionally been immutable, but they are becoming increasingly permeable. It is becoming more common for education systems to facilitate new pathways and progress between various types of education and training. Changing the content of education and initial training demands a new relationship between education and the world of work and a shift in responsibilities between the public and private sectors.

Training programmes outside the formal education system are also common. These are often supervised by ministries of labour, and run by independent bodies and financed by governments or employers, or by both. Entry requirements and the duration of training vary considerably. They often target school leavers, with or without school-leaving certificates, unemployed youth and employed workers who need to improve their skills. Vocational training courses of short duration are more work-oriented and flexible compared with vocational education. In some countries, e.g. in Latin America, these programmes have grown into major institutions, often with many more students than school-based vocational education (some examples are the National Industrial Training Service (SENAI), National Commercial Training Service (SENAC) and National Rural Training Service (SENAR) in Brazil and the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA) in Colombia). As in vocational education, many training programmes have also expanded their apprenticeship-type programmes by integrating school-based education with workplace-based learning in enterprises. Hence, many countries have witnessed a progressive convergence of their education and training systems and a standardization of education and training supply and occupational profiles in response to broad skill requirements.

Proprietary training, provided by private training firms and institutions, has traditionally been a large supplier of skills in the industrialized world, and has recently grown rapidly in many developing countries. Growth in proprietary training has mostly been in the area of non-industrial skills such as service occupations, computing and information technology, management and accounting; it has largely avoided training for technical and industrial occupations, which tends to require more costly investments. Proprietary training has grown in response to employer and individual demand for increased opportunities for upgrading and continuous training. Often responding to short-term demand, proprietary institutions tend to focus on specific work-related skills. Private training institutions finance their operations primarily by charging fees, sometimes complemented by government subsidies. A large share of the tuition and other fees charged by these institutions may also be underwritten in the form of state grants and low-cost individual student loans.

Informal apprenticeship is a form of proprietary training common in countries that have a large informal sector, both rural and urban. Informal apprenticeship often absorbs a large number of young people, and is now also being examined for wider use in other countries as a means of augmenting the supply of skilled trainees for informal employment. By giving artisans economic support and training and learning materials, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) hope to overcome some of the shortcomings of informal apprenticeship, in particular its low educational and portable content.

Private education and training supply have been spurred less by pure market forces than by public policies that offered private agents incentives and subsidies to enlist them in executing programmes. However, profit-making private institutions are unlikely to become the principal purveyors of education and initial training in most developing countries. In the present context of often severe income and social inequalities, the participation of disadvantaged population groups in education and training cannot be ensured by privately run education and training. In addition, education and training are often long-term endeavours that are less suited to being undertaken by private profit-making institutions, which frequently operate in a short-term perspective. Nevertheless, private institutions, as well as NGOs, community organizations and other actors, have been instrumental in adapting education and training to local economic and social needs and constitute a valuable source of learning opportunities supplementing public provision.

Inequalities of access to education and training within and between countries remain formidable. In 1998, the net enrolment rates in primary education were 60 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, 74 per cent in South and West Asia, 76 per cent in the Arab States and North Africa, 92 per cent in Central Asia, 94 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, 97 per cent in East Asia and the Pacific and 98 per cent in more developed regions. The enrolment rate in primary education in sub-Saharan Africa fell between 1990 and 1998 (UNESCO, 2000). Basic literacy eludes over 40 per cent of adults in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia. The funding impact of structural adjustment programmes in many African countries has often negatively affected educational enrolment and quality.

In the advanced industrialized countries, which have extended basic education to most of their populations, the emphasis is on improving educational quality and access of disadvantaged groups to education and initial training opportunities, and reducing the still considerable gap in access between the sexes. In many transition economies in Europe and Asia, the main task is to address the mismatch between available skills and existing education and training programmes, on the one hand, and, on the other, the demand for new skills that their economies need as they embrace the market economy. Countries in Latin America, North Africa and East Asia have high education participation rates, but inequality in access and quality shortcomings are considerable. Issues of equity, financing and definition of the roles between the public and private sectors need to be resolved as these countries make the transition from elitist to modern systems that embrace their entire population in lifelong learning. The least developed countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia, face the huge challenge of providing all school-age children with the core skills identified in national curricula. In rural areas, in particular, many girls are unable to attend school, while others drop out of school before mastering essential basic skills. Illiteracy rates among women and girls are sometimes double those of men and boys.

National and international public investment should ensure a minimum level of quality and universal access to basic education, particularly in rural areas and for women and other disadvantaged groups. Many countries must undertake the often politically difficult task of changing investment priorities in favour of basic education. In 1990, the World Conference on Education for All held in Jomtien, Thailand, developed a plan to increase learning and educational quality in schools, and to attain universal primary education before the year 2000. In Dakar, the World Education Forum (2000) pushed back the date to 2015 for the commitment that “all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality”. Most recently (July 2001), the High-Level Panel on Youth Employment recommended that the heads of the United Nations, the World Bank and the ILO invite all Heads of State and government to mobilize all national and local actors to, inter alia, renew the commitment to decent work for young people. These recommendations are being followed up by concrete technical cooperation activities (see box 3.1).

In Norway, in 1994, a major reform of the entire upper secondary school system gave all 16- to 19-year-olds the right to receive three years of upper secondary education that makes them eligible for further studies or an occupation. The reforms increased the general, portable content of vocational education, raised the number of those awarded vocational certificates and qualifications for entrance into higher education, and endeavoured to reduce or even eliminate the number of dropouts from upper secondary education, both academic and vocational. Vocational education, including apprenticeship training, is today an integral part of upper secondary education. The basic vocational education model offers the student a three-year education, with different vocational streams (box 3.2). Schools often give both general and vocational courses. The number of foundation courses during the first year of study was reduced from more than 100 to 15, while a broader vocational education curriculum also focused on the development of general, portable skills such as Norwegian and English language skills, mathematics, natural science, and sports and physical education.