BANGKOK, Thailand (ILO News) – Government, worker, and employer representatives from South-East Asia visited the Republic of Korea recently to see how digitalization is benefitting the country’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system and how it contributes to job creation and economic growth of the Korean economy.
In all, 17 participants from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam took part in the one-week visit to see firsthand how TVET digitalization can provide solutions to skills development challenges in the region and support the digital transformation of ASEAN Member States skills systems and economies.
They spent time at a variety of organizations and establishments including SK Telecom TECH Academy, the Korean Skills Quality Authority (KSQA), Korea Polytechnics’ AI department, Goorm (a public/private partnership digital training model) and KOREATECH.
One participant shared that, “The study tour brought insight into the trends and development of digitalization of Korean TVET systems which is useful for reviewing, benchmarking and putting into practice. For example, how both universities and the private sector are fully engaging with enterprises to further skill development.”
Following the visit, the participants met to map out an action plan on how they would put to use what they had learned to tackle the challenges and further the opportunities of their respective TVET systems.
“It is increasingly important to offer flexible, accessible and innovative training to support ever-changing economies and respond to the needs of diversified learners including disadvantaged groups. Learning from Korea’s advanced TVET system will greatly help the participating countries to support the digital transformation process in their respective TVET systems,” said Marie-Helene Thomas, ILO Senior Programme Officer.
The visit took place 10-15 September 2023 and was supported by the International Labour Organization’s Improving mechanisms for skills recognition and TVET digitization in ASEAN project which forms part of the ILO/Korea Partnership Programme. It was also supported by the Korean Ministry for Labour and Employment and KOREATECH.
