Reshaping skills and lifelong learning for a human-centred pandemic recovery and beyond

by Hassan Ndahi, ILO Caribbean Senior Specialist in Skills and Employability

It has been almost two years since COVID-19 lockdown measures first created unprecedented disruptions to skills development and training. The situation threatens the capacity of workers and enterprises to build, sustain and adjust competencies to technological and market changes. It also has negative implications for fueling innovation, enterprise development, technological change and competitiveness.

In the Caribbean, countries have been trying to find innovative solutions to keep the pace with evolving labour market demands while preventing learners from falling behind. However, their efforts to adapt have not been without challenges. A 2020 ILO survey on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has revealed the weak resilience of the TVET systems to continue the delivery of instruction, assessment and instructor professional development in 11 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States. A survey of National Training Agencies (NTAs) / TVET Councils indicated that 53 per cent of the respondents do not use any form of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to provide distance learning.

The problem is not just being faced by Caribbean countries. According to a recent ILO report, Skills development in the time of COVID-19: Taking stock of the initial responses in technical and vocational education and training, the pandemic has disrupted education and training at all levels with complete closures of training institutions in most countries. In response to these challenges, the ILO designed the second and final session of the 109th International Labour Conference (ILC) in November-December 2021 to address skills and lifelong learning.

A few days before the ILC, the ILO hosted a Caribbean Ministers of Labour Meeting on 23 November to prepare countries for the deliberations. During the meeting, Ministers participated in a session led by Srinivas Reddy, Branch Chief, Skills and Employability Branch to learn about the ILC Report VI: Shaping skills and lifelong learning for the future of work, which focuses on skills anticipation, matching and reshaping

During the two-week ILC, Caribbean tripartite leaders joined counterparts from around the world to consider and discuss the following four thematic areas and related conclusions with an aim to produce an official Resolution:

1. Key challenges and opportunities for skills and lifelong learning in a changing world of work, further impacted by the COVID-19. Challenges such as technological changes, insufficient funding and structural barriers call for the strengthening and transformation of skills development and lifelong learning systems so that they can become more relevant, inclusive, resilient, and responsive to the changes of the world of work. Such transformation requires the ILO to enhance actions that assist Members in strengthening skills development and lifelong learning systems through social dialogue, including collective bargaining and tripartite cooperation, as a key element of recovery strategies from COVID-19 and other crisis situations, including those described in the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205).
2. Guiding principles for inclusive, responsive, and resilient skills and lifelong learning systems. Recognizing the opportunities and challenges presented by the future of work and the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on labour markets and societies, the ILC called on the ILO to assist its Members in developing, strengthening, and implementing inclusive, responsive and resilient skills development and lifelong learning systems, through social dialogue, including collective bargaining and tripartite cooperation.
3. Measures to promote inclusive, responsive, and resilient skills and lifelong learning systems. Recognizing that education is a right for all, recalling that the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004 (No. 195), states that Members should recognize that education and training are a right for all, and taking into account national circumstances, governments should work in cooperation with the social partners towards ensuring access for all to lifelong learning.
4. Recommendations for future ILO action. The ILO should give full effect to the Resolution and assist Members in building and improving skills and lifelong learning systems. The Organization should develop a coherent, inclusive and gender-responsive ILO strategy on skills and lifelong learning for 2022–30, in line with the SDGs and especially SDGs 4, 5 and 8, in collaboration with relevant UN agencies. The ILO should also strengthen its global leadership on skills and lifelong learning, provide enhanced support to constituents in skills development and lifelong learning systems and contribute to the promotion of full, productive, and freely chosen employment and decent work for all.

The session ended with a draft Resolution that was adopted with a call for the ILO to develop its strategy and action plan.

The ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean will continue to engage constituents to advance the Resolution’s objectives so that skills and lifelong learning are prioritized as key to a better future of work for the people of the subregion.