Regional Workshop Webinar: Promoting industry-led skills and TVET systems in Asia: The Role of Sector Skills Councils

CONCEPT NOTE

Promoting industry-led skills and TVET systems in Asia:

The Role of Sector Skills Councils

Date: 29 September 2020

Location: Online webinar, 3:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m., Bangkok time (GMT +8)

Organizers: The ILO-UK Skills for Prosperity in Southeast Asia Programme (SfP-SEA) and ILO Industry Skills for Inclusive Growth (InSIGHT-2)

Background

In recent years, there has been increasing interest from ASEAN countries to engage employers and TVET institutions in more effective partnerships to address skills challenges and issues in priority sectors. Increased industry participation and investment in vocational education and training is essential to meet current and future skills needs in ASEAN. Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and other similar bodies can play a central role in facilitating active industry participation in skills and TVET and promoting sector-led skills initiatives. The SSCs can facilitate anticipating sector skill needs and through this reducing skills gaps and shortages, which affect productivity and job creation across ASEAN.

To address these and other skills challenges, the ILO is promoting active participation of the industry in skills needs anticipation, programme development and delivery and assessment. Different sectors have different skills needs, thus it is necessary to develop sectoral-level responses to match supply and demand of skills. For this, the ILO, through its programmes the Skills for Prosperity in Southeast Asia (SfP-SEA) and Industry Skills for Inclusive Growth (InSIGHT-2), is working with selected sectors to promote greater collaboration between government, employers and workers’ organizations in strengthening their national skills and TVET systems.

The regional workshop webinar will present relevant insights from both developed and developing countries in the establishment of industry-led sectoral skills bodies, including their different roles and responsibilities, institutional set-up and working methods.

Objective

The regional webinar aims to introduce representatives of government and employers and workers’ organizations to sectoral approaches to skills development with a focus on role of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs). Best practices associated with the establishment and operation of sector skills bodies in the United Kingdom, India and Denmark will be presented, including key insights and lessons learned regarding SSC membership, structure, funding, functions and their contribution to improving skills and workforce development.

Key topics for discussion

How can sector skills bodies (SSCs, or equivalent) contribute to the national skills development effort?;

How can sector skills bodies promote industry-led and demand driven TVET and skills development?;

What are the different roles and functions of SSCs across different TVET and skills systems?;

What are the key lessons learned from the international experience of SSC and how do –the different approaches affect their development and effective functioning?

Panellists

Panelist 1 – Mr. Paul Comyn, Senior Skills & Employability Specialist, International Labour Organization (ILO)

Panelist 2 – Ms. Jane Rexworthy, Executive Director of People 1st International Skills, the United Kingdom

Panelist 2 – Dr. Sandhya Chintala, Executive Director of IT-ITeS Skills Council NASSCOM, India

Panelist 4 - Ms. Anja Trier Wang, Denmark*

Moderators: Ms. Akiko Sakamoto, Regional Skills and Employability Specialist, International Labour Organization (ILO) and Mr. Jordi Prat Tuca, Regional Technical and Programme Coordinator (SfP-SEA)

Register in advance for this webinar (required):
https://ilo-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hePTkUpiRZ6uZ64ITUQrnA

Expected participants

Representatives of the government, employers and workers organizations, TVET agencies and institutions, from 5 countries in ASEAN (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam) who are currently involved, or interested in setting up a sector skills council(s), or equivalent, in their respective countries.

The participants include the partners of the Skills for Prosperity in Southeast Asia Programme (SfP-SEA) in Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines, and the partners of the Industry Skills for Inclusive Growth (InSIGHT-2) project in Indonesia.

About the panelists

Paul Comyn

Paul Comyn has over 30 years experience in TVET and skills development as a technical specialist and consultant. He has worked on various assignments and projects associated with the reform or expansion of TVET and skill systems in more than 30 countries. He has a PhD in vocational education and training policy and has authored various journal articles and book chapters on the topic. His interests include skills policies and industry engagement in skills development. He has worked for the ILO for the past twelve years and since 2015 has been the Senior Skills & Employability Specialist leading the work of the Skills Policies and Systems Group in Geneva.

Jane Rexworthy

Executive Director for People 1st International and founder of the UKs National Skills Academy for Retail, Jane Rexworthy is a CIPD (the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) qualified senior strategic Business Development professional with 15 years’ experience working within a Sector Skills Council in the UK and Internationally and over 15 years in blue chip companies within the private industry. Jane has developed the People 1st International portfolio with projects in over 40 countries providing a service that has a specific focus on developing international and UK stakeholder relationships, providing consultancy for the delivery of industry led skills and business solutions.

Dr. Sandhya Chintala

Dr. Chintala is the Executive Director of Sector Skills Council NASSCOM (SSC NASSCOM). SSC NASSCOM addresses the ‘Education & Skills Development Initiative’ of this industry body for India. She is also the Vice President of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), which is the chamber of commerce of the IT-BPM industry. Dr Chintala has a rich background in international and national education management.

About the organizers

The Skills for Prosperity in Southeast Asia Programme (SfP-SEA), funded by the United Kingdom government, aims to increase national capacity to achieve sustained and inclusive growth through the enhancement of skills development and TVET systems in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The programme works with government, employers’ organisations, trade unions, educational institutions and other partners in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to facilitate the review and reform of the countries’ skills development and TVET system strategies and policies. In the region, the SfP-SEA programme provides opportunities for mutual learning among the three countries and other ASEAN nations, and beyond, not only showcasing the results and lessons learned from the programme, but also facilitating the sharing of best practices in the region and other parts of the world, including relevant international approaches to skills anticipation and matching at a sectoral level.

The Industry Skills for Inclusive Growth (InSIGHT-2) project, funded by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, aims at exploring and proving that a skills-driven approach is an appropriate ‘pathway’ to promote inclusive growth in Asia. This includes developing a model to strengthen human resources and capacity development mechanisms, taking into account the best practices and lessons from Japan and other ASEAN member countries. Covering Indonesia and the Philippines, the project will support the development of strategies and pro-active response measures to help workers with their transitions in the labour market and adopting themselves to future skills needs. Furthermore, the project enhances linkages between skills development and other labour market policies as well as promotes decent work and skills for young women and men, including people with disabilities. The project emphasizes a stronger industry-TVET collaboration by facilitating the establishment of sector skills councils.