EASMAT subregion

In the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, globalization and new technologies are exerting an extraordinary influence on the way in which employment and training is organized in many countries in the region. Dramatic changes in information and communications technology, in other forms of technology and in the way in which work is organized mean that if governments are to retain their traditional role as primary providers of technical and vocational education and training – they must make enormous investments in training teachers and instructors, and upgrading equipment and infrastructure. For many governments, these costs are prohibitive. And yet, as globalization gathers pace, the costs of failing to invest in skills training and human resource development are increasingly apparent. These costs are measured in terms of employment.

It is now clear that, while the public sector still has an important role to play in ensuring that people have the basic skills that ensure employability, enterprises must take a leading role in providing skills – particularly those required by higher-level technical and knowledge-based workers. Governments need to focus on two issues: first, providing the regulatory framework that creates an enabling environment in which training can take place and second, ensuring that all workers have an opportunity to gain basic skills. While many governments are responding to this challenge at varying levels, some have neither the capacity nor resources to do so.

The governments of Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore still invest heavily in education and skill development, particularly in digital literacy. However, they have also developed strong links with enterprises, and encourage their investment and technical input. This has helped these countries to optimize employment opportunities in a knowledge-based environment, and given them a competitive edge in global markets. Countries such as China and Viet Nam are adjusting their economic and social policies to respond to market forces while tackling high levels of unemployment and the challenge of retraining workers who have been laid off as a result of privatization of state-owned enterprises. Thailand is making efforts to upgrade its education system through its new education law, while striving to develop a synergy between the disparate ministries that provide skill training.Cambodia and the Lao PDR are developing policies and strategies to deal with the economic and social issues of globalized markets. However, they face significant difficulties. Most of their workers lack the basic education and skill levels that are needed to form a foundation for the further training required to meet the needs of market-driven economies. A lack of resources for training compounds the problem.

The ILO has provided assistance to East Timor since November 1999. A number of missions and training and advisory activities have been completed, including development of employment regulations, employment service centres, and developing a Portugal-funded vocational training project.

South East Asia and Pacific subregion

Governments in the countries covered by the South East Asia and the Pacific Multidisciplinary Advisory Team are reorienting their education and training systems so that they are able to take advantage of the opportunities that the global information economy presents. These countries are focusing on making their national education and training systems more efficient and more effective, aiming to promote both employment and social cohesion. This means looking at education and training in all kinds of settings: in schools, vocational and tertiary institutions; as well as opportunities available at home, at work, and in the community.

In the Philippines, continuous efforts are being made to improve the national training system. These range from improving the efficiency, both internal and external, of post-secondary vocational schools, and vocational training centres; to broadening the scope of the skills-testing and certification system; to making sure that vulnerable and socially excluded workers (including those in the informal sector) have better access to training. Similar wide-ranging improvements to the national training systems are also being initiated in Indonesia.

There is a growing recognition that while central coordination of national training efforts can help improve efficiency and effectiveness – this does not hold true for delivery. The emerging trend, therefore, is towards devolved training delivery functions.

Other areas in which the ILO’s assistance is and will be required include developing nationally recognized skills testing and certification systems, entrepreneurship and management training, and business development services. Both entrepreneurship training for youth and retraining workers who lost jobs as a result of the financial crisis need special emphasis. The Community-Based Training (CBT) approach developed by ILO and the Start and Improve Your Business training programme continue to be applied in skills training activities throughout the subregion.

South Asian subregion

In South Asia, most of the technical cooperation projects – including the two reviewed in the paper Thematic evaluation: ILO projects on training for employment prepared for this Governing Body session – have been small-scale, and have targeted poor women. This trend continues in the region in the sense that there are currently two new training-for-employment projects: one in India (DOL-funded) and one in Bangladesh (UNDP-funded), both of which target either urban or rural poor women. The combination of training for improved employability with the training for labour and social rights awareness seems to be a very effective approach to promoting the ILO Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

Generally, the training-for-employment projects involve a high degree of risk since it is difficult to ensure that the trainees will be able to find jobs or enter self-employment. Further challenges can arise from rigidity and management difficulties in public labour and training institutions. Skill development centres struggle to overcome shortages of instructors, teaching materials and equipment. Areas that might be constructively addressed include, offering instructors the skills and incentives that would help them operate responsively and flexibly in the labour markets; and governance in public vocational training and employment services sectors. Partnerships with employers and workers’ organizations and with civil society in the form of NGOs are becoming increasingly important. However, in the latter area, although many NGOs are well-known for their flexibility and operational effectiveness, a recent assessment in India has shown that active involvement in practical skill training for employment is rare. Training for employment projects need partner organizations which can conduct job analyses, and provide training and post-training support, including job placement.

New tasks have emerged, among them, identifying the specific occupational training needs of youth, who generally represent the most dynamic and educated part of a society. In this respect, the ILO’s established modular and community-based training techniques may need updating. In the informal sector, framework occupational curricula for some 20-30 most common occupations, could be developed, maintained and used in mass training and self-employment projects. These efforts could build on existing work in ILO poverty alleviation projects. Some components could be built into all curricula – including occupational safety and health, and basic training in fundamental principles and rights at work. This would offer a further avenue for promoting the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

At a regional level, the need for ILO technical assistance is extensive and diverse.

Regional meetings and seminars such as the ILO Tripartite Asian and Pacific Meeting on Training for High Performance in Enterprise held in Bangkok in December 2000 and the forthcoming Technical Consultation on Skill Standards, Certification and Accreditation will continue to provide fora for developing strategic frameworks and common understandings in skill development between countries, social partners and training providers. The technical consultation will focus on the need for countries in the region to cooperate in the recognition of skills of migrant workers. Ongoing initiatives to follow up the impact of globalization in the region include a tripartite workshop to be held in Malaysia on Workplace Learning in a Globalizing World (this follows the regional meeting on globalization in Chiba, Japan, in 1999). The ILO/Japan project on Strategic Approaches Toward Employment Promotion (ILO/PEP) continues to promote employment in rural areas – its efforts include providing skills training.

Responding to the need for better cooperation between UN agencies and to support initiatives between ILO Headquarters (In-focus Skills) and UNESCO, the ILO will be represented at the UNESCO TVET Asia Pacific Conference in Adelaide, Australia, in March 2001.

Of particular interest in the regional context is the Asian and Pacific Skill Development Programme, APSDEP. For two decades, this programme has responded to the region’s needs in promoting and assisting in the development of vocational and technical training within the framework of ILO’s technical cooperation programme. As a regional programme, it has provided valuable opportunities for direct exchange of experience and expertise in vocational training through technical meetings, seminars, training courses, study tours, research, case studies and related activities. It has also helped improve the effectiveness of national vocational training systems and promoted active partnership among governments, workers and employers at the national level in vocational training-related activities.

Following the establishment of the ILO’s Multidisciplinary Advisory Teams (MDTs), APSDEP has worked in close collaboration with the MDTs, ILO Headquarters and the ILO International Training Centre in Turin. It has also worked in collaboration with bilateral partners. APSDEP’s activities fall within the ILO’s Strategic Objective of Creation of greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income and, more specifically, the InFocus Programme on Investing in knowledge, skills and employability. This InFocus Programme aims at making access to training and learning the backbone of efforts to promote more and better jobs.

Activities of APSDEP

Within the framework of ILO’s technical co-operation programme in the region, the following activities are implemented in co-operation with bilateral partners including the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Overseas Vocational Training Association (OVTA) of the Republic of Korea, through the Korean International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) and with other countries, ILO’s MDT Vocational Training Specialists, ILO’s International Training Centre in Turin and ILO Headquarters:

• Conducting research and providing training to ILO member States on a range of vocational training issues related to changing labour market needs (e.g. financial crisis, industrialisation, globalisation and upgrading of skills in the manufacturing industry);
• Assisting ILO member States to improve access to vocational training for specific groups including women, youth, people with disabilities and the elderly;
• Promoting social dialogue and tripartite participation in training;
• Promoting partnerships and a network of the private sector in vocational training;

Future of APSDEP

APSDEP has been requested by its member countries to continue providing technical support through seminars, workshops, training programmes, and research in fields of ILO concern. In order to respond to changing requirements in an era of globalization and rapid technological development, APSDEP needs to review its activities and focus on the thematic fields of the highest priority, among them, information technology. APSDEP also plans to promote stronger networking between governments, training institutes and other organisations in the region so that they can share the latest information on skill development more effectively.