Margo Couldrey Lista Consulting World TVET Conference Fiji August 2016

The study What works and why in supporting and improving labour force participation for two key vulnerable groups: young people (aged 15 to 24) at risk and lower skilled mature-age people (aged 45 to 59) who left school early and have no post-school qualifications

Our workshop will: Outline the findings of the study for each of the groups Identify the barriers to implementing what works Summarise the key recommendations Discuss whether similar challenges exist in other countries in creating pathways from TVET to work and share ideas about solutions

Key findings of the study We set out to discover what works to achieve labour force participation but found this was the wrong question We found that we already know what works The right question is ‘what is stopping us from implementing it?’

Key findings of the study – young people at risk Early intervention is critical o Identify young people at risk while at school and focus on transition before they become disengaged Holistic, long term programs work o Individual, wrap-around services that respond to all the person’s barriers, both personal and work/learning-related There are no quick fixes o Perseverance and stability and flexibility of funding versus programs coming and going and stakeholders frustrated by the ‘churn’ It is costly but…. o The long term social, economic and community costs of not acting are higher Services specifically for young people matter

Key findings of the study – lower skilled mature-age people Holistic long term programs also important for this group o Individually tailored wraparound services to resolve both skill and personal barriers Barriers for this group are about confidence and motivation o Solutions need to focus on building confidence and self- esteem - identify strengths and transferable skills Many have given up and dropped out o They have become invisible to those who could help Targeted programs work best but…. o Very few programs target the needs of this group

Barriers to implementing what works Implementing one solution at a time – TVET in isolation Churn of policies and programs Short term and inflexible funding Different agencies and poor coordination Limited evaluation and measurement of outcomes to demonstrate evidence of what works Lack of focus and specialist services for the groups

Key recommendations – young people at risk Early and targeted intervention and outreach o Identify learning and other disadvantages and engage early Holistic and youth-specific services o Resolve the personal and skill barriers to learning and work Link learning to work o Make learning relevant to work, including supported work placements Engage and support employers o Partnerships to provide support for work and learning Stable and long term funding models o Allow time for benefits to be seen Flexible funding models o To resolve personal, confidence, literacy and work-readiness issues o Vary in length to support for extended periods if needed o Bring together service providers

Key recommendations – lower skilled mature-age people Early intervention and outreach to reach those who lose their jobs or are at risk of doing so Models of service delivery that include o Specialist services o Holistic services to address the range of skill and personal barriers o Matching skills and TVET learning to local labour market demand o Building strong links to local employers Stable, long-term, flexible funding

Sharing ideas What challenges exist in other countries in creating pathways from TVET to work? Which groups are most vulnerable? What can be done to implement workable solutions and remove barriers?

More information The study: Issues in labour force participation: youth at risk and lower skilled mature-age people Available at:

World TVET Conference Suva Fiji August 2016 Pathways from TVET to Employment: What works and why Margo Couldrey Lista Consulting T: Cell: E: W: