School-to-Work Information Bases in Asia and the Pacific April 2012 Presented by Youngsup Choi UNESCO Bangkok 1

1. Why School-to-Work transition? CHANGES OF PERSPECTIVE: FROM SUPPLY TO DEMAND Not only the number of schools/students, but also the employability of them From Supply-driven towards Demand-oriented/Outcome-based approach POLICY AREAS OF SCHOOL-TO-WORK TRANSITION Information: Identification of skill needs, labour market situation, etc. Guidance/counseling: Within school, outside-of-school Delivery: Curriculum/facility/equipment/learning place/teacher etc. Qualification: Evaluation of competencies, movements between learning programs. Job placement: Employment service, support for starting businesses, etc. Financing: Tax or levy, formula block output-related funding Governance: Vertical coordination, horizontal cooperation

2. School-to-Work information base study: Background PURPOSE Examine existing information bases related to S-t-W (quantitative/qualitative); Identify key barriers to the development of information bases, and; Identify possible areas of intervention/cooperation. TOPICS How to monitor changing skills needs of the labor market How to track the labour market performance of graduates How to extract qualitative information through employer engagement PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Philippines, Viet Nam

3. Tracking Skills Needs SUMMARY Tracking skills needs: Basically, through the data on employment captured by Labor Force Survey (regular) and more concretely, through the data on job vacancies and skills gaps captured by employer surveys All 9 countries are conducting Labour Force Surveys (LFS) to collect data for tracking skills needs  But Bangladesh, Cambodia and Lao PDR do not conduct LFS regularly Even with regular LFS, the length of time series is sometimes short (only 5 to 10 years) Hard to find national-level employer surveys about vacancy or skills gaps except few countries such as Philippines and India

CountryLabour Force SurveySkills Needs Survey Bangladesh ▲ X Cambodia ▲ X India ●▲ Indonesia ●▲ Kazakhstan ● X Lao PDR ▲▲ Mongolia ●▲ Philippines ●● Viet Nam ● X Note : ● : conducts regularly, ▲ : conducts irregularly, ad-hoc basis, X : not implemented Summary of Tracking Skills Needs

NOTABLE CASES PHILIPPINES’s Employer Survey The Department of Labor and Employment, Bureau of Labor of Employment and Statistics (DOLE-BLES) implements BLES Integrated Survey (BITS), which has been regularly conducted every two years since The survey covers the whole country with 6,788 establishments Number of hard-to-fill vacancies and the required education and skills certificates INDIA’s Skills Gap Studies The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Industry Associations at the national level conducted Skills Gap Studies which specifically focus on skills needs in around 20 sectors since 2010 Sectors investigated include automobile, banking and finance, chemicals, construction, education, electronics, IT, food processing, and tourism, etc. Study represents the first effort to pursue Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in India

4. Tracking Labour Market Situation SUMMARY Tracking labor market performance: Mainly through tracer surveys using well- defined and structured survey questionnaires or, via school records keeping basic information about the paths taken by graduates after graduation. Tracer studies are found to be in place in 6 countries, mostly done at school level using the list of graduates. Few countries report conduct of surveys such as panel or cross-section surveys for youths. Most of surveys carried out on ad-hoc basis using external financial and technical supports except Philippines. Absence of related policies/practices in Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Viet Nam.

Note : ● : conducts regularly, ▲ : conducts irregularly, ad-hoc basis, X : not implemented Summary on Tracking Labour Market Situation Country Tracer Survey StudyAdministrative Process BangladeshXX Cambodia ▲● India ▲● Indonesia ▲▲ KazakhstanXX Lao PDR ▲ X Mongolia ▲ X Philippines ● X Viet NamXX

NOTABLE CASES PHILIPPINES’s Graduate Tracer Study Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has conducted 4 graduate tracer studies (GTS) since 2000, and in 2011, fifth GTS. The most recent study in 2008 covered 216,940 TVET graduates representing all 17 regions of the country. There is enough data disaggregation (by region, by mode of delivery, by sex, by occupation, by higher educational attainment). LAO PDR’s National Baseline Tracer Study The National Baseline Tracer Study (NBTS) conducted with support from the Lao- German HRDME programme covered 9 provinces, representing all regions (North, Central and South) of Lao PDR (sample size: 1,140 in 2005, 920 in 2009). The survey covered almost 400 employers/ enterprises from different sectors to obtain the evaluation of employers about the competencies of these students.

5. Employer Engagement SUMMARY Dialogues with employers: Way of obtaining concrete (qualitative) information on skills needs which cannot be captured through statistical surveys Types of employer engagement: Collective representation or individual involvement, formal/institutionalized committee or informal meetings Overall, informal, individual engagement (consultation) not much activated Collective, formal engagement being attempted through institutionalized councils and boards. Partnerships between the government, employers, and TVET providers to improve school-to-work transition are relatively new in most countries (less than 10 years)

Note : ● : conducts regularly, ▲ : conducts irregularly, ad-hoc basis, X : not implemented Summary on Employer Engagement CountryCouncil/BoardConsultation Bangladesh ● X Cambodia ● X India ● X Indonesia ● X Kazakhstan ●▲ Lao PDR ●▲ MongoliaXX Philippines ●● Viet NamXX

NOTABLE CASES MONGOLIA’s PPP in TVET In Mongolia, national competitive grant programme is being implemented to encourage PPP (Public-Private Partnership) in TVET In 2011, 27 TVET schools received about USD 2M as funding to implement projects in cooperation with employers on employer’s assessment on TVET quality, introduction of competency-based curriculum, etc. KAZAKHSTAN’s Employer Cooperation Increased pressure for schools to respond to changing demand "Saiman" Company in electricity in Almaty has links with the energy college, director of the company taking the position of Chairman in the Examination Commission for final examination. At least 10 graduates are hired by the company every year and scholarships are awarded to students who wish to work further for the Company.

6. Challenges Common challenges: a lack or limited advocacy/long-term strategy/funding and expertise in collecting and utilizing data and information i. TRACKING SKILLS NEEDS: Dominance of informal sector and small business, low participation of employers in completing skills needs surveys, failure to reflect survey results in education policy, etc. ii. TRACKING LABOUR MARKET SITUATION: limited of awareness and commitment of concerned stakeholders, shortage of funding and expertise iii. EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT: Insufficient empowerment to private sector, limited interest from private sector, lack of ‘dialectic capacity’ of both sides, absence or ineffective implementation of relevant legislation. 13

7. Recommendations GENERAL Strong advocacy to key policy makers on the crucial role of improved information base Development of comprehensive and long term strategy covering various sub components of information base with concerned ministries Activation of policy analysis and capacity enhancement at national/provincial level SPECIFIC Implementation of regular LFS and the introduction of regular employer skills surveys (at least, at certain sector/provinces) Institutionalization of tracer studies at schools and introduction of nation-wide youth labor market surveys Active policy to cultivate a culture of cooperation between industry and education Strengthening the collective participation of employers at various institutionalized round tables (national, sectoral) and substantive empowerment to these bodies 14

Thank you very much! 15