Learning and training for the information society Learning and training for the information society Torkel Alfthan InFocus Programme on Skills, Knowledge and Employability, ILO Geneva Electronic commerce strategies: The basic elements of an enabling environment for e-commerce UNCTAD Expert Meeting, Geneva July 2002

Education - Human capital - Economic growth « It is lack of investment in human capital, not lack of investment in physical capital that prevents poor countries from catching up with rich ones. Educational attainment and public spending on education are correlated positively to economic growth. » (World Employment Report Life at work in the information economy, ILO, Geneva)

3 Education and skills: Essential prerequisites for the information society Education and growth go hand in hand Education even more important as knowledge-based content of work increases Ability to take advantage of the knowledge society - and the benefits of e-commerce - depends on skills available and the ability of the education and training system to generate these skills Literacy and education cannot be leapfrogged Education, not connectivity, is the major challenge Education and training: a lifelong learning process

4 Definitions of literacy UNESCO: Functional literacy, i.e. reading & writing skills, for engaging in normal activities OECD: Level 1: Very poor skills (inability to prescribe medicine based on written information) Level 2: Weak skills: people who can read but test poorly and have difficulty learning Level 3: Skills necessary for coping with daily life and working in a complex knowledge society Lev.4&5: Command of higher order information processing skills European Union: Educational passport to the knowledge economy: completed upper secondary education Digital literacy skills for all workers & school- leavers by 2003 & for all citizens by 2005

5 The Literacy Divide: Adult literacy rates, men and women, by region, 2000 Source: UNESCO 2000

6 CountriesRadiosTelevisionsTelephone mainlines Personal computers Internet hosts Low income Lower middle income Upper middle income High income Japan EU USA The Digital Divide: International dimensions Spread of ICTs (per 1000 people) Source: World Bank: World Development Indicators 2000, tables 5.10 and 5.11 Source: World Bank: World Development Indicators 2000, tables 5.10 and 5.11

7 Overcoming the literacy and digital divides Investing in education and training the key to economic growth Making quality basic education and training accessible to all citizens Reordering public and private investment priorities in favour of education and training Equipping schools with ICTs and internet links A new facilitating role for teachers

8 Not just what children learn, but how they learn, affect their future ability to develop and maintain employability and skills Need for major education reform to shift from teaching to learning Knowledge creation and learning should become the central skills developed in schools and harnessed in the workplace x Rethinking education: The importance of learning

9 Skills shortages: Why it is difficult to know which skills are in demand and who is supplying them Problems with identifying demand Out of date occupational descriptions and ambiguous job titles Irregularities in data from different agencies New jobs such as web-page designers not recognized in official statistics Problems tracking the supply of skills Diversity of educational backgrounds Diversity of courses with ICT components

10 Different educational background - computer workers

11 Learning and knowledge creation – some critical elements Leading companies attach great importance to creating an environment favourable to learning and knowledge creation Increased importance on “core work skills”; learning to learn, communication skills, teamwork skills Many countries have a national approach, e.g. “key competencies” (Australia), “key skills” (UK), CREST (Singapore) and basic skills (EU) Changes to the organization of work is essential for tapping workers’ knowledge

12 The move towards industry-based on-line learning Many advantages and some disadvantages in delivering training on-line Access is immediate Barriers of time, distance and costs are reduced Major drift from classroom to on-line learning (In US, 77% of companies expect to train via company intranets) But, most on-line training is confined to non- technical training Frequent dropping out; “blended” training programmes may be an answer

13 Some key policy messages Digital literacy is essential, but most fundamental are literacy and access to quality basic education Teaching should encourage creativity & curiosity and learning to learn – a shift in the learning/training paradigm Higher skills and continuous changes in work organisation and labour markets call for a new skills delivery system to ensure lifelong learning opportunities for all A growing role for enterprise and private sector investment in education and training

14 IFP/Skills: