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Session Submission Summary

The long term impact of TVET in Asia; advancing sustainability during rapid economic expansion

Thu, April 18, 1:30 to 3:00pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Pacific Concourse (Level -1), Pacific L

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The CIES 2019 theme poses several key questions that have long been fundamental for studies of TVET and lie at the heart of SDG 4.4 “By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.” This target implies the need for ‘relevancy’ and sustainability in the world of 2030 and onwards. The rapid pace of economic and social change in Asia means that these questions are arguably more critical here than for any other region of the world. Asia-Pacific is also the region of the world most subject to environmental change and ‘natural disasters’ (seven out of the ten most ‘at risk’ countries are in the region, World Risk Report 2017). The rapid pace of all round change means that these questions are central concerns for governments throughout Asia and the Pacific, from the most populous countries in the world (India and China) to the smallest Pacific islands.
TVET has always been a ‘second best’ to general education in the view of many educationalists, but after the adoption of the SDGs it has become a central plank of national and international policy. This panel will argue that rather than being a driver of unbridled production that TVET can be a mainstream driver of sustainable development.
Many Asian countries have a somewhat ‘bipolar’ view of skills demand. Many high and middle income countries want to identify key sectors and high levels skills in areas where they can be globally competitive, but middle and low income countries are also faced with large low or unskilled populations who must be ‘upskilled’ in order to compete in an increasingly demanding labour market. Demographic changes have left countries with large, comparatively well-educated, youth who cannot find jobs in ‘hot’ labour markets, and growing elderly populations who have been left behind literally in rural locations or figuratively by advancing skills requirements. The path to sustainable development in the region requires urgent action, but affords many possibilities as sustainable land management and production activities are still practiced (Ellis and Lo forthcoming).
The traditional model of assessing impact for TVET assesses job take-up by graduates or the rate of return for investment in training (see eg critique by Klees 2016 for formal education). Such models provide only a very partial picture of impact. The panel will present various methodologies, ranging from survey to anthropological study, to identify sustainable skills, their impact, and their embedding in national curricula and policies.
International organisations, in particular Asian Development Bank (ADB) presenting in this session, have long argued for the ‘greening’ of TVET to meet the needs of sustainable development. However their recent research (Panth Jagannathan and Maclean 2018) has identified that, in Asia, examples of ‘green’ TVET are pilots rather than mainstream initiatives. In the face of this we ask CIES members what tools are needed to ensure that sustainable TVET is mainstreamed and what support should be offered to middle and low income countries?
This round table addresses these issues by bringing together TVET specialists from the region to highlight different approaches to sustainability in Asia and their integration into TVET curricula in formal and non-formal education and training. Although countries in the region are aware of sustainable development issues and are seriously affected by climate change they are in many respects unsure how education and training curricula should be systematically adapted to equip workers for long term sustainable change.
Current UNESCO attainment (accessed from UIS September 2018) data suggests that there are almost 1,000,000,000 adults in Asia whose highest level of education is primary schooling or less. The SDGs (most particularly target 4.4) talk about ‘relevant skills’ and ‘decent work’ for 2030. Current projections (www.wittgensteincentre.org) taking into account demographic and education change suggest this figure will fall by only 10%, despite rapid economic growth and the ‘2nd demographic dividend’ of increased human and financial capital (Lutz and KC 2107). Under these circumstances how can the promise of the SDGs possibly be fulfilled?
The round table will address the links between TVET and Asian education systems from perspectives ranging from international organisations to ‘on the ground’ studies. In particular it will address the following specific issues
• The ‘greening’ of TVET. How can TVET curricula support and reinforce sustainable development (Maclean et al 2018)?
• How to preserve and support indigenous traditional skills and land management in the face of ‘modernism’ (Ellis and Lo in press)
• The financing of TVET to support sustainability
• Managing sustainable TVET in an environment of rapid economic expansion, evolving social and cultural change
REFERENCES (and sources for presentations)
Booth, Heather (2017) ‘The process of ageing and its challenges’, in Z. Zhao and A. Hayes edd., Routledge Handbook of Asian Demography , Routledge, London.
Ellis, Simon, and Joseph Lo (in press), ‘Asian crafts’, in A. Mignosa and Kottipalli ed.. The Economics of Craft, Palgrave, Basingstoke.
Klees, Steven (2016) ‘Human capital and rates of return: brilliant ideas or ideological dead ends?’ Comparative Education Review 60.4, pp. 644-672.
Lutz, Wolfgang, and Samir KC (2017) ‘The demographic future of Asia’, in Z. Zhao and A. Hayes edd., Routledge Handbook of Asian Demography , Routledge, London.
Panth, Brajesh, Shanti Jagannathan and Rupert Maclean (2018) Education and Skills for Inclusive Growth, Green Jobs and the Greening of Economies in Asia Case Study Summaries of India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam, ADB/Springer.
UNESCO Bangkok (2017) Toward Quality Assurance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training.
World Risk Report 2017 (2017), Analysis and Prospects, Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft, Berlin.

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