ADB: Educational policies yield mixed quality in work force

EDUCATION POLICIES of the national government had mixed results in raising the skills of its working population, boosting their employment prospects, and improving access to schools, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a new report.

In the 2015 edition of its annual Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific, the Manila-based lender said education investments of Developing Asia led to a doubling of average schooling to eight years between the years 1970 to 2010, in turn resulting in higher education levels, enrollment and literacy rates.

The ADB also cited, however, the need for the Asian work force to improve their skills through specializations and additional educational years. Agricultural workers, to cite one sector, must adopt and learn technical skills to avail themselves of jobs in sectors with higher pay such as manufacturing and services.

“The data reveal the simultaneous presence of under and overqualification,” the ADB said.

In the Philippines’ case, Filipinos are overqualified to take on positions that are available in the job market, the ADB said, noting “there are far more people unemployed or in other types of temporary wage jobs with the relevant level of education and technical qualification than employed in those occupations, except for health professionals, teaching, business administration and managerial administration.”

Thus, policy makers should make informed educational investment decisions where the work force supply meets the needs of the labor market. “In a nutshell, economies that invest in providing high-quality education [are] likely to be the least affected by disruptive innovations -- and will be better placed to exploit them -- because solid foundational skills are the basis for adapting to new opportunities and technical tasks driven by these shifting occupational demands,” the ADB said.

In improving educational quality for vocational courses, the ADB also cautioned the Philippines’ expansion of its skills training programs, particularly in hiring and training teachers. “Expanding TVET (technical vocational education and training) by reskilling existing teachers as opposed to focusing on hiring the right teachers with relevant industry experience and knowledge may achieve little in improving students’ technical skills and occur at the cost of less development of critical foundational skills.”

In providing financial aid, the development bank noted the Philippine government’s mixed results in providing financial packages to help boost enrollment. “In the Philippines, for example, CCTs (conditional cash transfers) were more effective at increasing enrollment among younger children compared to older children.”

“The Philippines’ Study Now, Pay Later Program is just one example of a loan program that was not able to achieve financial sustainability because of institutions that were not sufficiently strong enough to enforce loan repayments,” the report also said.



source:  Businessworld