MAIN CHALLENGES AND TRENDS IN VET IN THE ETF PARTNER COUNTRIES SINCE 2000 MADLEN SERBAN, ETF DIRECTOR SEMINAR OF ERASMUS + HIGHER EDUCATION EXPERTS, UNIVERSITY OF ISTANBUL 10 MARCH 2015

WHAT IS THE ETF? AGENCY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Vision To make vocational education and training in the partner countries a driver for lifelong learning and sustainable development, with a special focus on competitiveness and social cohesion Mission To help transition and developing countries to harness the potential of their human capital through the reform of education, training and labour market systems in the context of the EU’s external relations policy 2

Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Israel South Eastern Europe Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia Turkey and Iceland Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Eastern Europe: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Russia 3

MAIN CHALLENGES AND TRENDS IN VET IN THE ETF PARTNER COUNTRIES SINCE 2000 A.VET as part of HCD policy B.Main challenges and trends in VET C.Regional, cross-country priorities in VET D.VET or higher education E.VET and higher education 4

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING How do we define VET?  Education and training which aims to equip people with knowledge, know-how, skills and/or competences required in particular occupations or more broadly on the labour market (see employability)  VET refers to the system of both initial and continuing VET delivery  Initial vocational education and training (IVET) is the one carried out usually before entering working life  Continuing vocational education and training (CVET) is the one after entry into working Source: Cedefop 5

A VISION FOR SKILLS?  Countries with mid-term development visions including skills seem to cope with supply and demand fluctuations better than those which don’t (youth unemployment data illustrates this)  The importance of having a Vision for human capital development is stressed in the ETF’s Torino Process (A1). Human capital development refers to “lifelong development of individuals’ skills and competences” though education, IVET, HE and CVT together, through formal, non-formal and informal learning contexts.  The ETF’s FRAME project in South Eastern Europe and Turkey illustrates how to build a shared vision on skills policies by reconciling different agendas and priorities, as well as how to prepare a road map for implementation (A2) 6 A.VET as part of the HCD policies

? ? ? THE ETF’S TORINO PROCESS (A1) 7 A.VISION AND STRATEGY Vision for the VET system Capacity for innovation and change Drivers for innovation and change B.ADDRESSING ECONOMIC AND LABOUR MARKET DEMAND Factors shaping demand for skills Mechanisms for identifying demand and matching skills VET system influence on demand C.ADDRESSING SOCIAL AND INCLUSION DEMAND Factors shaping demand for VET Delivering to individual learners Delivering to societal needs D.INTERNAL EFFICIENCY OF THE VET SYSTEMS Quality assurance Policies for VET trainers and directors Teaching and learning Efficiency gains and losses E.GOVERNANCE AND POLICY PRACTICES Basic map of entities involved in VET at national, regional, and provider level Governance and practices in the areas covered in Sections A–D

A VISION FOR FUTURE SKILLS? A.2. ETF FRAME APPROACH 8

THE EFFECTS OF THE CRISIS  The crisis has had a polarisation effect in both developed and developing countries  Youth unemployment is higher than the EU average in the partner countries  Particularly in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria)  South Eastern Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro)  Eastern Europe (Armenia and Georgia)  Those countries with a vision for economic development are faring better (Morocco, Israel, Kazakhstan and Turkey)  After the crisis there is decrease in the higher education participation and an increase in VET participation  Why? Fewer people can afford higher education and there is less confidence in its added-value. Figures from Georgia and the Republic of Moldova from before the crisis support this 9 B.Main challenges and trends

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES IN ETF PCS AND EU IN 2013 (15-24, %) 10

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF TOTAL POPULATION AND HIGHER EDUCATION BY SEX 11

NEETS RATE BY GENDER,

 Consistent decreases in youth employment  Increases in higher education participation  Postponed entrance to the labour market  The link between higher education and employability is disappearing (particularly evident in Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia and Lebanon, Moldova and Georgia)  There are problems linked to over and under education in Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia indicating a need for intermediate level (VET) graduates  In Eastern Europe over education is a particular issue with more and more university graduates finding jobs below their level of education 13 B.Main challenges and trends (1)

 Participation in VET (ISCED 4) has been stable  High in South Eastern Europe  Low in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean  On the increase in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (except for Georgia)  No increase in post-secondary VET (ISCED 5B), low everywhere and decreasing in Eastern Europe and Serbia  Will demand for post-secondary VET increase if short-cycle higher education is redesigned?  Tunisia, Turkey and Moldova have innovated post-secondary VET show an increase in demand 14 B.Main challenges and trends (2)

15 % VET STUDENTS IN UPPER SECONDARY (UIS-UNESCO)

ENROLMENT IN TERTIARY EDUCATION PER 100,000 INHABITANTS (UIS- UNESCO) 16

Does VET respond to the needs of the labour market?  VET systems are diverse and data is not collected everywhere systematically  Country data is anecdotal:  Armenia: increase in private sector profiles (engineering etc.)/decrease in public sector profiles (health)  Egypt: increase in health and engineering/decrease in services (commercial schools, social services)  Moldova: decrease in catering  Overall change in provision, but not in line with structural changes in the labour market. Continuity in preparation for public sector employment and increase in number of higher education students  Need to improve skills anticipation as well as information, guidance and counselling 17 B.Main challenges and trends (3)

SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE AND TURKEY  Most reforms in initial training, low participation in lifelong learning  Well-established secondary VET, less developed post-secondary and higher VET  Preference for four-year secondary VET with most graduates continuing to higher education  Initial training mostly school-based and lacking in labour market relevance and quality  Work-based learning well-developed in Turkey  Labour market relevance and inclusiveness prioritised over creative learning and innovation  Few strategic alliances between VET providers, innovative enterprises and higher education institutions  Few examples of participation of initial vocational training providers in international partnerships and cooperation 18 C.Regional priorities for VET (1)

SOUTHERN AND EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN  Focus on initial training, vision for continuing training and lifelong learning is weak  Clear policy objective to improve social cohesion through more access to initial training  Improve attractiveness of VET, which requires increasing quality and relevance and creating jobs that learners can aspire to  Increased focus on coordinating and decentralising VET  Progress on integrating initial training strategies and increasing stakeholder participation, although difficulties in taking practical steps  Pilots projects exist for making provision more relevant, but they are not easy to mainstream  Lack of job creation  Interest in improving pathways from VET to higher education with pilot partnerships in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt 19 C.Regional priorities for VET (2)

EASTERN EUROPE  On going reform strategies reflect dialogue with the EU  Need to improve VET attractiveness to bring VET closer to economic needs and to provide high quality skills  Quality necessary to achieve responsive VET systems; national qualifications frameworks are part of this  Teacher training is a new challenge  Better education and business cooperation needed  Social dialogue is just beginning although employers are becoming increasingly involved  Governance is very centralised  Need for improved capacities of critical analysis, use of data and monitoring  VET seen as useful for demographic and social factors such as ageing populations, poverty, exclusion  Limited number of active measures introduced such as vouchers, continuing training, work-based learning plans 20 C.Regional priorities for VET (3)

CENTRAL ASIA  All countries have VET strategies and strengthened capacities to develop and manage VET  VET is important for employability and continuing training  VET’s reputation is improving and it addresses labour supply  The service sector is growing, while rural development and agriculture are key challenges for the labour market  Democratic pressure has an impact on the unemployment rate  Small business employment needs developing  Co-operation with private actors is improving, but new pathways and better institutional co-operation is needed in the public sector e.g. initial and secondary VET or higher education levels, or between Ministries of Labour and Education  Impact can be improved by better analysis and dissemination of results and good practice in VET 21 C.Regional priorities for VET (4)

THE LINK BETWEEN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT  Participation clustered into 4 groups:  Agriculture (agro-food jobs - predominantly private sector)  Engineering and sciences (ICT, manufacturing and construction - predominantly private sector)  Education, health, social sciences and humanities (predominantly public sector)  Services (predominantly public sector)  Large percentages of the population still work in agriculture, but productivity levels are generally low  It is becoming more important due to increasing food prices  Higher education agriculture graduates could contribute to innovation  There are low participation rates in agriculture in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (<2%) and clear decreases in Egypt, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine 22 D.VET or higher education

THE LINK BETWEEN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT  Education, health, social sciences and humanities mainly prepare for public sector employment  Participation in these areas is consistently high at 70-85% of higher education students  This has been the case for the past 15 years despite demographic changes and the growth of the private sector  Engineering and sciences are generally seen as the motor for economic development  They are promoted and offer good job opportunities for ICT graduates  Participation varies between 15-30% of students and there is no real increase overall  Services are the real main motor for employment creation in most partner countries.  As with agriculture, participation is very low at between 2 and 8% although with the exception of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region participation has steadily improved 23 D.VET or higher education

VET AND HIGHER EDUCATION WORKING TOGETHER  Human Capital Development to be successful should be based on main actors partnership  For partnerships to be strategic, VET, higher education, the world of work and different government levels must work together. Examples could be: Territorial partnerships: entrepreneurial communities, local development, lifelong learning networks, regional development policies Sectoral approaches: sector skills councils in Eastern Europe, Serbia, Turkey; sector forecasts in Azerbaijan, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina; sectoral qualifications frameworks in Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, national ICT strategy National approaches: national qualifications frameworks in 27 countries; skills policies foresight in South Eastern Europe and Turkey; lifelong learning policy in Turkey; teacher training and retraining 24 E.VET and higher education

VET AND HIGHER EDUCATION ARE PART OF THE SAME HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC POLICY Higher education and VET share many challenges that they can overcome by working together We hope that today we can kick that process off successfully 25

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