South Asia region is lacking 96 million of the 100 million trainees currently required to meet the requirements for continued economic growth, finds a new report “Skills development in South Asia: Trends in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka”.
South Asia is on the cusp of a demographic dividend even greater than China’s in the last century. The region will enjoy one million new entrants to the labour force every month for the next twenty years – however a ‘leap of faith’ leading to a region-wide strategic alignment is required to avert a regional skills crisis, according to British Council, reports the Financial.
“Neither government nor the private sector can solve this issue – it requires a leap of faith by both sectors working together on a scale not yet attempted.
It demands a radical approach to delivery, flexible routes for progression and learning, enhanced quality assurance and sustained investment from public and private sector.
This could be a ‘win win’ outcome but at the moment the private sector is responding to demand in an episodic manner and the public sector is following traditional models that are not highly valued.
The leap of faith calls for both sectors to work collaboratively in a new partnership that can propel the region to the next stage of economic development and prosperity,” Peter Upton, the British Council’s director in Pakistan, said.
Across South Asia there is recognition by most policy makers that economic success and social cohesion can be brought about through greater economic prosperity, more education and greater equity. However the policy framework; the capacity and opportunity, and the infrastructure of opportunity lags behind the policy drivers.
This means that rising youth employment risks a lost generation in the region, with the consequent risk of radicalisation or alienation, according to British Council.
The report outlines the four key challenges for the region to be:
• Market size and structure – an unstructured, irregular market with uncoordinated policies and no ownership of the skills development agenda.
• Quality and Scale of provision – there is a massive capacity gap and issues of equity and access, allied to restricted funding to meet demand, weak curriculum models disconnected from employer need.
• Quality and relevance of outcomes – misalignment between industry and graduate needs, limited interaction between state and private sector on planning and future needs.
• Poor public perception of the Technical Vocational Education and Training sector – viewed as low value and a last resort option.
The South Asia Policy Dialogue will be exploring these four challenges and examining how current policy can be shaped so that it supports a skills revolution in quality, infrastructure and delivery.
The region is already addressing some of these issues: India has outlined plans to train and up-skill 500 million works by 2022 – nearly 50 million workers a year, Bangladesh has a National Skills Development Policy that is emphasising an integrated approach, Afghanistan plans to increase enrolment for vocational courses by 150,000, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are both investing in flexible delivery strategies and moving to a demand led approach.
The challenge remains one of scale, quality and the ability to meet national and regional economic needs, according to British Council.
Source: UNBConnect
