Education and the informal sector

This chapter considers training through the medium of vocational education in the school location, and considers how the formal education system currently impacts on the informal sector, and how in the future it might have greater influence. The 1980s saw a changing perspective towards education in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. A realisation developed that education must be more relevant to the modern world of work. Concerns about the lack of articulation between school and work have been a common theme of debates about educational reform in all countries where there has been a substantial amount of youth employment. Traditionally, the concern has been with how the education system could better prepare students for employment. This chapter considers the arguments regarding 'strong' versions of vocational schooling and pre-vocational models, which refers to heavy specialisation in the vocational in quite separate schools and streams, and 'weak' versions of vocational schooling and pre-vocational models, referring to the orientation to the vocational as part of general education. The authors also consider what is a relatively new trend in developing countries, enterprise education which has emerged in OECD countries as a response to specific problems. The authors examine the relevance of this initiative in the very different cultural contexts of the developing world. In addition, they briefly look at some of the key dimensions of education that might have a direct or indirect bearing on self-employment, including career guidance, examinations, teacher attitudes, materials and decentralisation strategies. Some of the areas discussed concern vocational education, arguments against vocationalism, pre-vocational education, education with production, agriculture in schools and enterprise education. This chapter also explores the kinds of structures that need to be in place in national education systems so that reforms that relate to the informal sector can succeed.

This publication is indexed at TD/TNC 62.213. Show less