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Following the onset of the recent global recession, most countries have faced a serious problem in providing employment for the population of their countries. For the richer OECD countries, the post-war period with high levels of employment and low unemployment came to an abrupt end. However, for most of the less developed countries the problem of low employment, poor wages, and insecure employment was a continuing one. The aim of this paper is to analyse the evidence of a trade-off between employment and productivity. In general, the results of this study suggest that there is evidence of a trade-off between employment and productivity, that investment and industrial production growth increase productivity growth, and the share of agriculture in [gross domestic product] GDP is negatively correlated to productivity growth. The paper highlights some policy implications that follow from its empirical investigations. It suggests that it is not possible to provide a 'one-size-fits-all' set of policies as different countries face different social, cultural, institutional, and historical conditions. Some brief case studies of low, middle and high income countries are included.

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The current financial and economic crisis is expected to have a negative impact on educational development in many developing countries. In March 2009, the Education Sector of UNESCO launched a quick survey in order to assess the impact of the crisis on public expenditure on education in Member States. This report, focusing on public education expenditure only, presents the findings and salient points of this survey based on the questionnaires filled by the Field Offices in 51 countries. The report contains four sections. Section one examines the impact of the global financial crisis on economic growth and government finance on the basis of data available in the field up to June 2009. Section two reviews current and expected changes in public expenditure on education, attempting to answer the question of whether or not education budgets are being 'protected' from the adverse effects of the crisis. Section three examines trends and prospects, both global and for education, for official development assistance, especially in Africa. This section also reviews the pledges made by the international community to sustain governments' commitment to [Education for All] EFA goals and advocates a few urgent steps to be taken, especially in the most EFA-challenged countries, during the crisis. Section four carries a few concluding remarks and further steps to be taken by UNESCO.

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Labour administrations face major challenges in today's rapidly changing world of work and this monograph examines how they are coping with globalisation, modernisation and political and financial constraints while still contributing to their countries' economic and social development. The book is presented in two main parts. The first part contains the following three chapters: 'A state of upheaval' which outlines some major developments that have changed the foundations of public administration, the new operating conditions for public administration and the new challenges for labour administration; 'Trends in modernization' which highlights general trends relating to labour administration activities in different countries, covering the historical background, changes in the institutional framework, policy implementation, human resource management, the contribution made by information technology, partnerships, funding and evaluation systems; 'Making improvements' which examines the changes taking place in society covering the parameters of change, quality management and assessment in the labour administration system. Part two contains 27 case studies which analyse labour administration practices in the areas of labour (informal sector, occupational health and safety, wage guarantees and clandestine labour), employment and vocational training (information for users, information and forecast systems on the labour market, information and vocational guidance for jobseekers, placement, skills assessment, retraining of workers, development of training, structuring informal labour, employment and business creation, and employment in small and medium-sized enterprises), industrial relations (collective disputes, individual disputes, collective bargaining, and countries emerging from armed conflict), and evaluation (evaluating the work of labour administration and its components). Show less

Organised by the International Labour Organization in partnership with Silatech, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and the Arab Urban Development Institute, the symposium, held on 6-8 March 2014 in Doha, brought together policy makers and practitioners with academics and researchers to present and discuss the evidence base for 'what works' in increasing the employment and productivity of youth. Discussants shared recent findings of impact evaluations from the Middle East and North Africa region and other developing regions. Participants were also introduced to evidence from systematic and literature reviews which are important for evidence based policy creation. This book was one of the background documents to the symposium.

From the Victorian poor laws in 19th century Britain to the post-war recovery of the 1940s, public works programs have historically played an important role as counter-cyclical interventions to address seasonal and short-term unemployment. In recent times, the role of public works has broadened, because globalisation and economic integration, while expanding opportunities for all, have also increased the exposure to and transmission of risk, especially to the poorest. Public works are now being used increasingly across the developing world as an essential part of the social protection toolkit to respond to risk and persistent poverty. Recent public works programs in Argentina, Ethiopia, India, and elsewhere have sparked even greater interest in their effective use in other developing-country contexts.

This book provides an overview of public works programs as a safety net instrument and their impacts. It also provides a practical review of program design features and implementation methods, and a compendium of operational and how-to knowledge, combining technical expertise with ongoing country experiences.

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Education and sociocultural issues have been inseparable during the apartheid era, and it is with high hopes that marginalised learners in contemporary South Africa strive for equal educational opportunity which was denied them previously. In this regard, outcomes-based education and training (OBET) plays a pivotal role insofar as it is perceived not only as an education system, but a sociocultural catalyst which may help facilitate changes such as political, social, cultural and economic ones. Since no teaching and learning can happen assuming a neutral view: feelings, attachments, emotions and a consonant set of practices all accompany the educational experience, and have to be accommodated therein. In a multicultural society such as the South African one, this is a challenge, and the paper explores the role of identity, culture and language in teaching and learning experiences, and discusses the contribution of culturally inclusive curriculum practices in that context.

Published abstract reprinted by the permission of the copyright owner.

Volumes of papers are indexed from TD/TNC 77.351 to TD/TNC 77.353. Individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 77.354 to TD/TNC 77.437. Show less

The objectives of this seminar, organised by UNESCO in collaboration with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), with the participation of the ILO, were to: familiarise high-level national education policymakers from participating countries with the UNESCO normative instrument concerning technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and the ILO document on human resources training and development and the aims and objectives of each; discuss the importance of, and benefits to be derived from, implementing the articles of the two sets of recommendations in national TVET systems; discuss possible modalities for implementing the two documents in full or in part in national TVET systems and the difficulties that may be encountered in the process of implementation; explore the possibility of establishing regional mechanisms for supporting and reinforcing national initiatives to implement the two documents; and explore ways and means to revitalise UNEVOC Centres in the region to enable them to play an active role in cooperation. This report contains: Introduction; TVET and human resources development: a panacea for national development: keynote address / Mr Fabian Osuji; Understanding the UNESCO/ILO recommendations / Mohan I. R. Perera; The role of the ILO in human resources development and training / Amadu Sanda; Identification of mechanisms for regional co-operation / Nuru A. Yakubu; Country reports: situation analyses, issues and strategies; The draft constitution of the West African Association for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (WAATVET); Conclusions: issues for strategies for countries of the sub-region. Included as appendices are: List of participants; Country reports. Show less

Not enough has been said about the kinds of skills development that are needed if we are to stem the rising tides and impacts of political economies that have largely been driving what some call 'fossil capital'. This chapter develops an emerging argument that it is necessary to also rethink and reframe vocational education and training (VET) logics and approaches if the implications of a warming future are to be fully considered. This chapter provides the context of why this is such an urgent challenge and some thinking tools for understanding where we have come from and where we need to go.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 151.257. Show less

Researchers have been investigating student dropout, and possible reasons leading to it, for quite a long time. Cumulatively, the results of these research attempts show that drop out of students depends on several factors, of which only a relatively small number can directly be dealt with by universities. Therefore, the overall research problem investigated in this study was to timeously identify risk factors impacting on first-year students' intention to drop out from a university in South Africa in order to manage the potential effect of these factors. By using a cross-sectional quantitative research design, data for the study were collected from first-year students who completed an online survey questionnaire. One of the survey questions requested the respondents to indicate whether they have already (eight weeks after enrolling for the first time) considered dropping out of university; 11.5 per cent of the respondents answered 'Yes' to the question. The data was analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to get an indication of the effects (direct and indirect) of constructed latent variables on students' intention to drop out. The outcomes show that only addressing the direct effects leading to drop out (as universities usually do) is not enough and that the indirect effects should also be identified and addressed if one wants to make progress in solving the dropout problem.

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This book examines the non-educational contexts and informal circumstances through which incidental learning takes place and emphasises the importance of such learning in adult education. The author suggests that involvement in voluntary organisations, social struggles, and political activity of every kind provides powerful learning opportunities. The core argument is the notion of adult learning and education as complex and contested social activities. The dominant view of adult education in the English-speaking world excludes a large proportion of adult learning. The author uses case studies of a range of environmental, women’s, worker and political struggles from the USA, Australia, Brazil and Zimbabwe to explore how involvement in social action can help people to ‘unlearn dominant, oppressive ideologies and discourses and replace them with oppositional, liberatory ones, even if such processes of emancipatory learning are inevitably complex and contradictory’. He relates these processes of informal learning in contested contexts to current perspectives in adult education and proposes an innovative, more radical agenda in adult education theory and practice. Show less

This article is part of a special issue, ‘Globalisation, qualifications and livelihoods’, edited by Angela W. Little. The issue explores emerging relations between economic globalisation, education, qualifications and jobs. The articles are indexed from TD/TNC 64.84 to TD/TNC 64.92.

This paper presents and discusses the results of empirical research into the provision of vocational training by private sector training institutions (PSTIs) in Zimbabwe. A representative sample of registered PSTIs in Harare was surveyed in early 1997. With economic liberalisation during the 1990s, there has been an extremely rapid growth in the number of students enrolled on a wide variety of courses offered by registered, for-profit PSTIs. The professional and sub-professional courses offered by these institutions rely very heavily on foreign qualifications, in particular from examination bodies in the United Kingdom (UK).

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