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Skilled migration is an increasingly important topic for both policy and research internationally. OECD governments in particular are wrestling with tensions between their desire to use skilled migration to be on the winning side in the 'global war for talent' and their pandering to and/or attempts to outflank rising xenophobia. One aspect that has received relatively little attention is skilled migration from the African Commonwealth to the UK, a situation in which skilled migrants have relatively high levels of linguistic capital in the language of the host country. [The authors] focus here on the case of Zimbabwe. In spite of its popular image as a failed state, Zimbabwe has an exceptionally strong educational tradition and high levels of literacy and fluency in English. Drawing on 20 in-depth interviews of Zimbabwean highly skilled migrants, [the authors] explore the specific ways in which the communicative competences of these migrants with high formal levels of English operate in complex ways to shape their employability strategies and outcomes.

[The authors] offer two main findings: first, that a dichotomy exists between their high level formal linguistic competence and their ability to communicate in less formal interactions, which challenges their employability, at least when they first move to the UK; and second, that they also lack, at least initially, the competence to narrativise their employability in ways that are culturally appropriate in England. Thus, to realise the full potential of their high levels of human capital, they need to learn how to communicate competently in a very different social and occupational milieu. Some have achieved this, but others continue to struggle.

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Although labour migration is an increasingly important topic for both policy and research internationally, relatively little attention has been paid to the historical contexts of certain labour mobilities and movements particularly those from Commonwealth countries to the United Kingdom (UK) or former colonies. Instead, labour migration movements have increasingly been debated within the framework of globalisation and focused on how governments of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are wrestling with tensions between their desire to use skilled migration to be on the winning side in the 'global war for talent' and attempts to outflank rising xenophobia.

This chapter is based on a preliminary study of Zimbabwean highly skilled migrants in the UK which explores the employability challenges that they face in the British labour market. Drawing from interviews with 20 participants, from a wide variety of academic and professional backgrounds (e.g. engineering, [information technology] IT, education), [the authors] highlight the consequent obstacles they face, despite their high levels of human and linguistic capital in the UK context; competences that are historically produced and narrativised in the backdrop of colonialism. [The authors] explore how their experiences and struggles are produced in a notion of broken post-colonial relationships and responsibilities. In this case [the authors] consider the consequent direct and indirect discrimination they encounter which manifests itself in, for example, discriminatory immigration rules and procedures, employer bias, and non-recognition of qualifications and skills.

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This case study report is a product of the Labour Market Intelligence Partnership (LMIP), a largescale, long-term research and development project that aims to support the Department of Higher Education and Training's (DHET) mandate to establish a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning. Specifically, it reflects research conducted to address the theme of 'Reconfiguring the postschooling sector'. The aim is to investigate the ways in which alignment between different types of public and private education and training systems and labour markets can be improved. It investigates how organisational capabilities, structures and curriculum mechanisms facilitate or constrain interaction with labour market organisations, in a differentiated post-school sector.

There are two sub-projects in this theme of work. Project 1 is designed to focus on the capabilities of education and training organisations to interact with labour market stakeholders, and is led by Glenda Kruss of the [Human Sciences Research Council] HSRC. Project 2 focuses on curriculum responsiveness and is led by Volker Wedekind of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The boundaries for the empirical investigation are drawn by four sectoral systems of innovation (SSI): (1) forestry growers (focused in KwaZulu-Natal); (2) sugarcane growers and millers (focused in KwaZulu-Natal); (3) automotive components manufacturers (focused in Port Elizabeth); and (4) Square Kilometre Array (SKA) (national). The research attempts to identify appropriate change mechanisms, and hence, provide systemic knowledge to direct funding and interventions where DHET can have leverage in future, and education and training organisations can maintain their core roles in new ways.

This case study analysis forms part of Project 1, which investigates the distinct knowledge and technology base, the main actors, institutions and networks of each SSI, and the ways in which education and training organisations display dynamic interactive capabilities. It should be read in conjunction with a set of inter-related LMIP reports: (1) Report 4: Responding to shifting demand for skills: how do we get firms and post-school education and training organisations to work together by Glenda Kruss, Il-haam Petersen, Simon McGrath and Michael Gastrow (2014); (2) Report 6: Understanding interactive capabilities for skills development in sectoral systems of innovation: a case study of astronomy and the Square Kilometre Array telescope by Michael Gastrow (2015); and (3) Report 8: Understanding interactive capabilities for skills development in sectoral systems of innovation: a case study of the sugarcane growing and milling sector in KwaZulu-Natal by Il-haam Petersen (2015).

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The Working Group for International Cooperation in Skills Development, launched in 1996, is an informal group of donor agencies and international organisations involved in providing assistance in vocational and technical skills development. The Interlaken meeting of the Working Group took place three days after the International Conference ‘Linking Work, Skills and Knowledge’ (indexed at TD/TNC 69.702) which was convened by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in collaboration with the Working Group. In anticipation of the discussion of the conference and its production of an ‘Interlaken Declaration’, it was decided to organise the Working Group meeting around the same main theme as the conference, but adapted to the concerns of the Group in the following three ways: (1) it was associated to the specific issues surrounding the work of development cooperation agencies in linking work, skills and knowledge; (2) following on from the Latin American focus of the previous meeting (indexed at TD/IRD 88.331), the discussion also centred on lessons emerging from skills development activities in Africa; and (3) as acknowledged by the Interlaken Declaration, wide-ranging changes in the contexts in which development cooperation in skills development take place raise the importance of the Group considering a move from an emphasis on knowledge sharing to a position that also includes knowledge production. This paper documents the discussions of the Interlaken Meeting. It is presented in six sections: Reflections on the Interlaken Conference; Linking skills, work and knowledge: filling in the gaps?; Trends in development cooperation; Skills development in Africa: lessons from research; Building new knowledge on work and skills; Interlaken and beyond: building the future of the Working Group. Show less

In South Africa the technical college sector has often been characterised by critics as performing poorly in terms of labour market placement of graduates. Three studies were commissioned by the Joint Education Trust (now JET Education Services) and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to address the issue of the responsiveness of technical colleges to labour market conditions. This book presents the findings of the three studies. Technical college responsiveness is gauged through a multiple focus on the perceptions of graduates, colleges and employers and local labour conditions. As well, the findings are set in a broader context of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) elsewhere in Africa, in the UK and in Australia.

Individual chapters include: Being responsive: colleges, communities and ‘stakeholders’ / Lorna Unwin; Researching responsiveness / Simon McGrath; Graduate tracer study / Michael Cosser; Employer satisfaction / Botshabelo Maja and Simon McGrath; Local labour environments and FET colleges: three case studies / Azeem Badroodien; Letters from technical college graduates / Michael Cosser; Building college responsiveness in South Africa / Simon McGrath. Show less

This chapter re-examines the growth potential of Africa's small-scale economy at the end of the 1990s in light of African economic growth, structural adjustments affecting the small-scale sector and education and training institutions (both formal and informal), and trends in donor policy aimed at poverty eradication and pro-poor growth. National and development cooperation policies have both direct and indirect effects on small and micro-enterprises (SMEs) in the countries of the African continent. The productivity of the African small-scale economy is closely linked with the productivity of the economy as a whole and new trends in the donor community during the 1990s have the potential to increase external support for this sector. Both national and donor policies for the promotion of SMEs are accompanied by concerns about the appropriate role of education and training in SMEs. The authors explore existing policies and programs for small-scale pro-capitalist development and for developing the skills needed to sustain the sector.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 67.245. Selected chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 67.246 to TD/TNC 67.249. Show less

This publication is one of a series of Education Papers issued from time to time by the Education Division of the Department for International Development. Each paper represents a study or commissioned research on some aspect of education and training in developing countries. In the 1990s there has been increased interest in the informal sector, which is linked to a complex set of factors. Awareness of these factors has led governments to take much more interest in the informal sector than over the previous two decades. A new awareness by Southern governments of the size and diversity of the workers and owners in the informal sector can be seen in conjunction with increasing emphasis on market forces and entrepreneurship emanating from the North, and mediated from the development assistance community.

The first volume of this publication examines local, national and international interventions and initiatives aimed at promoting education and training in the informal sector. This report discusses the ways in which education and training currently, and in the future can prepare individuals for sustainable informal sector activities. Chapter one provides an overview of the rationale and structure of the report. Chapters two four examine the three different sites for interventions aimed at the informal sector (formal and nonformal education, post school and out-of-school vocational training institutions, and the workplace or the enterprise itself). Chapter five discusses the problems faced by girls and women in entering forms of really productive self-employment, as opposed to situations in which the aims are barely an improvement upon subsistence or survival work in the informal sector. In Chapter six, the authors examine some of the other elements that are often associated with informal sector development. The authors illustrate ways of thinking about interventions in the informal sector that may take account of several quite distinct pathways.

The second volume consists of a series of four case studies on Chile, Ghana, India and Kenya outlining the structure of education in each country. There is also a comprehensive bibliography in this volume, which highlights the vast amount of resources available on the informal sector. This volume consists of the following chapters: Chapter one: Rationale and structure of report; Chapter two: Education and the informal sector; Chapter three: Post-school and out-of-school training; Chapter four: Enterprise based training; Chapter five: Women and training for the informal sector; Chapter six: What are the needs of the informal sector.

Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 62.214 to TD/TNC 62.221. Show less

Enterprise based training has many advantages over preparation either in schools or vocational and technical institutes (VTIs). The authors emphasise that it is clear from the literature that an element of theory training is a further vital ingredient in skill development, and that there is more than one model of best practice. While there have been recent reforms in on-the-job training in many countries, such reforms have taken a variety of paths. This chapter also discusses the more general trend towards the questioning of the role of the state and a stress on the efficiency of market forces. The concern in this chapter is primarily with the informal sector. The authors argue that changes in training practices within the formal sector have had an indirect impact on the models of training which have been generated within the informal sector. When looking at the informal sector, the authors examine existing models of training which have been generated within the informal sector. They also consider attempts, with varying degrees of success, both to intervene in and to mimic such models. Finally, some interventions which attempt to develop appropriate modern models are explored. The authors discuss enterprise based training and the role of the informal sector in several developing countries including Ghana and Uganda.

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

In this working paper, the rationale for a focus on post-basic education and training (PBET) as a major tool in poverty reduction in South Africa is explored. This requires a consideration of the specific pattern of development of South Africa through colonialism, apartheid and 10 years of democracy in order to better understand the nature of poverty, inequality and unemployment. Such an analysis also needs links to be made between the broader issues of underdevelopment and inequity and the evolution of education and training over the last century. Although there is a clear commitment across government to developing the skills that are required for faster employment growth, it is apparent that South Africa faces very serious challenges in achieving its goals. Whether in delivering transfer payments, broader services or skills interventions, the state and other actors such as non-government organisations (NGOs) are in urgent need of skills development themselves in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work.

This paper is a part of a six-country study entitled 'Beyond the basics: education and poverty: the contribution of post-basic education and training (PBET) to poverty reduction: evidence from South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa', which was funded by the UK Department for International Development. The other country studies cover Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, India and Tanzania. Individual reports are indexed from TD/TNC 96.229 to TD/TNC 96.234. Show less

In this paper, [the authors] focus on highly skilled migration from Zimbabwe to the UK, exploring these migrants' social capital sources/structures and content. In doing so, [the authors] pay attention to routes of migration and how they shape migrants' networking capabilities and patterns. [The authors] further take a Bourdieusian perspective and explore the intersection between social capital and cultural capital in the process of migrants' negotiation of employment opportunities, giving closer attention to how the distinctive habitus associated with being highly skilled migrants from Zimbabwe shape migrants' attitudes towards work. By exploring the interplay between external processes and internalised structures, [the authors] bring to the fore the multiple positioning of [these] participants, who [are seen] not as simply depending on social networks, but as complex actors whose negotiation of employability in the UK is shaped by various factors including intersecting aspects of differentiation.

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