This post is a summary of four articles. The first was published in April of 2012 at https://community.oecd.org/docs/DOC-41754. The second was published at http://www.oecd.org/edu/Directorate-for-education-and-skills-brochure.pdf. The third was published at http://www.frbsf.org/education/publications/doctor-econ/2004/february/job-skills-labor/. The fourth with the title above was published at http://blogs.worldbank.org/education/education-is-fundamental-to-development-and-growth
The confluence of rapid technical change, globalisation and economic liberalisation in recent years has prompted governments in developed and developing countries alike to prioritise skills development as a strategy for economic competitiveness and growth. In developing countries the challenges are complex. Yet while these countries report lower average levels of educational attainment than developed countries, in some developing countries significant numbers of those with higher levels of formal qualifications end up unemployed, working in jobs that under-utilise their skills or emigrating to other countries. The result is a misallocation and waste of resources that these countries can ill-afford. Developing countries are therefore in urgent need of new strategies and approaches that focus more explicity on the links and coherence between skills and employment and productivity. Skills affect people's lives and economic and social development in many ways. Skills improve labour market outcomes both in terms of employment rates and earnings. But the positive role of skills extends beyond impact on career prospects: adults with low levels of skills have a higher likelihood of reporting poor health and participate much less in politics; an adult with high levels of skills are much more likely to feel that they have a voice that can make a difference. These results are consistent across a wide range of countries, confirming that skills have a profound relationship with economic and social outcomes across a wide range of contexts. Skills are also key to tackling inequality and promoting social mobility. Investing in human capital is the single most effective way of not just promoting growth but also of distributing its benefits more fairly. Investing in skills is far less costly, in the long run, than paying the price of poorer health, lower incomes, unemployment and social exclusion, all of which are closely tied to lower skills. Governments face a number of challenges to make the most of available skills. Getting the best returns requires the ability to assess the quality and quantity of the skills available in the population, determine and anticipate the skills required in the labour market, and develop and use those skills effectively in better jobs that lead to better lives. Skills policy requires coherence and co-operation across all areas and levels of government, as well as with the private sector, social partners, teachers and parents. Skills development is more effective if the world of learning and the world of work are linked.
Without proper investment in skills, people languish on the margins of society, technological progress does not translate into economic growth, and countries can no longer compete in an increasingly knowledge-based global society. Countries are looking for more guidance on how to strengthen employability through work-based learning and traning. To this end, OECD is launching a new area of work that aims to better co-ordinate work-based learning with classroom learning and ensure that the outcomes of both are fully recognised; tackle unemployment and improve recruitment; and exploit new tech to pursue distance leaning and other options in work-based learning. A well-formulated, responsive education policy will not deliver results if it is not implemented effectively.
What is the importance of developing job skills? This is an excellent question. Simply put, it is very important to develop job skills. No skills equal few jobs; few job opportunities equal lower earnings, etc. One obvious way to obtain skills in an environment of rapid technological change and increased global competition is to get an education. So what is the value of an education? As is illustrated annual earnings increased dramatically as the level of education rose; and those differences widened noticeably. According to a recent report, our society is better educated than ever. 84% of adults completed high school and 26% hold bachelors degrees. However, even as our society becomes more educated, some workers are seeing their industries phased out and their skills left behind. The only way to stay ahead of this trend is for workers to continue to educated themselves. The workplace is more competitive than ever and changes on a seemingly daily basis. To adjust to this rapidly changing environment more and more workers are choosing to return to school to upgrade or improve their skills and earning capacity.
Education is fundamental to development and growth. The human mind makes possible all development achievements, from heath advances to efficient administration. For countries to reap these benefits fully, they need to unleash the potential of the human mind. And there is no better tool for doing so than education. While enrolments have risen around the world, learning levels have remained disappointingly. Because growth, development and poverty reduction depend on the knowledge and skills that people acquire, not the number of years that they sit in a classroom, we must transform our call for Learning for All. The forthcoming Education Strategy will emphasize several ideas: 1) Foundational skills acquired early in childhood make possible a lifetime of learning. The science of brain development shows that learning needs to be encouraged early and often, both inside and outside of the schooling system. In the primary years, quality teaching is essential to give students the literacy and numeracy on which learning depends. Adolescence is also a period of high potential for learning, but many teenagers leave school at this point. For those who drop out early, second-chance learning opportunities are essential to ensure that all youth can acquire skills for the labor market. 2) Getting results requires smart investments, that is, investment that prioritize and monitor learning, beyond traditional metrics, such as the number of students enrolled. Resources are too limited and the challenges too big to be designing policies in the dark. 3) Learning for all means that all students acquire the knowledge and skills that they need. Achieving learning for all will be challenging, but it is the right agenda now. It is the knowledge and skills that children and youth acquire today, not simply their school attendance, that will drive their employability, productivity, health, and well-being in the decades to come, and that will help ensure that their communities and nations thrive.
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