Greening TVET and Skills: Responses from the Asia-Pacific Region

Date: 3 August 2015

Time: 14:30-16:30

Objectives:

• To present the preliminary findings of a research study that took stock of green jobs that support low-carbon transitions in the Asia-Pacific region, identified skills and training gaps, and analysed how greening through topping-up of skills in selected occupations is embedded in TVET programmes;
• To share experiences of greening TVET and skills across the UNEVOC Network; and
• To elaborate on policy interventions for greening TVET and skills.

 Key questions:

• What are the jobs that can support transitions to low-carbon economies and societies, and where are the skills bottlenecks for these jobs?
• How is education and training responding to the need of supporting the foundation for making successful transitions to low-carbon economies in Asia-Pacific region? What is the evidence?
• What are the strategic links of greening TVET and skills that can facilitate these transitions?
• What policy interventions and approaches are urgently needed to support TVET transformations?

 Facilitator:

• Mr. Shyamal Majumdar, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for TVET

Panel Speaker:

• Ms. Margarita Pavlova, Director, Hong-Kong Institute of Education (HKIED), UNEVOC Centre
• Mr. Sreeni Narayanan, UNEVOC Project Consultant, Assist Asia 

Discussants:

• Mr. Constant Van Aerschot, Business Council for Sustainable Development, Singapore
• Mr. Martin Borg, Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology
• Mr. Jos Hermans, United Nations University (UNU-IAS)

Country reports:

• Dato' Haji Mohlis Bin Jaafar, Department of Polytechnic Education, Ministry of Education, Malaysia
• Ms. Bujinlkham Duger Shaazgan, UNEVOC Center of Mongolia
• Mr. Dedimuni Nadeesh Indika Dayananda De Silva, Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission, Sri Lanka
• Mr. Dayue Fan, Shenzhen Polytechnic, China
• Ms. Yufeng Liu, Central Institute for Vocational & Technical Education (CIVTE), Ministry of Education, China

Outline:

The decision of many countries to develop green growth agendas is creating a transition to low-carbon economies worldwide, including in the Asia-Pacific region. These developments are driven by societies, economies and the environment which gives technical and vocational education and training (TVET) a complex landscape to address.  Economies that are increasingly embracing green growth policies and a sustainability agendas are shaping a completely new landscape of occupations and skills required in their context.

These green transitions have impact on employment and skills. Firstly, skill demand may increase or decrease in view of changes in the employment structure. Secondly, as industries are greened, new occupations, skill profiles, as well as qualification and training frameworks are created. The impact of these changes can be observed in the electricity sector which is shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, driving companies to actively retrain their workforce to ease the transition. A similar pattern can be observed in the construction sector which relies largely on skills of their existing workforce in making the transition. The rapid urbanization process also introduces ventures like eco-cities and increasingly reorients associated occupations. In all of these cases, job creation is stimulated and employment alternatives are created. However, skill deficits still exist and need to be overcome, particularly in traditional vocational jobs that now require medium to high-level skills.

Developing the skills, knowledge and competencies to meet the demands of resource-efficient, sustainable processes and technologies are essential to making the transition to low-carbon economies. In as much as skills are needed to be developed for new and emerging occupations, the workforce also needs to be trained and retrained to possess a skills mix that meets the demands in existing occupations.   Skills strategies that are adaptable to these changes are desirable across existing sectors that are experiencing shifts in their skill profiles. As a result, education and training institutions need to respond promptly by developing skills, particularly in strategic green sectors.

This session will address these issues related to countries’ progress in developing their TVET systems in the Asia-Pacific region and their level of transition to a low-carbon economy. It will provide a platform for experience sharing, in particular by presenting experiences of skills bottlenecks identified through an analytical study conducted by UNESCO-UNEVOC in collaboration with the UNEVOC Centres in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as for experience sharing by industry practitioners and researchers. The session will draw on examples of how vocational training institutions in the Asia-Pacific region are responding to the bottlenecks and identify where gaps still exist. 

References:

GIZ. 2013. TVET for a Green Economy. http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/4tDx9kw63gma/giz-2013-en-TVET%20for%20a%20Green%20Economy.pdf

Martinez-Fernandez, C., Ranieri, A. and Sharpe,S. 2014. Green skills for a low-carbon future.OECD/Cedefop, Greener Skills and Jobs. OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264208704-4-en

OECD. 2012. The Jobs Potential of a shift towards low-carbon transition. http://www.oecd.org/employment/emp/50503551.pdf

www.cedefop.europa.eu