Download World Bank in the Pacific Youth Employment Skills Development

Participation in ADB Youth Employment, Self
Employment and Sustainable Development in the
Pacific and Timor-Leste
Why the World Bank
 Objective: reducing poverty
 Can bring global ideas, evidence and technical
knowledge, as well as finance, to assist countries meet
development challenges – countries are our clients
 Challenges in the Pacific –
 High proportion of youth population facing limited
formal sector employment opportunities
 mismatch of skills available to those demanded by
labour markets at home and abroad
 quality of basic education
What is the World Bank doing?
 Education Sector Support – Tonga, Timor-Leste
 Second Chance Education – PNG, Timor-Leste; study
on civil society provision of SCE in Solomon Islands,
PNG, Vanuatu
 Diagnostic and support to joint action to improve
basic education quality:
 Early Grade Reading Assessment (Timor-Leste, Tonga,
Vanuatu, PNG – in future in Solomon Islands and
Samoa – with ADB, NZ, AusAID)
 Early Grade Numeracy Assessment (Timor-Leste +)
Labour Market Note in the Pacific:
 Aims to develop a clearer picture of labor
market outcomes and their determinants. Analyzing existing evidence (including SPC
HIES) to compare education outcomes with
labor market demand
 Comparing employment and labor force
participation rates was challenging…
 Thanks to SPC for sharing data
Labor Market Note: Key Findings 1
 Labor market outcomes are unlikely to
improve unless countries boost the quality of
education at all levels to ensure that workers
can meet the needs of employers – and both
cognitive and behavioral skills will be critical.
 As well as improved skills, it is important that
workers have expectations for employment
that are commensurate with their skills as
well as the motivation to engage in productive
work.
Labor Market Note: Key Findings 2
 Additional information and analysis are needed to
understand the specific needs of the private sector,
identify skills gaps, and how education systems
can best address gaps.
 Includes more frequent good-quality data
collection; testing on cognitive and noncognitive abilities at multiple levels of
education; and formal employer surveys.
 This information will help focus action on areas
needed to improve labor market outcomes.
Questions/ ideas for discussion
 Broadening the TVET agenda – what labor market
outcomes do countries seek –
 What is the national skills strategy/ list of priorities
 Domestic/ External Labor Market opportunities
 What information is currently available/ needed
 How can all stakeholders contribute – including private sector
and communities
 What is the best role for government considering limited
resources and capacity
 What policies, programs, reforms, will enable these outcomes
 How do countries make use of donors in achieving their skills
strategy goals