Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific
Read in this book: • The complete report on ADB’s comprehensive study of education in the Asia and Pacific region • Evidence reaffirming development of education at all levels as essential for sustained and inclusive economic growth and social development • Chapters on basic education, technical and vocational education and training, and higher education— covering current status, significant developments, emerging trends and issues, and a strategic framework for ADB support of accelerated development of human resources • Strategic recommendations and operational implications for ADB
About the Asian Development Bank
ADB’s vision is an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty. Its mission is to help its developing member countries substantially reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people. Despite the region’s many successes, it remains home to two thirds of the world’s poor. Nearly 1.7 billion people in the region live on $2 or less a day. ADB is committed to reducing poverty through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Based in Manila, ADB is owned by 67 members, including 48 from the region. Its main instruments for Education helping its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance. In 2007, it approved $10.1 billion of loans, $673 million of grant projects, and technical assistance amounting to $243 million. andSkills STRATEGIES FOR ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines www.adb.org Publication Stock No. BBK120008 ISBN No. 978-971-561-702-4 Printed in the Philippines
Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific
June 2008
Contents
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS v
FOREWORD vii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ix
Chapter 1: Introduction 2
Chapter 2: Basic Education 6 Introduction 6 The Basic Education Landscape in the Region 7 Central and West Asia 7 South Asia 8 East Asia 8 Southeast Asia 9 The Pacific 9 Major Issues in Basic Education 10 Changing Context and New Challenges 10 Review of Lessons Learned 10 Emerging Areas of Strategic Focus 14 Strategic Priorities for Basic Education 16 Low-Income Countries with Predominantly Agrarian-Driven Economies 16 Low-Income Countries Reliant on Factor-Driven Growth, Principally Low-Cost Manufacturing 17 Transitional Economies, Moving from Central Planning to a Market Economy 17 Middle-Income Economies Reliant on Investment-Driven Growth 18 The Pacific and Other Island Economies 18 The Role of ADB in Basic Education 19 ADB Experience in Basic Education 19 Lessons from Experience 19 Strategic Approaches for Basic Education 20 Implications for ADB 22
Chapter 3: Technical and Vocational Education and Training 24 Introduction 24 The TVET Landscape in the Region 25 Economic and Social Rationales for TVET 26 Main Categories of TVET 27 Development Issues in the Region and Their Implications for TVET 28 Major Issues in TVET 29 Economic Relevance 29 Social Relevance and Equity of Access 29 Quality of Instruction 29 Organizational and Management Effectiveness 30 Internal Efficiency and Sustainability 30 Strategic Priorities for TVET 30 Agrarian, Low-Income Countries 31 Countries Characterized by Factor-Driven Growth and Low-Cost Manufacturing 31 Transitional Economies 31 Countries Characterized by Investment-Driven Growth 31 Countries Characterized by Innovation-Driven Growth 32 Small Island Countries 33 The Role of ADB in TVET 33 ADB Experience in TVET 33 Lessons from Experience 34 Strategic Approaches for TVET 35 Implications for ADB 40
Chapter 4: Higher Education 42 Introduction 42 The Higher Education Landscape in the Region 42 Shifts in International Support for Higher Education 44 The Role of Higher Education in National and Regional Development 44 Context and Recent Developments 44 Challenges and Issues in Higher Education 45 Internal Efficiency 45 External Efficiency 45 Access and Equity 46 Administration and Governance 46 Cost and Financing 46 The Role of ADB in Higher Education 47 ADB Experience in Higher Education 47 Strategies for Higher Education 47 Summary Analysis of Strategies for ADB Support of Higher Education 57 Implications for ADB 61
Chapter 5: Recommendations and Implications for ADB 62 Strategic Recommendations 63 Implications for ADB 65
Appendix 1: Education Economics: Emerging Issues in the Asia and Pacific Region 66 Appendix 2: ADB Loans, Grants, and Technical Assistance in the Education Sector 78 Appendix 3: The EFA Development Index and its Components in Selected ADB Developing Member Countries 82 Appendix 4: Definition and Scope of Technical and Vocational Education and Training 83 Appendix 5: The Technical and Vocational Education and Training Landscape in the Asia and Pacific Region 84 Appendix 6: Main Issues in Technical and Vocational Education and Training in the Asia and Pacific Region 97 Appendix 7: ADB Support for Technical and Vocational Education and Training 110 Appendix 8: Supplementary Data on Higher Education 113 Appendix 9: Summary of Recent ADB Loans for Higher Education 120 Appendix 10: Research and Development Performance by Sector in Selected Countries 122
References 123
iv | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Acronyms and Abbreviations
ADB — Asian Development Bank DMC — developing member country EDI — EFA Development Index EFA — Education for All GDP — gross domestic product GNP — gross national product HSC — high school certificate ICT — information and communication technology ILO — International Labour Organization Lao PDR — Lao People’s Democratic Republic Strategy 2020 — long-term strategic framework (2008–2020) of ADB MDG — Millennium Development Goal NER — net enrollment ratio NFE — nonformal education NGO — nongovernment organization NQF — national qualification framework NWFP — North West Frontier Province (Pakistan) OECD — Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PNG — Papua New Guinea PPP — public-private partnership PRC — People’s Republic of China PTP — private training provider SSC — secondary school certificate TVET — technical and vocational education and training UNESCO — United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization VET — vocational education and training
NOTE
In this report, “$” refers to US dollars.
Acronyms and Abbreviations | v
Foreword
his study analyzes education sector issues consultant team. The study was drafted by a and strategies in the Asia and Pacific region consultant team comprising Victor Ordoñez (team (the region). The study report is expected to leader responsible for overall coordination and for T guide the Asian Development Bank (ADB) preparing the draft chapter on basic education), operations in the education sector and help ensure Richard Johanson (responsible for preparing the they remain responsive and relevant to the needs draft chapter on technical and vocational education of its developing member countries (DMCs). The and training), David Chapman (responsible for study reaffirms that the goal of inclusive growth preparing the draft chapter on higher education), depends on continuous development of an adequate and Victor Levine (responsible for preparing the human resource base, and provides a strategic draft appendix on emerging economic issues in framework for ADB’s work in the education sector education). in support of that development. Robert Wihtol, chair of the ADB Education ADB’s education sector policy, approved in Committee, and Jouko Sarvi, cochair, supervised 2002, provides a flexible and forward-looking preparation of the study on behalf of the framework for ADB assistance. In formulating the committee. The following staff reviewed and scope of this study, the ADB Education Committee provided constructive comments on the draft reviewed current policy and confirmed that it study report at various stages of its preparation: remains valid in the medium term. However, the Alain Borghijs, Sukhdeep Brar, Kowsar Chowdhury, committee saw the need for a sector strategy study Wendy Duncan, Leah Gutierrez, Rie Hiraoka, to guide ADB in adjusting its assistance strategies Ayako Inagaki, Wolfgang Kubitzki, Manuela Prina, within the framework of existing policy. The study and Lan Wu. Barry Lanier very capably edited the report will help ADB continue to respond effectively report, Myla Bonto provided valuable support in to demand for assistance in education, and in finding and analyzing source material and data, and particular to new needs arising from evolving Janelyn Alcantara and Abigail Garrovillas provided labor markets and rapid economic and social efficient administrative support. development in the region. We hope that the study report provides useful Preparation of the study coincided with work insights not only for ADB management, staff, and on ADB’s long-term strategic framework 2008– counterparts and stakeholders in DMCs, but also 2020 (Strategy 2020), and the process provided for a wider audience in the education community valuable inputs to preparation of Strategy 2020. in the region and beyond. The region is undergoing While the study is forward-looking, it also draws rapid social and economic change. Investing in and upon lessons learned in the education sector. In continuously developing the education sector is addition to an extensive desk study, it incorporates essential to confront new challenges, and is crucial feedback from consultations with government to facilitate change and ensure the sustainability officials, education sector staff, and a wide range of and inclusiveness of growth. stakeholders in several DMCs. ADB has a strong track record of providing efficient and effective support to education in DMCs, and has gained a comparative advantage in several areas. This experience provided valuable lessons that are reflected in this study. The study was initiated by the ADB Education Committee, which prepared the terms of reference Xianbin Yao for a team of consultants, reviewed draft reports, Acting Director General and organized in-house workshops with the Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Foreword | vii
Executive Summary
ducation and Inclusive Growth. Ample other ministries, civil society, communities, evidence shows that education is needed and the private sector. for development and should receive Asian E Development Bank (ADB) assistance. Four trends also emerged from the review of Growth in the Asia and Pacific region (the region) experience that are expected to characterize basic has been far from inclusive. The gap between education assistance in the future: the rich and the poor has widened. The lack of adequately educated and trained workers has (i) an expanded vision of basic education, been a major bottleneck in growth and economic widening its scope to include secondary expansion. ADB’s developing member countries education, and recasting its content to better (DMCs) recognize the economic and social returns meet the demands of the workforce and other of investment in education, and seek assistance levels of education; in optimizing that investment. Except for a few (ii) greater use of information and communication countries, the success of Education for All (EFA) and technology for administrative purposes, the increasingly complex demands of globalization teacher training, classroom instruction, and require that attention be shifted beyond basic other delivery mechanisms; education to technical and vocational education (iii) more articulation with TVET, higher and training (TVET), and to higher education. education, and the world of work; and Priority areas for ADB intervention necessarily (iv) innovations in alternative financing, private differ from country to country. This study provides sector participation, and partnerships. a framework for identifying the priorities and strategic areas of intervention for different types of Progress toward universal access to primary DMCs at different levels of development. education has generally been laudable in the region. However, in a handful of countries the Basic Education. The rationale and importance Millennium Development Goal of universal access of basic education stems from its function as a will not be achieved by the target year of 2015. precondition for individual development, further Policy priority in these countries must continue education, and social growth. A review of the to be on accelerating progress toward universal results in basic education over the past two decades primary education. For the remaining countries, the in the region yields five significant lessons from success of EFA has created considerable pressure that experience concerning lack of balance. Past on secondary education systems to absorb greater attention was focused on numbers of primary education graduates. In all countries primary and secondary education must be (i) increasing enrollment and improving access, judged according to the extent they contribute to to the neglect of quality; individual development and social growth. A sense (ii) getting children to school, to the neglect of prevails, however, that education is of inadequate keeping them there; quality to sufficiently prepare individuals for either (iii) primary schooling almost exclusively, to the the world of work or for further education. The neglect of other dimensions of EFA, such quality and relevance of education programs and as early childhood education, nonformal their outputs demand high priority in education education, and adult education; policy if those programs and outputs are to be (iv) providing educational places for the majority, building blocks for inclusive growth. to the neglect of the underserved—e.g., ADB has accumulated significant experience ethnic and nomadic groups, minorities, and supporting development of basic education. While those with special needs; and grant financing from bilateral development partners (v) ministries of education, to the neglect of will continue to be available for basic education, possibilities for innovative partnerships with it is likely that financing gaps will remain in many
Executive Summary | ix DMCs. With its experience and financing resources, Many outstanding issues in the TVET ADB will continue to have a comparative advantage subsector derive from its fragmentation and its in the subsector. inappropriate and unclear organizational structure Common issues cut across all country types in in DMCs. Getting the organizational structure right the region. ADB’s future work in basic education is one of the first essential steps toward effective will likely feature TVET. Skills development can be expensive because of small classes and the need for equipment and • renewed emphasis on quality, materials for effective training. This makes it all • retooling and reorientation of teachers, the more important to use resources efficiently and • developing capacity in national and monitor performance progress. All too often the subnational education bureaucracies, costs fall exclusively on constrained public budgets, • an explicit strategy to reach out to the resulting in chronic underfinancing. Financial underserved and guarantee equitable access, diversification is essential. • strengthening early childhood education and ADB has been a traditional supporter of TVET. expanding nonformal learning, and Emphasis in its assistance has shifted, rightfully, • development of new partnerships and from support for the construction of facilities in the modalities. early years, to support of curriculum and instructor development in recent years. The objectives of For this work to be optimally effective, a recent projects are appropriate to the recipient number of improvements internal to ADB may have economies and generally are compatible with to take place, as outlined at the end of this section. their stage of economic development and national priorities. In view of its successful track record in Technical and Vocational Education and the face of growing economic and social demands, Training. Several factors are focusing new light on and the need for reform of TVET systems, ADB the importance of effective systems for technical should continue to support TVET. ADB has a and vocational skills development. The growing comparative advantage in TVET given that only a number of graduates of basic education entering the few bilateral development partners support TVET labor market without marketable skills is creating in the region and their financing volume is relatively social and political pressure to expand access low. However, further evolution of priorities to training. The demand for skills is increasing, in ADB support, toward system-wide reforms, sometimes exponentially, due to a combination is recommended. With appropriately adjusted of technological, structural, and organizational priorities, future ADB assistance is likely to make changes. Trade openness and foreign direct the greatest impact in four areas: investment—i.e., globalization—are contributing to capital deepening, with its complementary (i) improvement of organizational and requirements for more and better human capital. management structures, with support from Systems for skills development in the region are apex organizations and national training ill prepared to meet these challenges. The essential authorities, where possible; requirement for successful skills formation is close (ii) development of occupational standards alignment of training systems with the needs of through the design of efficient vocational the labor market. However, training systems in qualification frameworks and the setting of the region tend to operate in isolation of labor minimum training standards; market demand and with little or no employer (iii) establishment of financial incentives by participation. setting performance standards, devolving The purpose of skills training is to impart responsibility with accountability for results, knowledge and competencies. In most cases, and establishing competitive training funds; however, the ingredients for quality—occupational and standards, qualified instructors, necessary (iv) expansion of private training provision and equipment, and quality assurance mechanisms—are establishment of more efficient regulatory lacking. Skills development arguably is the most frameworks for it while facilitating adherence difficult subsector to organize and manage in the to standards. education sector. It cuts across organizational boundaries, caters to diverse clients, involves In terms of levels and types of training, greater multiple delivery mechanisms, and keeps changing attention should be devoted to continuous in- in market characteristics. service training of adults and to enterprise-based
| Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific training. This contrasts with past exclusive focus on that are needed for an economically competitive institution-based, preemployment training. Training society. for the informal sector should be given prominence In many DMCs, however, the ability of higher to support inclusive development, particularly in education to fulfill these roles is under considerable countries that are less industrialized with limited pressure. The rapid growth of higher education has wage jobs. In DMCs where economies are moving often come at the cost of quality. Low quality is the up the value chain, postsecondary technical training biggest problem and greatest challenge facing many should have high priority in view of its seminal role DMC higher education systems. Areas needing in leveraging improvements throughout training greatest attention to improve the quality of higher systems. ADB should be cautious with support for education include “vocationalizing” secondary education in view of its poor record in developing countries. ADB should • aligning the knowledge and skills of also be aware of the difficulties of supporting overly secondary school graduates with the entrance ambitious vocational qualification frameworks. requirements of higher education, • linking higher education preparation with Higher Education. Over the next decade, expanding labor market demand, and strengthening higher education will be a priority • diversifying the sources of financing of public concern in nearly all DMCs. Governments face higher education institutions, strong social demand for expanded access. Most • financing private higher education, see a need to increase the supply of highly trained • increasing the emphasis on cost-sharing by personnel. Virtually all DMCs seek to incorporate students and families, and advances in information and communication • resolving staff compensation issues. technology to improve delivery of higher education. The growing demand for higher education is Success in the continuing development of a product of the convergence of several powerful higher education will be defined in terms of raising dynamics. One is the growth of enrollment at quality as well as extending equitable access. primary and secondary levels, which is fueling ADB can play three important roles in support sharply increased social demand for access to of higher education development in the region: postsecondary opportunities. At a broader level, the increased economic interdependency among (i) lending for infrastructure and policy countries aspiring to become knowledge-based development aimed at expanding access to economies, the speed of communications, and the postsecondary education, both public and importance of technology have created escalating private; demand for higher-level technical, managerial, and (ii) serving as a source of knowledge creation, administrative skills. Strong empirical evidence synthesis, and sharing with regard to the also demonstrates that the highly educated are management and operation of higher enormously important to social and economic education systems and institutions; and development. Evidence consistently shows that (iii) serving as a source of technical assistance countries that invest in improving quality and in support of capacity development of equitable access in higher education benefit system and institutional administrators and economically and socially. Every dollar invested instructional staff. in expanding the pool of workers with higher qualifications results in a greater reward through The knowledge management and sharing economic growth. Such investment provides tangible roles might take the form of funding national and benefits to all of society, not just to the individuals regional hubs devoted to information sharing, who benefit from greater educational opportunities. brokering international and regional twinning Higher education contributes to national arrangements, and operating as a clearinghouse for development in three principal ways. First, it technical and managerial expertise. prepares the primary and secondary teachers that Science and technology as a focus of shape the dimensions and quality of the overall investment in higher education should be viewed education system. Second, those teachers train the with caution. The development of science and high-level technical and administrative personnel technology is based on the convergence of inputs needed in government, business, and industry. from numerous sectors. The principal factors that Third, higher education institutions operate as promote science and technology development are incubators of the innovation and creative thinking not the activities of universities. Higher education
Executive Summary | xi can effectively support development of science and All this implies several internal modifications technology when comprehensive policies and cross- within ADB. If ADB is to be a knowledge sectoral national development frameworks exist in management organization in education, it must this field in DMCs. establish its capacity to serve as a knowledge base in key areas in basic education, TVET, and higher Recommendations and Implications for ADB. The education. ADB has considerable experience from recommendations for all three subsectors emphasize past projects, but in its current organizational the importance of aligning ADB assistance in arrangement the accumulated knowledge from education with the development and inclusive that experience is not always used effectively for growth needs of DMCs. In many cases this means the benefit of new projects or DMCs. A more supporting the growth of human resource capacity formal clearinghouse mechanism, or a structural to levels beyond basic education to furnish the reorganization, may be required, aimed at skills and competencies needed to bring DMCs improving knowledge collection and dissemination to the next stage of development. Nevertheless, in the sector. inclusive growth depends on quality at all levels of ADB must be seen as having a core of expertise education, and a priority focus on quality emerges in the priority areas of education. This means as an overriding recommendation of this study. retooling and upgrading existing staff and, if Continued reliance on comprehensive needed, recruiting additional staff in areas where sector analysis and broad-based sector reform is ADB has not been extensively involved. It also another area where ADB can make a significant means that in areas where staff expertise is not contribution. In light of the fast-changing available, ADB must actively cultivate networks of environment, ADB must continue to pursue individuals and groups of specialists. innovation, explore new modalities of operation, Finally, ADB must take a more active role as and pursue partnerships with the private sector, a knowledge disseminator, sharing its accumulated local communities, education ministries, and a experience and wisdom more widely, both internally broad range of other ministries and line agencies. and externally.
xii | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific
Chapter 1 Introduction
he Asia and Pacific region (the region) has • Growth throughout the region has been distinguished itself in the past decade as non-inclusive; in rapidly growing DMCs, the the world’s most rapidly developing region. gap between the rich and the poor has been The recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) widening. T Eminent Persons Group report highlights the fact • In some DMCs, up to half of those who that the fast pace of economic expansion of the have completed primary education revert to People’s Republic of China (PRC) and India has functional illiteracy, making them unfit for placed those countries among the world’s 10 largest further study or the work force. economies. The region now accounts for more than • In more than half of Asian DMCs, only 7 35% of world gross domestic product (GDP) in out of 10 children entering the first grade purchasing power parity terms, and rapid economic complete the primary cycle, and only 4 expansion is expected to continue. While in 1990 complete the secondary cycle. 35% of the people in the region lived on less than • Many DMCs are suffering an acute and $1 a day, by 2003 the figure was down to 19%. The worsening shortage of skills. Some businesses report maintains that by 2020, widespread absolute are forced to scale back plans for expansion poverty in most countries of the region will be because they cannot find enough workers conquered, with more than 90% of the people with the needed skills. living in middle-income countries (ADB 2007h). • Except for the most dynamic economies and Despite impressive progress, a growing body growth areas, most DMCs will not be able of evidence points to serious education and human to generate enough jobs to accommodate resource–related problems that require urgent the growth in the supply of labor. Most new attention if the region is to sustain its progress and labor market entrants will have to work complete the job of eradicating poverty. Several of in the informal sector, and they lack the ADB’s developing member countries (DMCs) remain technical and business skills needed to grow mired in poverty, and even in rapidly growing and prosper there. DMCs there are substantial pockets of poverty and • Demand for higher education is booming, unemployment. Optimistic forecasts mask a limiting and is expected to double in 5 years and factor that seriously threatens these projections: triple in less than 10 years in many DMCs. an inadequately prepared human resource base to But this expansion will continue to be drive and support continued progressive growth. haphazard, spawning many institutions of Many DMCs see this as a serious bottleneck that inferior quality. will hamper their development. Some of the critical human resource constraints are: Human capital is an essential component of economic growth and development. However, education sector progress in the region has not kept pace with the fast-changing demands of “The Eminent Persons Group [comprising seven prominent an increasingly complex and rapidly developing individuals] was established in June 2006 to provide views world. Clearly, this needs priority attention. The on the future of the region and recommendations on the role economic case for investing in education has of ADB. The Group studied the changes that have occurred been long established. Widely accessible quality in the region and considered the key driving forces of future development. It then developed a set of recommendations education has been a characteristic—indeed a for consideration when refining ADB’s long-term strategy” precondition—of the phenomenal growth of the (ADB 2007h). tiger economies of Asia.
| Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Human resource development and education decade focused on facilities and equipment for play an increasingly important role in ensuring technical and vocational education and training the sustainability of growth performance as (TVET). This approach was consistent with human DMCs move up the economic and technological resource planning and the emphasis at that time ladder. As the role of the industrial and services on economic growth. To support the gradual sectors expands, as economies open up, and as increase in the volume and the broadening scope production technologies become more advanced, of education sector lending in the 1980s, ADB education and skills development must become published its first education sector policy paper in increasingly flexible and responsive to changing 1988 (ADB 1988). The policy paper recognized the labor market needs. The complex demands of a importance of investing in primary and secondary global competitive economy require more advanced education in the context of broader human and skills and the ability of the workforce to adjust to social development. Since 1990, ADB has been shifts in not only domestic demand, but also in the a strong supporter of Education for All (EFA). global economy and labor market. As economic The focus of lending and technical assistance in development advances, the higher education system the 1990s thus shifted to basic education, with must cater to the growing need for technical and increasing attention to curriculum, education managerial expertise, innovation, and leadership. materials, teacher development, and developing These dynamics highlight the close link capacity for policy reform, strategic planning, and between economic growth and education and skills management. development. Appendix 1 reviews the latest findings Poverty reduction was adopted by ADB in regarding the economic returns and benefits of 1999 as its overarching objective (ADB 1999a). investment in various levels of education, some of In 2003, ADB published a second education which are summarized below: policy and strategy paper, which highlighted the importance of education at all levels as a tool for Education and human capital and their poverty reduction (ADB 2003a). Also stressed in impact on technological change, in the second policy paper was the importance of particular, have featured prominently in recognizing differences between countries, the economic growth models since the 1950s.… rapidly changing conditions in the region, and the Studies of the Asia and Pacific region have need for education projects to respond to particular demonstrated the critical role of education needs and conditions. The planning of investment in economic growth.…In the transition from in education in the context of an overall sector basic production to technical diffusion “…a policy framework was also emphasized. The region sophisticated educational base is needed has continued to develop and change rapidly, and to absorb and upgrade primary innovations in ADB’s second medium-term strategy, covering and foreign technologies effectively” (Porter 2006–2008, education is identified as one of six et al. 2002).…There is also evidence of priority sectors for assistance (ADB 2006b). the positive impact of secondary education ADB’s DMCs are diverse, but the chief on growth…Growth is clearly related to challenges they face in the education sector fall in national capacity in scientific research and three broad categories: development. (i) a continuing need for better access to ADB started investing in the education sector quality EFA, especially for the poor and in 1970, and education lending during the ensuing disadvantaged;
Introduction | 3 (ii) a resurgent need for TVET to support widespread urbanization, expansion and sustained economic growth and industrial diversification of economic activities, and a and services sector development; and significant move up the technology ladder in (iii) the need for development of higher education, many DMCs. This has led to a rapid expansion of including improved science and technology demand for vocational, technical, and managerial education and capacity. skills. Severe skill shortages are apparent in several DMCs, and are expected to worsen in the short Two themes cut across the three broad and medium term (The Economist 2007). In the challenges cited above. First is the need to develop PRC, for example, an estimated 140 million rural new and innovative approaches to education workers—most with limited education and few financing, including the development of public- vocational skills—have migrated to urban areas in private partnerships. Second is the importance of search of jobs and income opportunities. The flow information and communication technology (ICT) of unskilled workers from rural to urban areas as a means to improve education content and is expected to continue at the rate of at least 10 delivery. These challenges and crosscutting themes million a year. At the same time, many industries are discussed briefly below. in the PRC face severe production constraints due to a shortage of skilled workers. Other DMCs are Access to and Quality of Basic Education. The goal suffering shortages of workers with vocational of EFA was first articulated in Jomtien, Thailand, at and technical skills, and with qualifications in such the 1990 World Conference on Education for All, critical areas as ICT and accounting. and was subsequently reinforced by its inclusion in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Higher Education for Science and Technology. Skill Since then, considerable progress has been made shortages also extend to graduates of higher in the region in achieving EFA and the education education—particularly doctors, lawyers, engineers, MDGs, with support from ADB and other external and professional managers. The expanding demand partners. Some DMCs have made significant gains for qualified graduates in these fields far outstrips in improving access and have achieved universal the capacity of higher education institutions primary education. However, progress has been to produce them. The knowledge economy is more limited in several low-income DMCs, mainly expanding rapidly, and many DMCs are moving in South Asia, in part of Central and West Asia, quickly up the knowledge and technology ladder. and in the Pacific. Many children in these DMCs Higher education plays a vital role in developing still do not have access to primary education. human resource capacity in science and technology. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, for example, net Such capacity is essential for DMCs to attract enrollments are below 60%, while in Bhutan and foreign investors at the high end of the technology Nepal they are below 70%, and are about 75% scale, and to support research and development in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. To and innovation as local firms continue to advance comprehensively achieve EFA and the education technologically. Higher education will be of MDGs, many DMCs will continue to need ADB increasing importance in ensuring the longer-term support, not only to improve access, but also to competitiveness of the region’s economies. improve quality and completion rates in primary education. In a number of DMCs where access has Education Financing and Partnership with the improved significantly, inadequate attention has Private Sector. The financing of education poses been devoted to quality and completion. challenges at several levels. In basic education, there is scope for innovative planning and financing The Growing Shortage of Skilled Workers. Rapid mechanisms that will help with access and efficiency economic growth has been accompanied by concerns in the face of constrained public budgets. In TVET and higher education, the growing emphasis on the relevance of education outcomes Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2: “Ensure that, by in the labor market will increasingly require policy 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be planners, TVET and higher education providers, able to complete a full course of primary schooling.” MDG and the development community to explore new 3: “Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary and innovative partnerships with the private sector education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015” (ADB, United Nations Economic and and other stakeholders. The potential for such Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific [UNESCAP], and partnerships ranges from (i) cooperation between United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] 2006). vocational schools and industry to run in-plant
| Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific training programs, to (ii) development of high-end of skills shortages. ICT policies and strategies at fee-charging vocational programs responsive to national and sectoral levels must be strengthened in industrial needs; (iii) twinning, partnership, and many DMCs to provide an adequate framework faculty exchange programs between universities; for efficient use of ICT in education institutions and (iv) innovative public-private financing and and schools. management partnerships. The Study. The main study report is presented ICT and Education. ICT is playing an increasingly in three chapters, one each for basic education, important role in education at all levels. It has technical and vocational education and training, become an essential element of making education and higher education. A final brief chapter presents outcomes relevant to the labor market. Equally recommendations and implications for ADB. The important is the potential it offers to revolutionize study addresses four questions. First, how can education content and delivery. In basic education, ADB most effectively help DMCs attain quality ICT can provide pupils with computer literacy as EFA and achieve the education MDGs? Second, a foundation for subsequent education, and train how can ADB help the DMCs tackle the need for teachers. For pupils in remote or disadvantaged vocational and technical skills, and the growing areas, ICT can provide access to education. In skills gap in the region? Third, how can ADB help TVET and higher education, particularly in develop higher education and the scientific and science and technology, ICT plays a vital role in technological knowledge needed for the progressive the teaching and learning process. In the region’s competitiveness of DMCs? And finally, what fast-growing economies, the expansion of ICT skills internal issues, including staff skills and operational has been unable to keep pace with the galloping modalities, does ADB need to deal with to answer demand for ICT workers, and is a key element these three questions?
Introduction | 5 Chapter 2 Basic Education
Introduction in 1990 to $980 million in 1993. ADB lending for basic education during 1990–1999, at $1.4 billion, was eight times more than lending for basic asic education is the bedrock upon education during the two decades before that. The which all human resource development is increase in ADB technical assistance was even more founded. Basic education must be available rapid: the aggregate amount of technical assistance B to everyone for growth and development for basic education during 1990–1999 was 64 times to be inclusive. Without this foundation, no society the amount provided to basic education before can develop effectively. Not only must education 1990. (See Appendix 2 for data on ADB loans, be universally accessible, it also must be good, grants, and technical assistance for education.) relevant, and sustainable to equip citizens to Commitment to basic education leveled off improve society and to benefit from social and in the second half of the 1990s for a number of economic progress. Basic education provides the reasons, including donor fatigue and the lack of foundation for continuous and lifelong learning, absorptive capacity in recipient countries. However, whether for life or for specific professional and while the fundamental importance of basic education leadership positions. continued to be recognized and pursued, a renewal The rationale for investment in a basic of the commitment to EFA was clearly called for. education, however, stretches beyond basic In April 2000, the World Education Forum education being the foundation for economic was held in Dakar, Senegal, to reaffirm commitment development and inclusive growth, a Millennium to EFA. At the forum, the world community, led Development Goal (MDG), and a basic human by 151 governments, hundreds of civil society right. Significant positive social externalities— partners, the UN Secretary General, and the heads associated with fertility, public health, and social of the World Bank; the United Nations Educational, and civic stability—are linked with investment Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); in basic education and are essential for national the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); development and economic growth. and the United Nations Development Programme The catalyst provided by the Education for All (UNDP), reiterated the primacy of EFA. Drawing (EFA) decade (1990–2000) produced an increase upon the experience of the previous decade, in awareness and an outpouring of effort and the EFA strategy was reaffirmed and refined. In resources by the world education community, with a related development, the world community a focus on basic education. Beginning with the committed to achieving eight MDGs, two of which 1990 World Conference on EFA, governments, civil were universal primary education, and gender society, and international agencies reaffirmed basic equity within that (footnote 2). education’s highest priority, increased resource After the forum, a surge in priority attention allocations, and launched initiatives in pursuit of and resource allocations once again took place, EFA goals. Several countries formulated ambitious with more targeted initiatives drawn up based EFA action plans, and increased the percentage on lessons of the past decade. The international of their gross domestic product (GDP) devoted to development community doubled its resources basic education. International agencies likewise for basic education, the Fast Track Initiative for shifted priorities away from other subsectors of countries in greatest need was formulated, and a education to make basic education their principal Global Monitoring Team for EFA was established. focus. The World Bank, for example, increased Basic education was included in the regular agenda lending levels for basic education from $250 million of meetings of Group of Eight countries.
| Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Between 2000 and 2004, international equality, and quality of education. The range of development assistance to developing countries EDI scores in the region is wide (Appendix 3), from for basic education rose from $2.6 billion to higher scores (mainly in Central Asian DMCs), $4.4 billion. Overall, the percentage of public to medium scores (mainly in Southeast and East expenditure for education as a share of gross Asian DMCs), and to low scores (mainly in West national product (GNP) in developing countries and South Asian DMCs). The vastness and diversity rose from 4.3% to 4.7%. Low-income countries in of the region have resulted in quite different particular increased spending for education, as did results among subregions. A brief description of DMCs in Southeast Asia. However, expenditure the situation in each subregion is provided below. levels on education as a share of GNP stagnated in Where possible, other EFA dimensions that have South Asian DMCs (UNESCO 2007). not yet been integrated into UNESCO’s calculations Since 2000, progress has indeed been of EDI scores due to data limitations—such early significant, but EFA has continued to be an childhood education—are discussed (ADB 2006a; unattainable goal in a number of countries. The UNESCO 2004, 2005a, 2006a, 2007; Ordoñez and region, which had two thirds of the world’s out‑of- Sack 2005). school children 35 years ago, now has less than one third—25 million children—out of the world Central and West Asia total of 77 million children out of school. East and Southeast Asia, largely because of great strides in the PRC, have registered the most dramatic progress This subregion is finally emerging from the difficult toward universal primary education. On the other transition decade of the 1990s, a period of dramatic hand, South Asia continues to be one of two regions social shifts resulting from sudden independence of the world (the other being Sub-Saharan Africa) and self-reliance, and the reconfiguration of many where the MDG of universal primary education is social services. In Azerbaijan, the net enrollment not likely to be met by the target year 2015. ratio dropped from near universal primary education in 1990 to only 80% by 1998, but subsequently climbed back to 85%. Similarly, other countries of Central and West Asia recorded The Basic Education setbacks in enrollment in the early 1990s, but Landscape in the Region The quality and timeliness of data, though much improved EFA progress monitoring indicates that, in general, as a result of the Dakar assessment exercise standardizing countries doing well on one EFA goal tend to do definitions and formulas, leave much to be desired. well on the others. This implies, however, that Normally, countries do not compile information on a school year until the following year, and only some time after that is countries with low levels of EFA achievement face the information relayed to the United Nations Educational, multiple challenges, complicating the tasks they Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Institute of must carry out to achieve EFA as a whole. The EFA Statistics for compilation, further verification, and analysis. Development Index (EDI) is used globally to assess Needless to say, the reliability of information is only as achievement of EFA in a more integrated fashion. good as the reliability and competence of the national data gathering mechanisms in individual countries, which vary Due to data limitations, EDI still focuses on the greatly within the region. Data can be as much as 3 years four most easily quantified EFA goals: universal old. Nevertheless, they give a fair indication of trends and primary education, adult literacy, gender parity and progress.
Basic Education | 7 registered recovery in the latter part of the decade. that underserved areas and minority populations are Due to its strong resource base, primary education more poorly served than ever, with a growing disparity remained a priority in the subregion and gross of access in the same countries. enrollment ratios increased from 75–100% in Significant efforts have been made to narrow 1990 to 95–103% in 2000. The current decade the wide disparity in gender enrollment, but gaps also saw the subregion’s already low repetition will likely remain well beyond the 2015 target date rate of 1% drop further to 0.5%. School retention, for MDGs. Nepal and Bangladesh have made good traditionally high, remained so with survival rates progress in recent years in improving gender parity at 95% or above in these countries. in primary education (UNESCO 2007). However, The quality of education in the subregion, it is safe to generalize that for this subregion, about however, was sacrificed for quantity. Many teachers two thirds of all out‑of‑school children are girls. were untrained, classes were overcrowded, teacher Nowhere is the link between access and quality absenteeism increased, and class contact time was more evident than in this subregion. Inadequate shorter. Average contact time in this subregion facilities, unsafe environments, poorly performing was 701 hours per year, well below the average teachers, and irrelevant curriculum content serve of 800–1,000 hours in other subregions. National to dissuade parents from sending their children— education budgets as a percentage of GNP declined especially girls—to school. If parents do send them, from a subregional average of 2.4% of GNP in they do not feel compelled to see them complete 1990 to 1.3% in 2000. their primary schooling. The quality of teachers The loss of external or central funding for continues to be eroded by low salaries and status, early childhood programs resulted in a dramatic which results in many seeking supplementary drop in participation in these programs in the income from other jobs. Teaching materials and subregion, from 40–50% in the early 1990s to textbooks are in short supply. Close to 90% of 7–27% by 2000. A collective commitment to recurrent budgets in primary education goes to improve these rates has resulted in a slow reversal teachers’ salaries in South Asian countries, leaving of the downtrend in recent years. Participation rates inadequate financial resources for purchase of in early childhood programs, though varying from textbooks and other critically needed items. Often, country to country, now average about 35%. communities have established private schools due Gender disparity in enrollment has not been to the poor quality of public schools. However, the a problem in this subregion. However, gender quality of education in private schools often is also analysis reveals subtle symptoms of discrimination low because of the lack of regulation and the weak in curriculum content and differential treatment of capacity of ministries of education and communities girls in school. to monitor school performance.
South Asia East Asia
Due to institutional and societal factors, this East Asia has the strongest and the oldest tradition subregion presents the greatest challenges in of formal education and literacy in the region, reaching both gender equity and universal primary dating back centuries. In the latter half of the 20th education. Although improvement has been century, the largest expansion of a public school marked, much remains to be done. Rapid rates system in the world took place in the PRC, with of population growth in several countries in the remarkable success. During that period, hundreds subregion have far outdistanced capacity to keep of millions of children went to school for the first pace with increasing demand for basic education. time, and net enrollment ratios at the primary level The number of children in school increased over the shot up from less than 20% to 97% by 1990. These past decade by 20 million, to 132 million. However, ratios have been maintained through the 1990s, the number of children out of school also rose by with only a slight drop in the current decade. Not 7 million to 53 million, despite education budget only did children enter school, they stayed there. increases over the same period. Retention rates were about 96%. Repetition is up to 30% in primary education The high priority given to primary education in some countries in South Asia, and dropouts and as a national policy is also evident in the rest of frequent absenteeism result in high inefficiency and low this subregion. The Republic of Korea stands out completion rates. Disturbingly, as national averages in as an example of success in achieving universal these countries slowly improve, subnational data show education and gender equity. Mongolia is perhaps
| Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific the exception in the subregion. There, standard The erosion of quality and slippage from school systems do not always conform to nomadic earlier gains in access continue to be major lifestyles. Gender disparity in Mongolia favors problems in this subregion. Pupil/teacher ratios girls, as there are fewer males at every level of the hover at about 25, with countries like Cambodia school system. Mongolia is rebuilding its once- registering double that level. An erosion of decimated early childhood program. Some 36% of teacher salaries in real terms, coupled with low its preschool children in urban areas are now in a teacher status and a growing number of civic program of some kind, compared with 15% in rural duties for teachers, has made the profession less areas. Class sizes at this level remain quite large, attractive and, correspondingly, teacher training however, averaging 26 children. more difficult. The impact of low motivation, the The challenge is to sustain gains without continuing inroads of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and sacrificing quality and relevance. Already, because of inadequate support have made teacher absenteeism its huge population, the PRC has experienced a slight and incompetence real problems in many rural drop in the net enrollment ratio since 2000—from areas of this subregion. 97% to 94%—and class sizes are slowly growing. The Pacific Southeast Asia Influenced by both colonial heritage and Combined, Southeast Asia and East Asia have an religious initiatives, the Pacific region is likewise average net enrollment ratio of 95%, the highest characterized by a long tradition of near universal primary education participation rate in the entire primary education. Participation rates average developing world. Children in school now number above 90% in most countries, with Kiribati 207 million in Southeast Asia, compared with 181 reporting the subregion low of 83% and Tuvalu million a decade ago. The number of out-of-school reporting the high of 99%. Gender equity is children has declined from 7 million to 6 million. paradoxically reversed in this subregion. Because As in East Asia, gender disparity in enrollment in dropouts are more prevalent among males, a larger Southeast Asia is insignificant, although other forms percentage of females are enrolled, especially in of gender discrimination toward females exist. upper primary and secondary levels. Unfortunately, country averages mask continuing Dropouts are an increasing phenomenon, disparity within countries, as well as the failure over especially at the secondary level, where youth the last several years to push current high ratios problems (school violence, drugs, and HIV/ closer to 100%. Part of the reason is the relatively AIDS) are assuming serious proportions. This stagnant level of national budget allocations for is symptomatic of more serious concerns about education. There is a noticeable lack of effort to seek the quality and relevance of a basically imported new approaches and paradigms to access the yet program of study. In the Pacific islands, questions unreached minorities, who feel their exclusion from of cultural identity, migration, and endogenous mainstream primary education. Issues of quality development are important issues. Because and relevance, as well as renewed attention to both economic opportunities in the small island states preprimary (early childhood) and postprimary are limited, the anticipated benefits of continuing (secondary) education as part of EFA, are deservedly to the secondary level do not hold much potential. drawing more attention. Both preprimary and Consequently, transition rates have remained postprimary education are growing very rapidly, and comparatively low. in half of the countries reporting data, early childhood Education in many of the island states is education was the fastest-growing subsector supported to a significant degree by external in education. Only in Cambodia, Lao People’s funding, although this subregion leads the region Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and Myanmar are in terms of percentage of recurring budgets preprimary participation rates below 10%. dedicated to education. Marshall Islands, Unlike East Asia, however, dropouts and Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and incompletion rates present a problem in this Vanuatu allocate more than the 6% of national subregion. Even the Philippines, with a net recurrent budgets to education. Still, recurrent enrollment ratio of 93%, reports only 7 out of expenditures are often taken up by teacher 10 students finishing the primary cycle. Similarly, salaries—over 90% in Vanuatu, for example. Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar report Few resources are left for purchase of textbooks, completion rates below 80%. materials, and other teaching facilities.
Basic Education | 9 Major Issues in Review of Lessons Learned Basic Education DMCs have made significant progress in many areas of education. But results have been uneven and sometimes were not commensurate with the Changing Context and resources required for their achievement. Desired New Challenges results have sometimes not been sustained or even significantly achieved. In hindsight, analysis of The 1990 EFA Declaration at Jomtien, Thailand, experience has brought to light gaps in the strategic resulted in a shift in priorities, efforts, and perspective of many national plans. For purposes of resource allocations in the education sector to reshaping strategy for basic education, five major basic education. Since that declaration, however, lessons are germane. there have been remarkable changes worldwide. The context of basic education has changed Quality. Access—increasing enrollment dramatically, requiring a redefinition and reshaping numbers—was overemphasized to the relative of the EFA effort. neglect of quality. Many DMCs are moving rapidly toward becoming middle-income countries. The demands Throughout the region, even in South Asia of sustaining growth and advancing to the next where enrollments continue to be far below world level of development mean that human resource averages, the most outstanding characteristic of the development must focus more explicitly on higher past two decades has been the increase in primary levels of education. Two elements are critical for school enrollment—from 210 million in 1990, to successful provision of higher levels of education. 386 million in 1999, and to 399 million in 2006. First, entrants to higher education need to be of But in broadening access, quality has not always sufficient quality, having attained the necessary been a prime consideration. The focus on access has foundation and skills for learning from basic been largely driven by pressure to manifest tangible education. Second, access to higher education—like progress in universalizing primary education. This that for basic education—must be fully equitable, focus has been abetted by the fact that access is so that the growth engendered by education is easier to quantify than quality. There are readily inclusive of all sectors of society, and does not comparable indicators for access—numbers of exacerbate the rich-poor divide. students, teachers, and schools, and participation Other issues have arisen. One is the emergence rates—whereas universal measures of quality are of the private sector as an increasingly important harder to come by. Indeed, quality lends itself to player at all levels of education. This has occurred various definitions. In this report, however, quality because of increased demand for education from means learning achievement, as measured by both parents and society in response to the various assessment instruments discussed later. demands of economic growth, and because of Unfortunately, the emphasis on access has the inability of most governments to meet the proven to be counterproductive, and has not taken demand for education. The second is the rapid into account that pursuit of access and quality is internationalization of the education enterprise. not a zero-sum game. In prioritizing budgets and This is most obvious in higher education, but is also programs, there is not necessarily a conflict between occurring in technical-vocational and even basic quality considerations and access considerations. education. Better quality leads to more desirable schools and In the light of these challenges, it is useful to higher percentages of completion. Some DMCs, in review the strategic perspective for basic education their drive to achieve universal primary education, in DMCs according to their level of economic and have given priority to building more schools and educational development. Accordingly, experience hiring more teachers, to the neglect of quality. since the 1990 EFA Declaration is assessed, and The results have been disappointing. Even when essential lessons are identified that can help reshape initial enrollments increased, retention rates were and sharpen the focus of basic education policy. poor or declined, resulting in a waste of resources Emerging trends and requirements are examined, on short-staying students who often eventually as are priority areas for strategic intervention in the returned to illiteracy. Conversely, improving teacher future. These analyses are then used to formulate preparation, preschool programs, and curricular proposed operational guidelines for DMCs. content have proven much less costly and more
10 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific productive in terms of increasing the number of • Teacher training. In the following countries, those who complete school successfully. less than 80% of teachers are formally New evidence has emerged from recent trained: Bangladesh (66%), Kyrgyz Republic international studies of student achievement in (45%), Lao PDR (76%), and Maldives (67%). about 50 countries over several decades. Using Data are not available for Nepal and Pakistan, proficiency in cognitive skills as a proxy for but the percentage of inadequately trained education quality, higher scores were shown to teachers in those countries is likewise high. significantly influence growth of real GDP per • Absenteeism. While data are unavailable for capita, and to have a measurable impact on several DMCs, this is an important indicator. individual earning power. Study results showed that Quality is not possible when either teacher or attainment of levels of quality was a more reliable student is absent. Available data on teacher predictor of high rates of return than years of absenteeism in public primary schools show schooling (Hanushek and Woessmann 2007). rates below 5% in most DMCs, but alarming Recent study results also emphasized that rates of 16% in Bangladesh, 25% in India, improvement of quality is not necessarily achieved and 19% in Indonesia (Tandon 2006). by merely providing additional resources such as • Current primary education expenditures more books, better facilities, and other inputs. as a percentage of GNP. In the following The key ingredient to quality turned out to be countries, less then 1% of GNP is devoted system accountability, and incentives that motivate to current primary education expenditures: students, teachers, and schools to perform well. Bangladesh (0.5%), Cook Islands (0.2%), Accountability, in turn, hinges on a reliable Indonesia (0.5%), and Myanmar (0.5%). assessment system against which performance Cambodia, India, and Nepal also register can be measured. Different countries will of low percentages—between 1.0 % and 1.5% course define their own standards and educational (UNESCO 2007). priorities, but a tested and reliable assessment mechanism needs to be in place. Education systems Completion. The focus on access emphasized must distinguish between a testing system that getting children to school, to the neglect of evaluates the student for streaming or promotion, measures to keep them there. and a testing system that evaluates the education system—in terms of motivating better performance, If the purpose of basic education and its judging the effects of policy decisions, and benefit to the individual and to society are thwarted diagnosing the need for policy shifts. by the poor quality of schooling, it is even more It is difficult to compare quality achievement obviously thwarted by early dropouts. The MDG across countries because of variation in country for primary education explicitly calls for not only assessment instruments. International monitoring participation in schooling, but for completion of the groups, such as the global EFA monitoring team, full course of primary schooling or its equivalent. have to content themselves with comparing the This is particularly relevant in the region. Although inputs (e.g., qualified teachers) and processes (e.g., over 90% of children are in school, as many as 3 absenteeism) of education systems. The following in 10 fail to complete the primary schooling cycle five indicators have been used as proxies or in several countries—many of them reverting to determinants of quality in educational systems: illiteracy after a few years. Students failing to completion rates, average class size, number of complete the entire primary cycle range from less trained teachers, level of absenteeism, and current than 10% in the PRC and Thailand to over 50% primary education expenditures as a percentage in the Lao PDR and Myanmar. Countries having of GNP. Examination of these indicators below survival rates to the fifth grade of less than 80% are highlight shortcomings in the performance of Bangladesh (65%), Cambodia (70%), Cook Islands selected DMCs: (51%), India (61%), Lao PDR (62%), Myanmar (60%), Pakistan (77%), and Philippines (79%). • Pupil/teacher ratio (class size). In the Parents opt to discontinue schooling their following countries, the pupil/teacher ratio children for several reasons, including poverty, is 40 or above: Afghanistan (43), Bangladesh distance from school, the need for household (55), Bhutan (40), Cambodia (56), India or agricultural help from older siblings, and a (40), Nepal (40), Pakistan (44), and Timor- perception that schools are unsafe, hostile, or at Leste (51). best irrelevant to their needs. But administrative
Basic Education | 11 regulations as well as social pressures play major development are crucial to further development. roles in determining the extent of attrition among Studies have shown that attendance at some form primary education students. This is an area ripe for of preschool is a key determinant of the likelihood policy review, to ensure a supportive environment of completion of primary schooling. and identify explicit measures to combat the In countries with low adult literacy rates, avoidable causes of children dropping out of moving toward accelerated and inclusive growth school. In a few countries, experimental and control cannot wait years for the products of the primary groups were monitored to measure the impact of system to join the workforce. The untapped four variables on school retention and completion: potential of the adult population can be released preschooling, free lunches, parent-teacher groups, with well-designed literacy programs. In countries and free school supplies. A study in the Philippines such as India, where this problem has been tackled revealed that preschooling has the greatest impact and programs have been mounted, the results were on eventual school completion, and led to significant immediate, the participation of local communities policy changes in that country (Tan 1988). and volunteers heartening, and the costs minimal. Forced student repetition is a related issue. Alternative learning systems may be the Awareness of the danger of generating “pushouts” only realistic choice, even for primary education through repetition and unenforceable standards of school-age children, in countries where rapid has been increasingly recognized in recent years. expansion of the formal school system cannot Administrative measures have led to a dramatic be supported because of budget constraints. In decline of repetition in schools. Children continue to countries with comprehensive schooling systems, drop out, but are no longer forced to repeat in large alternative learning systems may be the solution for numbers. For example, in Bangladesh, where this groups that find participation in the formal school is still a minor residual problem, the repetition rate system impracticable due to geography, lifestyle, for the first grade alone was reduced from 45% to or culture. 6% in the last decade by changes in administrative attitudes and policies. In only four Asian countries Underserved and disadvantaged groups. was repetition reported to be above 9% (for all A monolithic and standardized approach grades): Bhutan (13%), Cambodia (10%), Lao to primary school expansion left out certain PDR (20%), and Nepal (22%). Policy change to groups. Where programs targeting these cope with this issue, especially in the Lao PDR and groups were implemented, such as programs Nepal, should not be too difficult to achieve. for girls or for minorities, mixed results were reported. Other dimensions of EFA. The focus on primary schooling tended to divert attention There is evidence of a slackening of attention from other vital dimensions of EFA, such as and effort in several countries once net enrollment early childhood education, adult literacy, and ratios in primary education reach 90% or over. basic skills development. Even when there is no slackening of effort, most countries have difficulty reaching the remaining Primary schooling is undoubtedly the principal 10%. Invariably, children outside school—even in means of achieving EFA, but it should not be the countries with a high level of participation—are only means. The expanded vision of EFA, espoused from remote areas and disadvantaged population by the EFA Alliance and emphasized in global EFA groups. In many countries these include culturally meetings, includes early childhood education, adult and linguistically diverse ethnic populations and literacy, and other aspects of meeting the basic minorities, the growing number of urban slum learning needs of all members of society. EFA and dwellers, children with disabilities, and those in empowering all population groups to participate refugee camps. In a multicultural context, reaching in a productive economy are not possible without this remaining cohort calls for strategies quite programs to prepare children for schooling, for different from simply expanding the mainstream adult illiterates, and for groups and sectors for system. Governments have to learn that the whom formal schooling is not an option. excluded will not adapt to mainstream systems. On Heightened attention to primary schooling the contrary, government systems must adapt to has diverted attention from these other dimensions excluded groups. of basic education. Early childhood education is The most effective EFA programs in middle- an often-overlooked dimension. It is important income countries are those that include programs not only because the first few years of a child’s specifically designed for targeted groups. There are
12 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific programs for ethnic minorities, using their mother also are likely to have ratios below 90%. In large tongue (e.g., in the PRC); programs for nomadic countries, high national averages often indicate populations, with teachers from the communities ratios of over 90% in urban areas, but ratios trained and traveling with them (e.g., the “floating close to 60% or lower in rural areas. Similarly, schools” for seafaring gypsies in the Philippines); nonattendance of girls and gender disparity are programs for scheduled castes and tribes (e.g., in evident in roughly the same cluster of countries, India); and programs for illiterate women involved and national averages mask even greater gender in microcredit (e.g., in Bangladesh). In similar disparities in rural and remote areas (UNESCO fashion, there are promising education programs 2005a, 2007). for street children in a few countries, as there are programs for children in refugee camps. New partnerships. Education bureaucracies Greater focus is now given to education were slow to recognize innovative forms of of children with special needs. Past policy of collaboration with local communities and a segregating these children into specialized schools wider range of partners. Where these were has given way to a policy of integrating them harnessed, progress was significant. into the regular school system wherever possible. Training teachers and modifying school programs A positive insight from the collective to accommodate special needs children has the experience of EFA programs in several DMCs is the additional benefit of improving teaching and importance of involving a wide range of partners. learning, not just for this minority, but also, as it Where the EFA effort remained exclusively or turns out, for the majority as well. predominantly a ministry of education initiative, In South Asia, where primary education is progress was limited at best. It is where EFA is far from universal, the largest and most obvious characterized by heightened public awareness group not adequately served is girls. The cultural and involvement, media attention, greater and ethnic tradition of keeping the female child collaboration with other government agencies, and at home is but one of many contributory reasons. most especially, commitment and dedication of Parents sometimes fear for the safety and security local communities, that progress is sustained and of daughters in a school where teachers and staff significant. are predominately male. Sometimes they entrust An example of active community support the care of siblings or other household chores and links between basic education and another to daughters, or see no benefit in education for sector is the joint effort of the EFA campaign and a child who is to be given away in marriage. Grameen Bank’s microcredit scheme for illiterate This is illustrated dramatically in the contrast rural women in Bangladesh. This effort is designed in participation rates between South Asia and to provide the numeric and writing skills needed Southeast Asia. by women borrowers to better manage their The problem has long been evident, and a loans. Examples in the nonformal education arena multitude of projects have been launched to tackle abound. Many are anchored in community learning it, but with mixed results. Some interventions have centers operated by nongovernment organizations short-term effects that do not last once external (NGOs) and spreading with impressive gains funding ends. Others, such as intensive training throughout Asia. In Cambodia, about 68 such to place more female teachers in rural schools, centers are fully operational and effective, mainly have much better and longer positive effects on with community support. Other countries such as girls’ enrollment. This approach is also much less Indonesia, Nepal, and Philippines have developed costly than interventions involving subsidies and hundreds of such centers. The Government of infrastructure. There are enough data on such Viet Nam has just officially accredited over 8,000 projects over the past two decades to guide policy community learning centers. The continuing makers in choices of optimum interventions to education programs of the network of community attain gender equity in primary schools. learning centers for prostitutes in Indonesia The following DMCs have reported net collaborate closely with counterparts in social enrollment ratios in primary education below 90%: and health ministries. The rural community Armenia (79%), India (89%), Kyrgyz Republic learning centers in the PRC a conduct education (87%), Lao PDR (84%), Maldives (79%), Nepal (79%), Pakistan (68%), Papua New Guinea (72%), and Viet Nam (88%). In addition, based on strong Due to inadequate data, the global UNESCO EFA monitoring secondary evidence, at least Bhutan and Myanmar team has not calculated specific ratios for these countries.
Basic Education | 13 work in collaboration with agricultural ministry administration (MBA) degree as the preferred path staff and neighboring agricultural universities. to careers in business. The community learning centers that teach skills The purpose of basic education is to meet development in Thailand have links with business the student’s fundamental learning needs. It is the and entrepreneurial partners to market and export prerogative of each country to determine how many their produce (Ordoñez 2007). In the Philippines, years of primary schooling are required to meet evidence from innovative pilot projects indicate those needs, and countries vary in this regard. In that local community participation can result the past several years, many countries, including in dramatic increases in student achievement Malaysia and Thailand, have explicitly expanded scores. Only after parents and communities are their definition of basic education to include not committed and involved, demanding accountability just primary schooling, but lower and even upper from schools, are the other quality inputs (e.g., secondary education. This move was premised on textbooks and teacher training) brought to bear the realization that at their stage of development, (Nebres 2007). a citizen must have at least 9 years of schooling to become a full contributor and participant in Emerging Areas of Strategic Focus the benefits of development. Universal secondary education is now seen as a precondition for countries to move beyond traditional primary The long-term prognosis for the region is positive. commodity–based economies (Porter et al. 2002). Socioeconomic forecasts anticipate that by 2020, In a similar vein, the delivery of basic only 10% of the region’s inhabitants will live education is looked upon with a different sense below the poverty line of less than $1 a day (ADB of urgency and purpose. In the past, basic 2007h) compared with 18% in 2005 and 35% education was seen as a matter of social equity in 1990 (ADB 2007d). However, in a number of and a fundamental human right guaranteed to countries poverty will continue to be a problem, all citizens. Today, it is also seen as part of the including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Nepal, and foundation for sustainable and inclusive growth, Tajikistan, among others. Another more prevalent essential for the individual as well as for national problem is the widening gap between the rich social development. Education is no longer and the poor within countries. Still, the rapid concerned with only helping to ensure an equitable pace of development and the impact of greater distribution of the fruits of development. It is interconnectedness and globalization will bring now also concerned with preparing citizens to about sweeping change in most countries. be active participants in accelerating the national It is essential to extract from this scenario the development process. Increasingly, secondary implications for basic education. If basic education education is seen as necessary to provide the is to empower citizens with the fundamental individual with the skills and knowledge to fulfill skills and attitudes they need to benefit from these broadened expectations. and contribute to inclusive growth, then it must Aside from the basic literacy tools of reading, impart these skills and attitudes in preparation for writing, and numeracy, tomorrow’s individuals a rapidly changing, more complex future. What will need knowledge and skills that will equip follows is a brief discussion of the four dominant them to participate productively in their societies. trends that appear to be redefining the nature and Curriculum revision, even of basic education, is scope of basic education in the region. badly needed. It should be undertaken, guided not only by traditional academic disciplines, but also by Expanding the Definition of Basic Education in the pressing issues facing society—environmental an Increasingly Complex Society Characterized degradation, health pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, by Urbanization and Globalization. If the social inequities, ethnic strife and violence, and world is increasingly complex, it follows that threats to good governance and democratic the preparation that basic education provides space. Basic education in the future could well be must reflect that complexity. The history of reorganized around these issues rather than around education bears this out. While in earlier times traditional subject areas. a primary education was adequate to ensure gainful employment, today the world of work Greater Use of ICT and Other Innovative Delivery demands skills provided at postprimary levels. In Mechanisms. Just as the content of basic education the corporate sector, traditional academic subject will change in response to the environment of the degrees have given way to a master of business future, so will the delivery modes of that content
14 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific have to change. As technology becomes more basic education must lay the foundation for an and more accessible, education systems will make individual’s orientation toward lifelong learning. increasing use of the advantages it provides. The In a rapidly progressing society, the content potential that ICT holds for enhancing learning of all formal learning, even at advanced skill and and improving the delivery of educational content higher education levels, has built-in obsolescence. has only recently begun to be appreciated. In The individual must therefore be equipped to know ADB-supported ICT projects, students were more how to continue to learn and adapt as the demands interested and motivated, absenteeism was reduced, of society and the workplace change and become standardized test scores were higher, collaboration more complex. and teamwork was enhanced, and communication As countries progress toward EFA, and as the and computational skills improved (ADB 2004a). need to further support higher levels of education ICT has proven beneficial beyond the confines become apparent, there may well be a shift of of the classroom. It has improved interoffice priority attention and resources beyond the basic communication for principals and administrators. It education subsector to other subsectors. This needs has been used to adapt curriculum and customize it to be carefully managed. The mutually reinforcing to student needs. It has been a welcome vehicle for in- nature of interdependency among the subsectors service teacher training, especially in remote areas. It must be taken into account. For example, the facilitates contact and collaboration with the business efficacy of higher education depends on the quality sector and the community. It is a tool in the ongoing of its entering students, which is dependent on the evaluation and assessment exercises of schools. quality of basic education. Universities complain Increased interest and investment in ICT for that the biggest bottleneck to improving their education call for careful assessment of policies, quality is the low capability of their entrants. strategies, costs, and benefits. Efficient use of ICT in Conversely, the effectiveness of basic education education institutions and schools requires support depends to a large extent on the availability and from coherent and coordinated ICT frameworks quality of teachers, who are produced by the higher at both national and education sector levels. ADB’s education system. studies and experience demonstrate the importance of optimizing ICT for improved education to suit Innovations in Financing and the Growing Role of specific circumstances and the development needs of the Private Sector and Partnerships. The inability individual DMCs (ADB 2008). of most governments to provide sufficient funding There also will be changes in the modality of for education in the face of rapidly rising rates of delivering basic education that are quite enrollment at all levels has led to an increasing role independent of technology. Child psychologists for the private sector in education. Because of the and neuroscientists are learning much more about success of the EFA effort, many DMCs are faced how the child learns and how his or her brain with large increases in elementary school graduates absorbs inputs—advances that have implications and a corresponding rise in demand for places in for teaching pedagogy. The impact of media has public secondary schools. Secondary schools have conditioned the younger generation to learn traditionally catered to much smaller cohorts, and from a surfeit of information inputs, sometimes are often inadequately equipped and understaffed. simultaneously, rather than from deduction from a They are not ready to handle large increases in limited number of facts, as in traditional learning enrollment. Enlistment of the private sector or settings. Pedagogies of the future will have to take community initiatives has been the response to this this into account. increased demand, and interesting forms of public- private collaboration—such as service contracting— Articulation with TVET, Higher Education, and have emerged. the World of Work (Lifelong Learning). If basic Broadened roles and responsibilities for local education is to fulfill its role, it can no longer be communities also are likely in the future. The looked upon as an absolute good for its own sake. importance given to early childhood education as Basic education graduates must be adequately one of the pillars of education, for example, has led prepared for the next stage of their lives, whether to an increase in participation at this level. With the that is further secondary education, vocational- exception of the Central Asian DMCs, Mongolia, technical education, higher education, or the and Viet Nam, national governments typically do workplace. Consequently, those responsible for not finance or administer this level in the same basic education will have to be guided by the need way they do the formal primary school system. to equip students for that next stage. In every case, As a result, local communities, sometimes with
Basic Education | 15 the help of nongovernment organizations, often from the Government and development partners have assumed responsibility for delivering early has contributed to good progress toward universal childhood education. primary education. The design process of the current comprehensive primary education sector program, with participation of a large group of development partners under ADB’s leadership, Strategic Priorities for has been recognized internationally as a good example of donor collaboration and harmonization. Basic Education Cambodia, one of the target countries for the global Fast Track Initiative in education, has established DMCs vary significantly as to their stage of elaborate collaborative mechanisms in the sector. development and their policies for future These include joint working groups, and procedures development. The state of basic education in for regular consultation between the Government, each country also varies widely. Consequently, a development partners, and stakeholders. ADB is one generalized strategic approach for basic education of the lead development partners in this process. In in all DMCs is not appropriate. Each country Mongolia, the Ministry of Education prepared, with will require its own assessment, and countries at ADB support, a comprehensive education sector different stages of development will have different development plan in consultation with stakeholders. priorities and policy requirements. However, helpful The plan was jointly appraised by the development strategic guidance can be provided by clustering community and adopted for financing, also from DMCs by stage of development. What follows is Fast Track Initiative resources. such an analysis. Understandably, some countries, Efficient coordination between government such as India, will fall into more than one group due and development partners is particularly critical in to their size and different levels of development in DMCs that have large funding gaps—such as that different areas. Other countries, while manifesting in the basic education subsector of Cambodia—to characteristics typical of their cluster, may also avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and to simultaneously have to deal with problems typical maximize the impact of technical assistance and of a cluster at an earlier stage of development. financing. Cambodia has made progress in enrollments in the last 5 years, from about 83% Low-Income Countries with to 92%, and has narrowed the gender gap from 8% to 3%. However, completion rates for primary Predominantly Agrarian-Driven schooling remain a dismal 64%, and repetition Economies rates are high at 14% (UNESCO 2006a). A strategic imperative in low-income countries is more explicit focus on the issue of dropouts, DMCs in this group requiring increased assistance repetition, and completion rates. This relates from development partners are those that have directly to upgrading the quality and the relevance not come close to achieving universal primary of the basic education delivery system, which education, such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Lao in turn depends on the quality of teaching staff, PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New the pedagogies used, and the participation and Guinea, and Timor-Leste. They are at risk of not involvement of local communities. meeting the MDG for universal primary education The education of girls is another strategic by 2015. It is incumbent on the world community, imperative. For example, in Cambodia, the including ADB, to help these countries accelerate narrowing gender gap at the national level masks their progress. Lessons from past efforts need to be the fact that in remote areas and areas of minority absorbed, and more focused and effective strategies groups the gender gap remains between 15% and found. More support for comprehensive sector 20%. Numerous projects have tackled this issue analysis is needed in these countries to determine in low-income countries with mixed results and the best strategies to tackle the bottlenecks that limited sustainability. Reviewing this experience and impede progress. identifying the more successful interventions would International agencies and bilateral donors will provide operational guidance. Costs and benefits need to collaborate to ensure effectual assistance of implementing stand-alone projects supporting to these DMCs. In Bangladesh, such collaboration development of female teachers and enrollment of has been evident in primary education over several girls should be assessed and compared to projects program cycles. Increasingly coordinated support and programs in which such dimensions are one
16 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific component among several. Circumstances in certain Viet Nam is an example of a country that has DMCs call for the more intensive stand-alone made good progress toward universal primary project approach—for example in areas where education in recent years. The elimination of gender parents hesitate to send their daughters to schools disparity and the broadening of access have been where all the teachers are male. ADB has experience the result of strong political will and coordination in both stand-alone projects and larger programs in with international partners. However, high national this field. This experience will continue to inform averages hide disparities between the majority ADB’s gender development strategies for future of the population and remote and underserved assistance in education. groups. A mid-decade evaluation of Viet Nam’s Another strategic imperative for low-income EFA Plan of Action is under way. Together with key countries is the need to upgrade the professional partners, ADB has focused in recent years on the and managerial competency of the education development of secondary education in Viet Nam. bureaucracy. In many low-income DMCs, Typical of countries recently achieving universal competence at the higher levels of the political primary education, there is now tremendous and managerial system has improved. Professional pressure from expanded demand for secondary training has been acquired abroad and sufficient education. This is a strategic perspective common to experience has been attained to support system countries in this category, and potentially represents administration and governance. The systems also the next major EFA crisis. have dedicated teachers and workers, but at the A key to Viet Nam’s success in expanding middle management level (division and bureau enrollment and significantly improving enrollment directors, superintendents, supervisors, and ministry rates has been its extensive preschool and early planners, assessors, and financial managers), the childhood education program. Up to 70% of 3–5- need remains to upgrade competency and skills. The year-olds participate in some form of preschool best projects and plans often falter due to the lack care, ensuring their readiness for school and of capacity at the middle level. increasing their probability of completing school. This proportion is far above the average of even Low-Income Countries Reliant on those countries with a long history of universal primary education. Vietnamese education officials Factor-Driven Growth, Principally still worry, however, that their early childhood Low‑Cost Manufacturing programs are no longer responsive to the times, and that teachers are badly in need of upgrading to improve the effectiveness and quality of their Many of these countries have made progress services. toward universal primary education. Included are such countries as Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Transitional Economies, Moving Lanka, and Viet Nam. An emerging crisis, for which these countries are generally ill prepared, from Central Planning to a is the burgeoning demand for secondary school Market Economy places as a result of their successful EFA campaigns. Assistance is needed as they gear up to meet this demand. Included here are the Central Asian DMCs, which At the primary level, the emphasis on access have enjoyed universal primary education for has often been at the expense of quality, and decades. However, the transition of these countries measures to improve quality should now be to independence and market systems has created a pursued. Test has always been a part of school new environment for their education systems. Most systems, but its use has focused on testing Central Asian countries have struggled to maintain students rather than diagnosing the school high participation rates. Some have experienced system for strengths and weaknesses. Diagnostic a slight drop in primary education participation sector analysis is required, involving community rates, and a significant drop in early childhood participation to the extent possible. Specific goals education as support from the former Soviet Union should be articulated, as should corresponding for social services disappeared. Education quality measures of teacher improvement toward those in these countries is difficult to assess, as education goals. This should be followed by curriculum and objectives were formerly heavily politicized. textbook reviews, and installation of assessment Adjustment to new economic and political realities mechanisms. required a serious review of education programs.
Basic Education | 17 Reorienting and upgrading the managerial mind-set Recognizing these requirements, Thailand of the education bureaucracy is a major task, as is has recently reformulated its National Education the empowerment of school administrations so that Plan. The emphasis in basic education is now on accountability, commitment, and responsibility at improvement of the teaching-learning process, the school level are supported and strengthened. and on decentralization to empower school-based Kazakhstan is one country where much management. Education service areas have been progress in this regard has taken place. identified for piloting. Clusters of schools have Curricula have been reviewed and revised, and a been given autonomy and responsibility, allowing comprehensive textbook revision, production, and them to embark on innovations aimed at greater distribution process has been undertaken with relevance to actual needs and new teaching-learning support from ADB in collaboration with other processes. ICT is also being introduced for teacher donor partners. The reorientation of teachers, and training and classroom use. Special concern is the upgrading of teaching skills with extensive use devoted to small and multigrade schools serving of ICT modalities have taken place. Neighboring outlying areas, where quality is lagging. Given its countries are embarking on similar paths. stage of development as a middle-income country, Thailand has defined basic education as including Middle-Income Economies Reliant upper secondary education, making 12 years of schooling compulsory and free of tuition. on Investment-Driven Growth The potential offered by ICT for education is attracting more attention. In the Philippines, DMCs in this group, including the PRC, Indonesia, the Text2teach project has developed interactive Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand, have enjoyed multimedia packages—including the use of text universal primary education for some time. The messages via mobile phones—to improve science challenge now is twofold: to sustain the gains teaching in grades five and six. The project has that have been attained, and to see beyond spread to seven provinces and is seen expanding current enrollment numbers and appreciate that a further in 2008 under the innovative partnership of business‑as-usual approach to primary schooling the Department of Education, the Ayala Foundation will not serve the future. Opportunities exist for (an NGO), INNOTECH (a regional institute of the innovative arrangements, and involvement of the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education), Nokia (a community sector and the private sector. One multinational corporation), and Globe Telecom (a such example is the Philippine education service- local communications corporation). This innovative contracting scheme, under which high school public-private partnership is a good example of entrants that cannot be accommodated in the public using such partnerships to suit local circumstances school system are sent to private schools, which are and potential. paid by the Government. This scheme meets student demand while using the private school system to The Pacific and Other Island serve the country’s needs. Concerns are voiced in the labor market Economies and the higher education subsector about the inadequacy of the products of the basic education This group of DMCs has unique characteristics, system—for meaningful work, further training, or given their extremely small and dispersed higher education. Even in countries with a long populations and their isolation. While enrollment history of universal primary education, such as looks good in most of these countries (even the Philippines, achievement results show a lack of Kiribati and Vanuatu have increased their basic competencies among school leavers. They are participation rates to catch up with their ill prepared for either further study or the world neighbors), the issue of quality and relevance is of work. Quality is again the issue. Some of these particularly acute. Pacific education programs countries have put in place reliable assessment are basically modeled on Western prototypes. mechanisms to track progress in quality in specific Graduates often do not find their studies relevant areas, but others are still in the process of doing so. for work locally and tend to seek a future outside This is a strategic area where further support and their home countries. Because of their small assistance will be required. Greater articulation with populations, their secondary education and higher education, employers, agriculture, industry, vocational education sectors grapple with their and the entrepreneurial world are also essential to mandate to serve a very small number of students, more effectual basic education in these countries. with cost per student inordinately high.
18 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific The Fiji Islands is among the larger of the Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Pacific Island countries and has for some years been and Uzbekistan all have had at least one education reforming its educational programs to better reflect sector loan focusing largely on basic education. local needs, cultural roots, and local economic and In South Asia, Bangladesh is the recipient of the work environments. This has meant a departure largest number of loans for sector programs in from Western prototypes of academic subjects basic education and for secondary education. Nepal and curricula. A major administrative impetus of and Sri Lanka have also used loans to support this reform was implemented about 10 years ago, secondary education development. In Southeast giving greater autonomy at the school level. The Asia, Indonesia and Viet Nam have been the major Government handed over school management, and recipients, while Cambodia, Lao PDR, Philippines, even ownership in many instances, to incorporated and Thailand have received loans to support local communities. Schools were then free to strategic sector planning and reform, with basic articulate their educational expectations, taking into education (including secondary education) a major account traditional culture and harmonious ways element in loan support. In the Pacific, aside from a of integrating the indigenous and the Indo‑based strategic regional plan for education, countries such halves of the population. Appropriate work skills, as Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tuvalu have attitudes, and values for integrated, harmonious benefited from education loans. development of a fragile society were the expected Many recent ADB education loans support outcomes. This model of school-based autonomy, broader sector policy reform as well as specific founded on local culture and needs and resting on subsectors. In the last 10 years, 14 DMCs have local community responsibility, may be appropriate accounted for 27 such loans. Seven countries in other Pacific DMCs. have used 14 loans to deal with various aspects of secondary education, such as capacity development and teacher training. Other areas that have received attention in education loans are teacher The Role of ADB in Basic development, adult literacy and continuing education, early childhood care and education, social Education services, science education, ICT, school improvement, and madrasahs in Indonesia. There is a discernible ADB Experience in Basic Education shift from project-specific loans to sector development loans, and from project modalities to program and policy reform modalities. Analysis of ADB has been working in the education sector since pipeline projects confirms continuation of the shift 1970 (Appendix 2). Before 1990, much of ADB beyond basic education to other subsectors, and to lending was for post-basic education. However, skills development and TVET in particular. after the World EFA Conference in Thailand (where ADB was one of the sponsors), operations shifted Lessons from Experience significantly from post-basic to basic education. While the priority of basic education continued, in recent years the demand for assistance has Project completion reports and project performance increasingly shifted beyond the basic education evaluation reports highlight some of the difficulties subsector. In 2000–2004, about 60% of ADB encountered in implementing loan projects in financing in the education sector was for basic basic education. There is a striking commonality education. During 2005–2006, however, it was in the difficulties recorded for different projects 24%, as demand for assistance in other education across different subregions. Among the most subsectors increased (ADB 2007b). Since 1970, frequently mentioned are (i) delays in procurement; basic education loans have ranged from less than (ii) inadequate management capacity of local $10 million to over $300 million. Most are Asian counterpart implementation units; (iii) changes Development Fund (ADF) loans, but ordinary of country priorities, often the result of changes capital resources financing for basic education has in national policy makers; and (iv) lack of a clear been granted to Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, national education policy framework. Philippines, and Uzbekistan. There are countries in every subregion that have benefited from a basic education loan from Muslim school, college, or university that is often part of a ADB. In Central and West Asia, Afghanistan, mosque.
Basic Education | 19 Other difficulties highlighted are (i) overplanning, national EFA plan of action. This will help to focus resulting in a long lead time, an excessively rigid plan, efforts on accelerating progress to reach the MDGs or an excessively complex design; (ii) projects that of universal primary education and gender equity. attempt to be overly comprehensive and are diffused, ADB is participating with governments or include too many subcomponents; (iii) difficulty and partner agencies in target setting and sector in establishing reliable measures of performance reform, bringing to the table its experience and and targeted outputs; (iv) inadequate monitoring expertise in sector analysis and sector reform. and supervision by ADB staff, especially in countries Examples of ADB’s leading role in this regard have where ADB has no field office; and (v) emphasis on increased in recent years. The design process of a short-term outputs, resulting in inadequate attention comprehensive primary education sector program to sustainability and lasting viability. in Bangladesh, with participation of a large group Recognition of these lessons and application of donor agencies under ADB’s leadership, has of countermeasures is evident in recent projects. been recognized internationally as a good example. Sustained support for the education sector is In Cambodia, the two current education sector now often achieved by a sequence of loans, or development projects were the result of productive by combining related loans for processing as a collaboration, and comprise a mix of budgetary cluster of loans, as done in Nepal. The sector support for policy reform and project support to development program modality, in which both deal with identified gaps. As a logical next step, a program loan (budgetary support linked with ADB is providing support through an integrated a reform agenda) and a project loan (supporting follow-up project to help the Government enhance investment-level implementation of the reform) education quality, improve sector planning and are provided, is another mechanism that has management, upgrade teachers, and expand ensured long-term commitment and sustainability. access to secondary education. In Mongolia, ADB Greater emphasis on sector studies has helped supported the Government with stakeholder identify specific interventions—such as early preparation of a comprehensive sector plan, which childhood education, adult continuing education, was jointly appraised and adopted for financing by and madrasahs—within the national policy the Government and the donor community. framework and has facilitated donor coordination. The most obvious strategic area of focus The program loan approach, tying disbursements in these countries is expanding the capacity of to implementation of a policy reform agenda, education systems to widen access toward universal represents a welcome shift from stand-alone primary education. Included would be identification interventions to improvements in overall efficiency of optimum areas for additional classrooms of the basic education subsector. Program loans and physical facilities, expansion of budgets for have a catalytic effect beyond project objectives, additional teachers, and provision of textbooks and creating enabling environments and supporting other learning materials. needed reform. There is a healthy recognition that Another strategic recommendation is support “effective assistance must evolve, as circumstances of improvements in basic education delivery and needs of the nations of the region change” systems. This would include support for both (ADB 2003a). capacity development of ministry staff, and training or retraining of teachers in curriculum content Strategic Approaches for and pedagogy. Also recommended is assistance in formulating Basic Education support for alternative education delivery systems that complement traditional primary schools. Countries where Primary Education is not Universal Nonformal education, adult literacy programs, and MDGs are not within Immediate Reach. For and basic skills development programs are often low-income countries such as Cambodia, Lao underused avenues with potential for considerable PDR, Papua New Guinea, and much of South Asia, impact. A successful example is the expansion of the primary strategic recommendation is closer community learning centers, which serve as literacy collaboration with existing networks and groups centers, community livelihood promoters, adult skill working upstream to crystallize the comprehensive centers, and out-of-school learning venues. Finding ways of supporting community learning centers through the training of facilitators, introduction of Various ADB project completion reports and project simplified and adapted ICT, and networking should performance audit reports cited in References. be considered (using radios, cameras, cell phones
20 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific and other appropriate and practical, hand‑held ICT styles, conditions, and accountabilities, often equipment). using ICT. In middle-income countries, where the focus of Countries Where Universal Primary Education Has education has shifted to building human resource Recently Been Reached or Almost Reached. capacity to advance the economy to the next Included in this group are DMCs where the stage of development, basic education may be dominant concerns must be quality, and measures getting less attention. Despite the relative success for its improvement. The focus in these countries of EFA in these countries, education ministries should be on teacher improvement—not just continue to warn against the danger of neglecting in terms of additional qualifications or years of the disadvantaged, as it exacerbates inequity preparation, but improvement in teaching and and militates against inclusive and sustainable learning methods. This will entail less emphasis on growth. Attention must continue to be given to traditional rote learning and more on interactive, interventions targeting underserved groups. induced learning. Examples of this approach are Quality also needs continued attention in the ADB project involving madrasahs in Indonesia, middle-income countries. The recent deterioration the teacher reform projects in Uzbekistan, and the of achievement scores of basic education graduates, capacity development projects in Viet Nam. In Viet even in countries where universal primary Nam, project support for capacity development at education has long been established, such as the the secondary level includes upgrading teachers, Philippines, has led to increased levels of activity mentors, and principals in new teaching methods, from the private sector and business community and providing handbooks and guidebooks as aimed at improving schools. well as workshops. Use of ICT to expand access to teacher training in remote areas, as well as The Pacific and Other Island Countries. For these to enhance teaching methodology, has proven countries, strategic recommendations focus on beneficial in these countries. support for reforming curricula, liberating their Another area of concern in these countries education systems from inappropriate Western is the need to expand and improve the secondary prototypes, and helping them respond to the needs school system. This is not simply an extension of their economies and societies—taking into of the primary school cycle. New problems and account local culture, as done in the Fiji Islands’ parameters apply. Adolescent problems and youth reform initiatives. disenchantment with outdated education must be A second area of strategic focus is support for dealt with. Expectations of the labor market— solutions to the problems presented by the small which most of the graduates will enter—must be number of students, often isolated and spread tackled, and capacities need to be supplemented across great distances. As basic education now with innovative partnerships with the private sector includes secondary education in these countries, and communities. which often do not have a critical mass of students Special initiatives targeting underserved for standard secondary schools, support is needed populations present opportunities for strategic for innovative delivery systems, often using ICT. intervention in these DMCs. Where interventions of this nature are not of adequate scale on their Conclusions. Six areas of strategic priority emerge as own to justify an independent project, they can be common denominators in the analysis of DMC groups incorporated as components of larger projects, such and the evolution of demand for basic education: as those for secondary education. (i) Emphasis on quality and helping DMCs Countries Undergoing Transition to a Market manage the risk of quantitative expansion Economy and Middle-income Countries. For undermining quality improvement in basic countries in transition, strategic recommendations education. Renewed focus on quality rest on support for continuing reorientation improvement through curriculum reform of the education system so that outcomes are is important in many countries where more appropriate to the demands of the labor enrollments are already high. In countries market and the global market economy. This with lower enrollments, the strategic means support for restructuring curricula and framework for support of basic education textbooks—as in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan; for must emphasize both quality improvement capacity development in education ministries—as and manageable, sustainable system in Kazakhstan; and for reorientation of teaching expansion.
Basic Education | 21 (ii) Retooling and upgrading teachers’ skills in local circumstances and potentials—will be basic education, using innovative means and increasingly important in basic education in incentives to support quality improvement, support of all the five priority areas above. especially feasible ICT technology. This is important in both preservice and in-service Table 1 summarizes the above strategic areas teacher training, as well as in permanent for each group of countries. teacher development programs. (iii) Capacity development in sector policy, Implications for ADB planning, and administration, including consolidating the expansion of basic education to include secondary education—even upper For ADB to meaningfully address these priorities, secondary—in DMCs requiring a higher and for its work to achieve sustainable impact, level of basic education. Universal secondary a number of recommendations for internal education is now widely seen as a precondition adjustment should be given serious consideration. for countries to move beyond traditional Stronger collaboration and dialogue, not primary commodity–based economies. only with host governments, but also with donor (iv) Emphasis on assuring equity of access to partners, are required more than ever due to basic education, with special attention to the changing context and increasing complexity disadvantaged groups. This remains of work in the education sector. Collaborative important even in countries where basic networks, monitoring mechanisms, and integrated education enrollments are already high. It plans of action all require upstream coordination. will be important to help governments realize Successful dialogue and collaboration will help that the excluded will not easily adapt to ensure that ADB program and project efforts are mainstream systems, and help governments firmly positioned within a country’s basic reform adjust basic education systems to better agenda in the context of all partners involved, and accommodate disadvantaged groups. can be sustained in the long run. (v) Continued attention to the benefits of other The use of sector development and education important dimensions of basic education, such reform as the foundation for basic education as early childhood education, literacy, and adult projects, as evidenced in Bangladesh, Cambodia, education programs. This will be important Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Viet in DMCs where the potential benefits of these Nam, is commended. The time required for project dimensions have not been realized. preparation may be lengthened, but greater project (vi) Expanded use of innovative modalities impact is likely in the long run. While maintaining and partnerships with private, corporate, this policy-oriented approach, it is possible (and and community sectors—tailored to suit in some cases advisable) to identify specific areas
Table 1: Basic Education Strategic Priorities, by Country Type Low Income— Low Income— Transitional Middle Pacific Agriculture Manufacturing Income Upstream Work Expanding Capacity Teacher Training Administrative Retooling Quality Improvement Secondary Schooling Alternatives: ECCE, NFE Targeting the Underserved Curriculum Revision ECCE = early childhood care and education, NFE = nonformal education. Source: Author.
22 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific of intervention where ADB can make a distinctive education, such as early childhood education, impact, and to which a concentration of inputs nonformal education, targeting the disadvantaged, and commitment to a long-term framework can and developing quality assessment mechanisms. be made. Such areas could be the use of ICT, early This calls for a deliberate plan for refocusing childhood education, or retention measures as a and retooling in-house expertise, and acquiring proxy for quality assessment. When pursued, such additional staff expertise as needed. It also specific areas of strategic intervention must be means cultivating a network of the best experts, firmly embedded in DMC sector policy or in its organizations, and agencies—regionally and framework for reform. globally—that have specialized knowledge and New modalities linking partnerships with experience in such fields as ICT, early childhood, or parents, communities, and NGOs will be required. community learning centers. New substantive but cost-effective disbursement Creation of more structured venues for modalities also will be needed in priority areas greater sharing of the experience of education staff where ADB has not traditionally played a major operating in different countries and subsectors role, such as literacy programs or programs for is a final area for consideration. There should be disadvantaged groups. This will require flexibility organized knowledge centers and mechanisms to while these new partnerships and modalities are maximize the opportunity for staff to learn about piloted and pioneered. the diverse experience of their colleagues. It is imperative that ADB develop the staff capacity and expertise to assure its leadership and credibility in new priority areas of basic
Basic Education | 23 Chapter 3 Technical and Vocational Education and Training
across Asia said a shortage of qualified staff Introduction ranked as their biggest concern...Across almost every industry and sector it was the he development of technical and vocational same…The region’s rapid economic growth skills is vital to economic development has fished out the pool of available talent. for two important reasons. First, technical T and vocational skills are needed for The second reason development of technical enterprise productivity and profitability, as well and vocational skills is of vital importance is as for national productivity and wealth creation. because it is essential for individual prosperity. Without the necessary technical skills, enterprise Skills enable the individual to increase productivity and national growth can be seriously hobbled. and income. This is especially important for Technological innovation and economic growth those who are eking out a living in the informal fuel the demand for skilled workers. The need sector of the economy. Except for the newly for technical and vocational skills is increasing industrialized economies, virtually all countries because of a convergence of factors—technological in the region will be unable to generate enough change, changes in work organization, growing wage jobs to accommodate all those entering the economic openness and competitiveness, and labor market. Most new labor market entrants in capital deepening (increasing capital per worker). Central and South Asia and in the Pacific will have Enterprises consulted in the World Business no alternative but to work in the informal sector. Environment Survey (World Bank 2000b) identified The same applies to large numbers entering the the quality and supply of skilled technicians as labor force in People’s Republic of China (PRC), the third-leading constraint on competitiveness, Indonesia, and Viet Nam. Knowledge and technical behind concerns about taxes and regulations, and skills are essential for workers in the informal financing. Fifty-five percent of the respondents sector to increase their productivity and incomes, ranked skills deficits as moderate to severe. About and to break out of poverty. 53% of respondents ranked the lack of high-quality Skills formation is not only vital, it is also local training suppliers as a moderate or major complex. It crosses institutional boundaries, takes constraint (Batra and Stone 2004). place in varied settings (including on the job and in Technical and vocational skills have become nonformal ways), engages a highly diverse clientele, a principal concern and constraint in the region, involves multiple delivery methods, and addresses especially in fast-developing economies, as highlighted occupational requirements that change constantly. by a recent article in The Economist (2007): The challenge is to unravel these complexities and meet the growing economic demand for skills. Despite its booming economies and huge This chapter sets out to answer two questions: numbers of people, Asia is suffering a big should ADB support the development of technical shortage of skills. And [the Asian talent and vocational education and training (TVET) in shortage] is about to get worse…Some the future, and if so, how? Accordingly, the case businesses are being forced to reconsider just for TVET in the context of future development in how quickly they will be able to grow, because the region is examined, as are recent developments they cannot find enough people with the skills and major issues in TVET, and the comparative they need. In a recent survey, chief executives advantage of ADB in TVET vis-à-vis other of multinational companies with businesses development agencies.
24 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific The TVET Landscape in and secondary school dropouts, or to provide alternatives to university education (diverting the Region pressure from entrance to higher education and university). The objective may be to help integrate the young into the world of work, or to combat Technical and vocational education and training youth unemployment. Other social aims are to refers to a broad range of preparation at different provide access to poor and marginal groups, and levels of the education and training system. to increase the income, productivity, and well-being “Vocational” refers to middle-level, or traditional, of the poor (also an economic objective). These trade occupations for semiskilled and skilled latter aims are closely related to the objective of workers. “Technical” refers to occupations in the enhancing gender development—providing skills technician category that are usually prepared at for girls and women. Alternatively, the goal may be the postsecondary level. Vocational and technical to reduce rural-to-urban migration by improving “education” refers to exposure to the world of opportunities in rural areas. work, and to preparation for entry into further Economic objectives may include filling skill vocational and technical studies. Technical and shortages (e.g., in the PRC and Cook Islands), or vocational “training” means preparation for direct enhancing productivity on the job (as in Malaysia). entry into, or upgrading in, specific (or clusters Two common and important economic goals of of) occupations in the labor market. TVET, as TVET are achieving competitiveness in the global considered in this study, includes education and economy—by expanding the supply of flexible training delivered at secondary, postsecondary, workers—and attracting foreign direct investment. and first-stage (nondegree) tertiary levels within Raising the productivity of the informal sector is the formal education system, and nonformal (i.e., yet another possible economic objective of TVET organized) TVET outside the education system. (See (Caillods 1994). Appendix 4 for more on TVET definitions.) Multiple objectives lead to differing demands TVET serves a wide variety of objectives— on TVET systems. TVET, it is often asserted, political, social, and economic—some of which must be “demand-oriented.” But whose demand? place unrealistic demands on training potential. There are two main types of demand: social and Political objectives for TVET include keeping economic. Social demand for places in TVET potentially disruptive youths off the streets. Such institutions refers to what individuals and their objectives often stem from a misunderstanding parents want to pursue. This may or may not about the relationship between training and correspond to actual labor market demand—i.e., jobs—i.e., that providing TVET to jobless job openings in the economy. For example, the youths and adults will automatically reduce Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji reports unemployment. that there is clearly demand by employers for skills The social objectives of TVET are numerous, in the construction industry, but the industry cannot and may include catering to different student fill available places in its training programs. Parents abilities and interests and improving retention—e. and their children are willing to pay for training as g., keeping youths in secondary school by providing automobile mechanics, for which the labor market practical skills to those with low interest in is saturated. This underscores the importance academic studies or lesser academic abilities. The of information when making decisions. Better goal may be to provide a second chance for primary information could help steer individual choices
Technical and Vocational Education and Training | 25 toward occupations likely to be in demand in the important from an economic perspective? There labor market. By “demand orientation,” this study are several reasons, which center on productivity means job demand in the labor market. and incomes (for additional information, see ADB [2004a]). Economic and Social Productivity. Skills enable individuals to be more Rationales for TVET productive and earn more. Workforce skills make enterprises more productive and profitable, and A well-designed and -managed system of skills help national economies raise production and development can play a significant role in create wealth. When people acquire skills they make supporting a government’s policy of enhancing themselves more productive, able to produce more national global competitiveness by producing in a given amount of time and effort. This applies a highly qualified and competitive workforce. both to wage employment and self‑employment in It can also serve as a means to reduce poverty the informal sector. Training in entrepreneurship by expanding training opportunities and as well as in technical skills can help those entering increasing access to skills training that promotes or already in the informal sector to be more entrepreneurship and self-employment among productive and gain higher incomes. the poor. TVET, however, is controversial. Economic Skills and Poverty Reduction. Skills development arguments can be mobilized both for and against for the informal sector should be at the center of public investment in TVET. Arguments against pro-poor strategies (Johanson and Adams 2004; investment in TVET center on rates of return and Bennell 1999; King and Palmer 2006), for reasons the role of enterprises. Some argue that employers of both economy and the environment. First, do not want people with specific skills. They want skills acquisition is crucial to raising productivity people with a solid general education who can and incomes in the informal sector, where most communicate, solve problems, and work in teams, of the new jobs in many economies of the region among other things. To the extent employers want are created. Training alone cannot guarantee skilled people, according to this argument, they will employment or reduce poverty, but improved skills train them on the job. Others point to comparisons and knowledge are essential for the poor to access of the costs and benefits, or rates of return, of decent work or add value to existing subsistence general education versus TVET, which do not favor employment. Second, evidence is mounting that the latter. TVET is always more expensive, yet skills training is essential for promoting sustainable the labor market outcomes for TVET are not that livelihoods where environments are fragile and much better (and may even be worse). In addition, informal economic activities often need suitable it is argued that people go to vocational schools techniques and practices for resource management. not to get skills for immediate employment, but as a ladder to further education. Or, if they do go Capital-skills Complementarities. Human capital into the labor market, they may enter different (people’s skills and abilities) also help determine occupations than the ones for which they were the amount of investment in physical capital in trained. In either case, the expensive training an economy. Skills and capital complement each may be largely wasted. It is also maintained that other. A higher level of human capital enables plant TVET often takes 2–3 years to impart skills that and machinery to be used more efficiently, raising could be taught in a concentrated fashion in 3–6 the rate of return on capital investment. Similarly, months—ergo, more waste of resources. In short, insufficient investment in building human capital the argument goes, government investment in TVET skills leads to deficient investment in physical may not pay off. capital and hobbles economic growth. Positive arguments and positive rates of return for spending on TVET can be found, particularly Technological and Structural Change. The in strong economies. Why is skills development acceleration of technological change requires more highly skilled workers. When people acquire skills, they generally also make themselves more adaptable. New technologies are knowledge and In Sri Lanka, for example, formal vocational training is associated with relatively high returns of 17%, more than skill intensive and impose a need for training. double the returns to an additional year of formal education Countries with skills can adjust more efficiently (Riboud et al. 2006). to the challenges of structural adjustment because
26 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific enterprises are more flexible and better able to the graduates coming out of the vocational absorb new technologies. system are not meeting their needs. They feel that the system is continuing to produce Changes in Work Organization. Demand for graduates for old and marginal trades, which skills within enterprises depends on the ways in have no market demand, while newer trades which work is organized. Enterprises traditionally with substantial needs for skilled labor have organized work around assembly lines that been left unmet; (b) increasing overseas broke down each task into its most elementary employment, and the possible market for components and minimized the skill and training skilled Bangladeshi workers abroad also offer required. However, increased competition and the some justification for investing in the system; introduction of ICT have prompted many firms and (c) there is an urgent need to increase to make fundamental changes in their internal the levels of enterprise-based training, and organization and work practices, including changes a well-designed VET system can also help in in factory layout, the flow of production, quality addressing this shortcoming. assurance, and use of inventory. High-performance work organizations typically use self-managed Experience shows that social objectives have work teams, multi‑skilling, job rotation, and their place in TVET, but pursuit of social objectives cross-training with devolution of decision making. in TVET has not been effective when not backed These changes can be productive only if employees up by sound economic purposes (Middleton, acquire new technical skills. Ziderman, and Adams 1993). In Indonesia, for example, vocational secondary schools cater more Trade Openness, Competition, and Foreign Direct to lower-income quintiles of the population than Investment. Globalization places a premium on general secondary schools. Technical vocational skills. Economic openness allows shifts in demand education in upper secondary schools helps keep for skills through technological change and induced students—especially males—in school who lack capital deepening. Capital flows are raised through interest in a purely academic education and globalization which, in turn, raises demand for otherwise might drop out. At the same time, skilled labor. Skills attract foreign direct investment. vocational secondary schools have proved to meet Conversely, lack of human capital may deter foreign economic criteria, such as higher earnings and investment. Workforce skill level and quality will employment rates for graduates compared with thus increasingly provide the cutting edge for general secondary schools (ADB 2007g). For similar successful international competition. reasons, Australia is adopting a policy of bringing back workshops and vocational training into every Effect of Skill Shortages on Productivity and high school, a social objective judged by Australian Wages. Skill shortages add to the cost of employing authorities to be worthy of the investment. This skilled workers, since a firm must wait longer to fill policy makes sense in terms of the high proportion vacancies and loses productivity during vacancies. of the age group enrolled and the critical shortage Firms may substitute unskilled for skilled labor, of technical and vocational skills in the economy. thereby reducing productivity. Skill shortages also improve the skilled workers’ outside options, Main Categories of TVET contributing to job turnover, poaching, and wage increases unrelated to productivity. A World Bank study (2007a) on TVET in TVET in the region is diverse and complex, but can Bangladesh put the case for investment in TVET as be divided into three main categories. For formal follows: TVET, the proportion of enrollment at the upper secondary level and tertiary (nondegree) level is Given the lack of hard evidence on skills highly correlated with per capita income. In some shortages, limited supply of VET [vocational cases, governments have set unrealistically high education and training] graduates, and targets for the proportion of secondary students concerns about quality—the question arises to be in vocational programs. Advanced countries of justification for investing in the vocational are making upper secondary vocational education system. There are grounds for investing in more general and deferring TVET specialization the system. There are several reasons for this: (a) there is evidence that there is a skills mismatch. Employers perceive that See Appendix 5 for more information.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training | 27 to postsecondary levels. For nonformal training have harmful consequences on productivity. of various types, enrollments often make up the Even in labor-surplus economies, such as India bulk of participation in skills formation programs. and Bangladesh, skill shortages occur in some As for enterprise-based training, most skills occupations, particularly at higher levels of acquisition takes place on the job. Enterprise-based technologically oriented jobs. The economic training appears to have a positive and statistically strategy of most countries is to move up the value significant effect on the productivity of firms that chain, which in turn creates demand for more export or conduct research and development. highly skilled workers. Export-oriented economies The rates of formal enterprise-based training vary are likely to experience raised skill requirements for substantially in the region by country, with firms reasons cited earlier. Structural adjustment involves in South Asia apparently under-investing in worker closing or streamlining enterprises, particularly in skills. Traditional apprenticeship systems may be the the state-owned sector. One of the consequences major source of skills development in South Asia, is shedding of labor, which underscores the and are of emerging importance in Central Asia. importance of retraining workers made redundant Private and nongovernment provision of through structural adjustment. In the PRC, for training is becoming more widespread throughout example, systematic reemployment training of the region. This is saving the public sector money laid-off workers has become important, with more by reducing the need to finance training from the than 1.2 million laid‑off workers trained in 2003 public budget. In most countries, public financing of (Copenhagen Development Consult A/S 2005). TVET accounts for only a small percentage of total spending on TVET. TVET is more expensive than Demographics and Labor Market general education because of smaller classes for Growth. Population growth has slowed in most practical subjects, and the cost of equipment and countries in the region, but the number of entrants supplies. Several countries use levies and grants to to the labor market each year still outstrips the promote enterprise-based training. capacity of regional economies to create wage jobs. TVET is arguably the most difficult sector to This means that people either will be unemployed, govern and manage because of the complexity in or must find jobs in the informal sector. The number and type of organizational sponsors, the informal sector accounts for 80–90% of the labor diversity of clients, the varied types of delivery, force in most countries in Central and South Asia and constantly changing labor market demand. and in most of the Pacific. To facilitate skills development in many Asian countries, national training authorities have been Labor Migration. Migrant labor is an important created under tripartite governance. Reforms often economic force. Short-term emigration has aim at greater employer involvement in establishing advantages to countries in terms of relief of standards and in directing and assessing training, unemployment and generation of revenue from and at the use of financial transfer mechanisms to remittances. Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Philippines raise performance. The use of national qualification actively seek to market workers for temporary frameworks is spreading in the region, with assignments abroad. Bangladesh, for example, the objective of focusing skills development on places a quarter of a million workers abroad standards and outputs. However, there may be annually at very low skill levels, and the skill level is excessive optimism regarding national qualification falling (World Bank 2007a). In some countries, such frameworks, and inadequate appreciation of the as Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, and Marshall Islands, magnitude of work involved in their establishment. the exodus of skilled workers to richer countries has created acute skill shortages. Within countries, Development Issues in the Region the movement of people from rural to urban areas creates the need for new forms of training. and Their Implications for TVET A major factor influencing the PRC labor Growth and Skill Shortages. Economic growth market is rural-urban migration induced creates jobs and demand for skills. If the training by agricultural labor surplus and drastic system is unable to respond, growing pains can wage differentials between urban and rural result from labor shortages. Employers respond employment. Agricultural surplus labor is to shortages by upgrading existing workers, estimated between 150 and 200 million. restructuring jobs into simpler functions, or Government is promoting rural-urban hiring expatriate workers. Such shortages can migration as a means of poverty reduction
28 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific in rural areas and to ensure a steady as in former command economies, often need labor supply for industry (Copenhagen retooling in new skills. Internal migration may Development Consult A/S 2005). exacerbate the problem as, for example, millions of people without appropriate skills for available Youth. The success of strategies in reaching the jobs move from rural areas to cities in the People’s Millennium Development Goal of universal primary Republic of China. A more pervasive issue in many education in many developing member countries DMCs is that the wage economy is not generating (DMCs) means that increased numbers of youths are enough jobs to accommodate all entrants to the graduating with basic literacy and numeracy skills, labor market. The majority of labor market entrants but without specific occupational skills. This creates will have to work in rural areas and in the informal pressure for the expansion of postprimary education sector. However, most training is oriented to wage and training, including TVET. Low-income groups, jobs in urban areas, and little is done to provide if they enroll in secondary education at all, tend to skills for income generation in the informal sector. drop out disproportionately. A social demand is thus Three main factors account for mismatches. generated to “skill” them before they leave the formal First, most DMCs lack guidance from labor education system. This places pressure on politicians market information and analysis about skills in to adopt quick but sometimes superficial solutions, demand. Second, employers—who know best the such as “vocationalizing” secondary education. kinds of skills required—are inadequately Youth unemployment continues to be an important involved in advising and directing TVET systems. political and social issue in many countries in the Involvement of employers is essential for linking region, including Bhutan and Papua New Guinea. training supply with demand, but it is often difficult to engage employers in such involvement. Third, TVET programs may be out of date, inflexible, and unresponsive to changing demands. TVET Major Issues in TVET systems tend to be supply‑driven and based on allocated budgets, churning out the same skills year TVET systems can be evaluated in terms of relevance after year regardless of labor market demand or (economic and social), effectiveness (quality of consequences. Another manifestation of inflexibility instruction, and organizational and management is overspecialization (as in the former command effectiveness) and internal efficiency (resource economies) and lengthy training programs. mobilization and use). Evaluating TVET in these terms provides a useful framework for discussion of Social Relevance and Equity the major issues in TVET in the region. of Access Economic Relevance TVET has the potential to raise the productivity and incomes of people, not only in the formal economy Most analyses of TVET systems in the region but also in the informal sector. Consequently, access point to a mismatch between demand for skills in to skills training is vitally important, especially the labor market and the supply of skills. Skills for vulnerable groups. Across the region, however, shortages, especially at higher technical levels, are access to organized skills development is relatively acute in fast-growing economies as they move up low in relation to the number of school leavers. the value-added chain. This was highlighted in the Lower-income groups, and those in rural areas and recent article in The Economist (2007) cited outer islands, tend to have much less access to skills previously. As there noted, the growth of some development. Girls and women in particular tend businesses is being constrained by skill shortages, to be under-enrolled in TVET, or concentrated in and chief executives cited this as one of their biggest traditional female occupations. concerns in a recent survey. The migration of skilled labor in search of better-paying jobs may be a Quality of Instruction contributing factor to skill shortages. Mismatches may also reflect labor surpluses. Workers made redundant by structural adjustment, The purpose of TVET is to provide relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies for employment and income generation. If the skills are See Appendix 6 for more analysis of issues in TVET. not acquired—i.e., if the quality of TVET is poor—
Technical and Vocational Education and Training | 29 the money spent is wasted. TVET quality can be Internal Efficiency and viewed in terms of inputs, processes, and outputs. Sustainability Lack of essential inputs compromises the quality of training in many countries. The first input for quality is definition of training standards, Low public and private investment in TVET in based on occupational requirements. Two South Asia stands in contrast to strong investment innovations are helping to put standards in place: in the rapidly growing economies of East Asia. the introduction of competency-based training, South Asian enterprises tend to under-invest in and vocational qualification frameworks. Entering the skills of their workers for fear of poaching. trainees and teaching staff are critical inputs. Public TVET depends heavily on government Poor educational attainment of incoming trainees financing, particularly in South Asia, but some limits skill achievements. The level of skills and Asian countries have had success in diversifying knowledge of teachers and work-based instructors sources of financing. Generally, the way funds are is a key determinant of the quality of any country’s transferred to public TVET institutions provides system of education and training (Young 2005). little incentive for better performance. Scarce Inadequate numbers and qualifications of public financing for TVET leaves room for instructors are principal factors responsible for greater efficiencies. low-quality instruction. This applies especially to the lack of industrial experience of trainers. Public bureaucracies seldom recognize the need to certify and remunerate instructors based on industrial Strategic Priorities experience. Infrastructure, equipment, and materials are inputs that also tend to be inadequate and need for TVET upgrading to support better instruction. Quality assurance processes may also be Priorities for TVET are here presented by level weak, including skills-testing systems. Norms or type of country development (ADB 2004a), and standards are usually not applied to public which corresponds roughly to the level of national training institutions. Accreditation of private development in education and training. In the training providers has proved difficult. As far as early stages of a country’s economic development the quality of TVET output, most TVET systems (subsistence and factor-driven growth), the fail to monitor or evaluate the quality outcomes of priorities of the national education and training training in terms of competencies achieved. system are basic education and adult education. Also priority is progressive development of a Organizational and Management basic skills formation system for skilled blue- collar workers. Higher education is limited. In Effectiveness the investment stage of economic development, universal secondary education, worker upgrading, TVET is arguably education’s most difficult and technician training become priorities as the subsector to govern and manage because of its importance of skilled workers declines. In the final complexity. At the central institutional level, stage of economic development (innovation-driven unclear or inappropriate roles hamper the growth), higher education becomes the priority, sector. Often several line ministries, such as along with research and development. At each stage the ministries of education and labor, have of the development of a country’s education and overlapping or uncoordinated legal mandates for training system, the foundation for the next stage TVET. Responsibilities of the various supervisory needs to be prepared. organizations tend to be ill defined. Fragmented The stages are not self-contained. The and uncoordinated provision of informal sector economies of countries can fall into more than training limits effective use of resources. Key TVET one stage at once, and overlaps occur. In fact, organizations, particularly national training councils, economies are usually mixed, combining various often lack the resources to carry out their functions. stages of economic development within a country. Lack of data and research on TVET is an almost For example, India has subsistence agriculture universal handicap to progress. At the institutional and a large urban informal sector, low-cost level, managers lack authority and incentives to manufacturing, high-value-added enterprises, and improve their performance, such as accountability even some enclaves of a knowledge-based economy for results. Resources are not linked to outputs. around Bangalore.
30 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Agrarian, Low-income Countries Transitional Economies
In these countries (e.g., Bangladesh, Pakistan, In countries such as the Central Asian republics, and Papua New Guinea), the economic challenge Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), is to increase agricultural productivity, move Mongolia, and Viet Nam, the primary economic into cash crops, and provide better marketing priorities in the transition from a command to infrastructure such as rural transport and a market economy are price liberalization and electrification. These countries may also have large reduction of subsidies; fiscal and tax reforms, urban informal sectors, with up to 90% of the including broadening the tax base; financial population engaged in nonwage activities (both sector and banking reform; and establishing a farm and nonfarm). Educational priorities would favorable legal and regulatory framework for be moving toward universal primary education as enterprise growth and development. Restructuring quickly as possible and providing nonformal skills the economy typically requires a major shift away training to raise incomes and help reduce poverty. from highly specialized manufacturing and the Included could be development of livelihood skills development of small and medium-sized service- through nongovernment organizations (NGOs); oriented enterprises. New markets need to be development of entrepreneurial training— developed, particularly for exports. Establishment especially for higher-end manufacturing and of a labor market also has to be a priority to cope services in the informal sector; and support for with the massive shedding of labor that industrial the development of traditional apprenticeship restructuring entails, among other things. This (Johanson and Adams 2004). would involve the introduction of active labor market policies to facilitate labor mobility Countries Characterized by across sectors. Typically, TVET in command economies Factor-Driven Growth and was overly specialized, with training institutions Low-Cost Manufacturing linked almost exclusively to one large enterprise and trainees prepared for highly specific jobs within the factory. TVET also enrolled the vast In countries of this type (e.g., People’s Republic of majority of youths at intermediate level. In view China, India, and Sri Lanka), the primary sector, of these characteristics, priorities for TVET or extraction of natural resources, often dominates reform include (i) consolidation of institutions the economy. The main economic challenges are to and reduction of enrollment, (ii) de-specialization get factor markets working properly so as to use of previously narrow program offerings, and (iii) land, labor, and capital efficiently. Full employment reorientation of content to include market-oriented would be a principal objective, as agriculture sheds subjects. Enrollment rates in TVET generally large numbers of workers. Manufacturing would be have plummeted throughout the transition world, characterized by labor-intensive activities leading reflecting an extreme mismatch between skills to low-value-added production. Competitiveness taught and needs of the labor market. Adult would derive from low-cost production, including retraining would be a priority for those displaced low wages, and ease of access to external markets. by structural adjustment. Other priorities would Efforts would be made to keep labor costs in check. be development of private training markets and Development at this stage does not require massive making public training institutions accountable investments in TVET. “High levels of education and for costs and output performance (International training are not required for the production of low- Labour Organization [ILO] 1998). value-added goods and services” (Ashton and Green 1996). Countries Characterized by Priorities for education and training at this stage of development would be universal primary Investment-Driven Growth education, development of low-level vocational skills, and inculcation of disciplined work habits. Another In economies such as Indonesia; Malaysia; priority would be developing a small but strong Taipei,China; and Thailand, the secondary sector capacity for basic training. Establishment of a training dominates. Chief economic challenges are to authority with employer participation would be (i) attract foreign direct investment and imported appropriate to respond effectively to different training technology to exploit land, labor, and capital; markets (Middleton, Ziderman, and Adams 1993). (ii) develop flexible labor markets (easy entry,
Technical and Vocational Education and Training | 31 easy exit); and (iii) link the national economy Priorities for education and training in these with the global economy. The economies of countries include universal secondary education,10 these countries are characterized by export deepening of TVET—particularly at postsecondary manufacturing and outsourced service exports. technician levels, and upgrading the labor force Production is concentrated in high-value-added through lifelong learning to retool and update skills. goods and services. Competition is founded mainly Abilities in language, mathematics, and science on high quality, technologically advanced, flexible become increasingly important prerequisites for production based on imported technology. “High- the preparation of skilled workers. With advancing performing” companies burgeon. technology, workers are increasingly required to The importance of education and training read and understand blueprints and operational in the present era of international competition manuals for complex and expensive machines and applies mainly to high-value-added goods. “To instruments. Workers must have the literacy and compete in these markets…the evidence for the numeracy skills needed to master the complex and importance of high levels of education and training sophisticated expertise required of modern trade is overwhelming” (Ashton and Green 1996). This and technical occupations. Consequently, universal stage of development witnesses an acceleration in secondary education becomes important. the demand for skills, particularly at the higher Technician training, particularly at post- levels, and a corresponding decline in demand for secondary levels, also becomes a priority to supply unskilled or low-skilled production workers and the burgeoning middle category of skilled workers crafts-level workers. As stated in a recent report (the middle of the hexagon in Figure 1). Skills prepared for an ADB project in Sri Lanka: development would be broadened to include such capabilities as teamwork, communications, and …the present public training output ratio for problem solving. Substantial enterprise-based technicians and crafts-level workers is 1:50. learning would be a requirement (Ashton and The classical ratio of engineer, technician and Green 1996). As distortions ease, efforts should skilled workers for a developing economy is be made to enhance enterprise-based training about 1:5:25. Presently, this is far from being (especially for small and medium-sized enterprises) met and the present skills of the available and private training provision. The central training labor force are not ready to move forward authority should be strengthened and given control to an industrializing economy without first of the allocation of funds. A payroll levy may achieving skill-based competitiveness. Figure 1 be both feasible and capable of providing stable (below) illustrates the manpower structure of funding for skills development. Finally, management a developing economy like Sri Lanka, which is capacity should be developed at the institutional aiming to move to an industrializing economy level with a view to devolution of responsibilities to catch up with neighboring Southeast and links to accountability (Middleton, Ziderman, Asian countries (Association of Canadian and Adams 1993). Community Colleges 2004). Countries Characterized by Innovation-Driven Growth
Figure 1: Changes in Workforce Structure Model In economies such as India; Republic of Korea (pockets); Malaysia; Singapore; and Taipei,China, the tertiary sector dominates the economy. The main economic challenge is to generate a high rate Engineers of innovation, adaptation, and commercialization of new technologies, producing pioneering Technicians
Skilled 10 One of the reasons that Thailand ran into economic Workers difficulties in the mid-to-late 1990s, apart from the Asian financial crisis, was the failure to move quickly enough to Model 1: Developing Economy Model 2: Industrializing Economy universal secondary education. This limited its ability to move up the economic value chain International Labour Source: Association of Canadian Community Colleges (2004). Organization [ILO] 1998).
32 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific products and services at the global technological Marshall Islands). Where possible, workers should frontier. At the upper end, this is the knowledge- be trained to enable them to migrate to higher- based economy that generates technological paying jobs. innovation by itself. Priorities for education and training are well- Advanced Island States. Cook Islands, Fiji developed higher education, especially in sciences Islands, Palau, Samoa, and Tonga have relatively and engineering specializations, and science- good prospects from tourism, emigration, and based learning in general education. A dynamic remittances. The top priorities for these countries research and development sector linking higher are expansion of training for the wage sector and education programs and innovating firms is also filling vacancies created by emigration. a high priority. Most occupation-specific training at this stage can be provided privately, either within enterprises or through trainee-financed private training providers, in view of the strong The Role of ADB in TVET employment demand for skills. ADB Experience in TVET Small Island Countries TVET has been an integral, albeit minor, part of Because Pacific countries are diverse in terms of continuing ADB assistance in the education sector. stages of and prospects for development, they are Assistance has been provided through stand-alone grouped into three categories to assist analysis projects financed by loans and grants, through and the identification of common TVET priorities components of broader projects (e.g., education (Johanson 2007). Two priorities are shared across sector development projects, as in Cambodia and all groups and most countries: quality improvement Mongolia), and through various forms of technical and organizational development. The principal assistance (project preparation, advisory, and means of quality improvement is establishment regional). In the 1970s and 1980s, TVET made up of vocational qualification frameworks. These about 50% of total ADB lending assistance in the are especially important in countries that export sector. Since the 1990s, however, the share of skilled labor. Organizational development stand-alone TVET projects has declined—averaging requires establishing or strengthening apex about 13% of sector lending over the past 7 years— training organizations and national qualifications reflecting the priority assigned to basic education authorities. and broader education sector development projects (Appendix 2). Land-rich, Low-income Countries. Papua New ADB provided loans to 16 countries (some Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu have countries receiving more than one loan) for stand- low social and economic indices, but positive alone TVET projects between 1993 and 2007, agricultural potential. In general, the top priority for a total of 27 TVET projects and $780 million in these countries is training for the informal in lending (Appendix 7).11 This represents an sector, particularly rural agriculture and related average of 1.8 projects and $52 million per year. occupations. The bulk of the projects and lending have gone to Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, Small, Vulnerable Island States. Kiribati, Marshall Philippines, and Thailand. TVET has also formed Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Tuvalu face severe economic constraints, limited economic prospects, and issues of sustainability. 11 Including the Kyrgyz Republic and Pakistan in Central and Training for the informal sector is also a priority West Asia; Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and for these countries, but with special emphasis Sri Lanka in South Asia; and Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, on delivering services to remote areas and Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam in Southeast Asia. Skills outer islands. Financial sustainability is a major development was a component of wider education projects challenge for this group, as is making TVET in Mongolia in East Asia, and Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Tuvalu in the Pacific. Skills development has systems affordable in some countries (Tuvalu), and also been supported in Tuvalu in the Pacific. The People’s reducing dependence on external financing in others Republic of China has received two technical assistance (Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, and projects for TVET.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training | 33 a part of seven comprehensive education projects establishment of technical teachers training and of three emergency relief projects.12 Earlier colleges in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the upgrading projects concentrated on the modern sector of the of schools in Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, economy, building infrastructure and financing establishment of new secondary technical and facilities, equipment, curriculum development, and vocational schools in Malaysia and polytechnics in the training of teachers. More recent projects have Pakistan, and the upgrading of technical colleges supported management and financial reforms, and and staff development in Papua New Guinea and training for the informal sector. Sri Lanka. More than 1 million students benefited The objectives of recent TVET projects are from these projects during the preceding 15 years. appropriate to the recipient economies, and The main findings of the impact evaluation study generally are compatible with the stage of are summarized below. economic development and national priorities of the countries in which they are placed. Four of • The projects had significant development the 10 projects approved since 2000 are directed impacts up to a few years after their mainly at training for the informal economy—self- completion, but these were not sustained employment, income generation, and livelihood except in Malaysia. Enrollment capacity skills. Another includes components aimed at increased, providing access and promoting training for livelihood and skills for income equity for the poorer segments of the generation. These strategies appear well suited to population. the largely informal economies of the countries • Lacking major reinvestment after project involved. An example is a project in Papua New completion, the capacity of project inputs Guinea, where 75–90% of the labor force is gradually declined. The buildings financed in self‑employed in the informal sector. The project Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka there seems to be particularly well designed and needed repair and refurbishing. Only about innovative, although implementation has been half the equipment was still operational, and slowed by weak administrative capacity (Appendix not all operational equipment was being used 7). A Pakistan project includes a training because of the lack of consumable materials. component for the informal sector. It incorporates • Course curricula were not updated after development of livelihood skills in rural areas, project completion and were outdated. with delivery to be handled by nongovernment • Teachers had no more in-service training organizations. Six of the 10 projects are essentially after project completion. The technical for training for modern sector employment. In teachers training colleges in Pakistan and the Maldives, the aim is to draw more people into Sri Lanka were operating below capacity the labor force and reduce dependence on foreign because of insufficient recurrent budgets. skilled workers. • The institutions were operating in isolation from the industries they were designed to Lessons from Experience serve, with few or no links to industry—thus lacking essential inputs. • The findings underscored the difficulty of ADB has a relatively successful record in the design financial sustainability of TVET investments and implementation of recent TVET projects. in poorer countries, and highlighted lessons In 1999 an impact evaluation study of technical learned in this regard: “one shot” projects do and vocational education projects compared the not work; a long-term focus is essential. “It results of 10 completed projects in four countries: should have been obvious from the beginning Malaysia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and Sri that a single project or even two projects Lanka (ADB 1999b). The projects supported spaced several years apart, no matter how well designed and implemented, could not establish a sustainable system” (ADB 1999b). 12 Including education sector development programs in Kyrgyz • A series of overlapping projects—with Republic (1997), Cambodia (2001 and 2004), and Mongolia consistent core objectives—was (2002 and 2006); a social sector program loan in Thailand recommended, aiming over a longer period (1998); a post-literacy and continuing education program in (a decade or more) to make an impact on Bangladesh (2001); and three emergency assistance loans in 2005: earthquake and tsunami assistance to Indonesia, key subsector indicators while strengthening earthquake emergency assistance to Pakistan, and regional government capacity to manage the assistance for HIV/AIDS in the Pacific. subsector.
34 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific • A holistic approach at the beginning of the with high-level authority and powers, as is first intervention was recommended, with improved quality assurance of private TVET more substantive policy dialogue providers (Cambodia project). with governments, and development of a • Absence of attention to baseline and framework for sector development to be beneficiary monitoring can make it difficult implemented over a decade or more, or impossible to assess effectiveness and supported by continuing financial inputs. internal efficiency after project completion • A TVET system without industry linkage (Malaysia project). is untenable. A paradigm shift is needed to emphasize the role of TVET in trade ADB staff point to additional recent successes. globalization. TVET can be a source of In Sri Lanka, after a series of projects, the last competitive advantage for industry, but this project consolidated gains. While in the past, requires major adjustments away from a equipment and materials provision, curriculum “safety-net” orientation. development, and staff training were supported, • Commitment to TVET is the key to recent support for policy and systems development sustainability. Ownership and good resulted in the integration of the different elements. governance practices are vital ingredients to This included establishment of a vocational sustainability. A critical mass of investment qualification framework, and institutionalization of and operating resources is needed for TVET competency-based training and quality assurance, systems to deliver desired results. This calls accreditation, skills standards, and assessments. for a higher level of commitment, from policy The private sector was involved in adopting the to action. new policies. In the Maldives, a recent project has brought government and private employers together After the 1999 study, more TVET projects to identify occupational areas where training were completed with much higher performance programs are needed. In Indonesia, ADB staff ratings (Appendix 7). Only one project out of eight has been impressed by the continued outstanding was rated less than fully successful, and two of the quality and relevance of upper secondary vocational eight were rated highly successful. What accounts schools supported in the past by ADB. Encouraged for the difference between earlier and more recent by the positive experience, further ADB support in projects? Five of the eight recent projects were in this field is likely in that country. Learning from more advanced DMCs, where investments generally lessons in South Asia, a comprehensive project in tend to be successful. However, recent success also support of skills development in Bangladesh has reflects the additional experience gained by DMCs been planned. and ADB staff in implementing TVET projects. Project reviews for recent projects highlighted the Strategic Approaches for TVET following important conclusions:
• Changing labor market demand and new There is a strong rationale for continued ADB technologies in TVET necessitate periodic investment in TVET. Economic demand for curricula updating and regular in-service technical and vocational skills is increasing as a training of teachers to upgrade their skills result of a convergence of factors. These factors (Indonesia and Pakistan projects). include technological change, reorganization of • In the long run, sharing the cost of training work, economic openness and competition, and with employers and trainees is an important capital deepening. Across the region, the need for means of sustaining an effective system skills development is intensifying and changing (Indonesia project). This requires formulating quickly as a result of international competition and implementing regulations for revenue and globalization. Skills development has a high raising and accounting by TVET institutions payoff in the context of enterprise‑based training (Cambodia project). and training of migrants and overseas workers for • Involvement of the private sector at all stages higher remittances. of the development of vocational training and education will enhance local ownership Equity and Poverty Reduction. Except for Asia’s and relevance (Indonesia project). newly industrialized countries, no Asian country • Sustainable public-private partnerships will be able to generate enough wage employment are essential in a national training body to absorb the growing number of entrants to the
Technical and Vocational Education and Training | 35 labor market. Skill formation is important for Focus on Trainability, Not Specific Skills. In income generation and self‑employment for those in conditions of uncertainty—which characterize the informal sector and for marginal groups. free market economies, many trainees end up working in occupations for which they were not Social and Political Demand. Increased demand for trained. People often change occupations. A lack skills by the burgeoning number of graduates of of coherence commonly prevails. This suggests two basic education is putting pressure on governments things. One is the need for a strong foundation to provide more skills training. ADB can help steer of general education to facilitate adaptation to these pressures in productive directions. new circumstances. Often what employers want are trainable graduates who can learn on the job, Reforms are Needed. The pervasive problems solve problems, communicate well, function well in outlined above need to be addressed to increase teams, and have work discipline. Second is the need the relevance, effectiveness, and internal efficiency for continuous or life‑long access to training. of TVET. Several countries have expressed strong interest in reforming their TVET systems, including Flexible Supply Response. Flexibility can be built Azerbaijan, PRC, Mongolia, and Viet Nam. into training provision through a variety of means, including devolution of authority to training External Assistance Can Help. Outside support institutions—allowing them to find their own can help drive the process of reform. ADB can markets and mobilize resources, shorten the length demonstrate international best practice and help of training through the introduction of competency- steer changes and reforms in the right direction. based training in place of time-based programs, hire staff on fixed‑term contracts, and rent instead of ADB Has a Comparative Advantage in TVET. Few purchase training facilities. Other strategies to cope donor agencies in Asia can provide both policy with market uncertainties are to defer specialization advice and substantial capital assistance for TVET. in training until just before entry into the labor ADB can help close the financing gap for TVET in market, to provide multi-skilling, and to allow for many DMCs and contribute to effective domestic frequent retraining of those in the job market. resource mobilization. ADB also has substantial experience in TVET and a favorable track record in Focus on Standards and Outputs. Standards are implementing recent TVET projects. increasingly important in a global economy characterized by labor mobility. Standards set the basis Guiding Principles for a Renewed Strategy for TVET for evaluating outputs. The outputs of the training ADB should aim at moving TVET systems in system should take priority, not the inputs. The latter the directions outlined below. have traditionally have been the dominant concern.
More Employer Involvement. A critical factor in Counter Chronic Underfinancing. More efficient use TVET is a strong link with the labor market. That must be made of existing expenditures on training. means links with employers. Employers often know Institutions must have the freedom to mobilize and best what skills are required and can articulate the allocate resources. Incentives need to be provided skills implications of newly adopted technologies. for mobilizing funds at the institutional level. Employers have certain limitations, often overlooking long-term requirements, for example, Government Provision of Training Should Be but they are still the best source of expertise on Considered Separately from Government Financing skills requirements. However, time is a precious of Training. The two functions have different commodity for employers, and getting them requirements for economic justification. Government engaged in training can be difficult. Consequently, does not need to provide all training. It must rely employers should be judiciously involved upstream on enterprise trainers, private training providers, in establishing overall system direction, and and nongovernment providers. Nongovernment downstream in evaluating system outputs. training providers may do a better job, use resources more efficiently, and have better links with the labor Better Information. Information needs to be market. However, a strong case can be made for generated through periodic labor market surveys, public financing of training carried out by other consultations, and tracer studies about skills in training providers to fill gaps not covered by the demand, absorption of skills, and the benefits of private sector and to achieve equity (Middleton, investment in worker skills. Ziderman, and Adams 1993).
36 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Strategic System-Wide Priorities periodic quality audits. Output indicators should It is recommended that system-wide strategic be defined and measured against established priorities for ADB support of TVET focus on standards. Information on the impact of training reform in four areas. should be developed through such means as tracer studies of graduates, with findings factored into Organization and Management. Many of the issues training policies and resource allocations. The in TVET derive from fragmented, inappropriate, recommendations included in a TVET project in the and ambiguous organizational structures. Legal PRC are pertinent here: mandates often overlap and coordination is often unclear between several line ministries, such as At the current moment, government appears ministries of education and labor. Getting the to put substantial emphasis on input control organizational structure right is the first step in training and to increasingly aim at unified toward more effective TVET systems. Where training standards. As instruments for quality possible, TVET systems should be governed by assurance, government may consider that apex organizations, such as national training emphasis on good management and effective authorities. Apex organizations should be based on enforcement of outcome-based quality solid partnerships among stakeholders and should assurance, mainly through a [competency] be driven by those who represent the demand standard-based testing system, can be an for skills: employers. Apex organizations should effective instrument to raise training have executive authority to generate labor market quality rather than formal input rules and information; develop policies; link training supply requirements. Training standards and with demand; coordinate providers; set priorities, guidelines often tend to reduce flexibility and policies, and directions; and allocate resources. creative adaptability by training institutions if Such organizations should concentrate on policy education authorities enforce them in a rigid and regulation, and eschew direct administration manner (Copenhagen Development Consult of individual institutions and delivery of education A/S 2005). and training. The National Technical Training Authority in Bhutan and the Technical Education Financial Incentives. The nature of incentives in and Skills Development Authority in the Philippines many TVET systems in the region has contributed are good examples of this approach. to inertia. Budgets are provided regardless of At the institutional level, the priority should performance. Incentives should be changed be to achieve more autonomy for training for those managing skills development. First, institutions—particularly at the postsecondary institutions should be allowed to retain and use level—through devolution of authority to the resources generated. They should be encouraged individual institutions. Governance should be to introduce or increase user fees, bearing in handled by stakeholder boards with industry mind equity implications (World Bank 2006d). participation. Greater accountability for results Second, managers of training institutions should should accompany greater freedom to act. Among be given authority through devolution, along other things, greater accountability means greater with accountability for results. Results should be financial accountability, which may require compared with targets, and budgets should be improved systems for audit and control. allocated according to performance. At the same time, managers should be enabled to develop Occupational Standards and Outputs. Attainment their capacities through in-service management of quality in skills development requires standards, development programs. Third, ADB should support sufficient inputs, and measurement of outputs the establishment of competitive training funds against the standards. The development of that combine external with domestic resources. occupational standards can be pursued through Such funds have potential to stimulate innovation the design of vocational qualification frameworks and better performance. Singapore's training fund provided the frameworks (i) focus on outputs stands out as an instrument for leveraging reforms (occupational competencies) rather than inputs in skills development. (courses required, educational credentials), (ii) avoid complexity, and (iii) do not exceed local Private Training Provision. Some control is administrative capacity. Minimum standards necessary to regulate private training provision, should be established for public TVET institutions, including establishment and enforcement of which should be subject to accreditation and reasonable minimum standards. Quality assurance
Technical and Vocational Education and Training | 37 of private training providers, however, has been be designed, and capacity developed to support the problematic throughout the region. Employing rural and informal sectors, in part by boosting the commonly accepted and transparent criteria, technical expertise and delivery capacity of NGOs. rather than imposing restrictions, can help ADB has financed excellent labor market encourage and facilitate high quality standards by surveys of rural training requirements (e.g., in providers. Sufficient resources must be allocated Vanuatu), superb proposals for income generation to monitoring and enforcing quality assurance of through training in the Marshall Islands (King private training providers (Johanson 2007). In 2005), and has developed an innovative approach some places, facilitating private training provision to informal sector training in Papua New Guinea. needs a change of mind‑set in public administration However, it has not studied widespread traditional and society. It may be necessary to remove fee apprentice systems in South Asia. In general, it is ceilings set by government price committees difficult to reorient formal training institutions (Copenhagen Development Consult A/S 2005), or to the informal sector (Grierson and McKenzie controls by government over fee increase ceilings 1996; Johanson and Adams 2004). Developing the and their allocations (Philippines). In other cases, capacity of NGOs has greater promise. Substantial bureaucratic red tape and venal practices need to literature is available about strategies to develop be eliminated. informal sector training, lessons learned, and pitfalls to avoid (see King and Palmer [2006]; Priorities by Level and Type of Training Johanson [2007]; Johanson and Adams [2004]; ADB support for TVET has generally included Appendix 5). ADB is in the process of implementing a mix of policy support, capacity development, and several projects emphasizing training for the investment in physical capacity and infrastructure informal sector, which should yield useful lessons (including equipment). It will be important to ensure (Appendix 7). that future investments combine policy advice and capacity development in the four areas discussed in Nonformal Training Centers. Where economies the preceding section, and investment in developing are growing, cost-effective training can be provided TVET capacity. To guide investment, as stated by through a wide range of institutions. In weaker ADB (1999b) in its TVET review, “…ideally the economies, however, training for semiskilled and whole subsector should be strengthened, but there skilled occupations may best be carried out through is a need to prioritize development among TVET nonformal training institutions that are flexible, delivery systems, lower, middle and higher levels.” linked to employers, and provide short, modular, Choices about where to invest in skills development competency-based training. As stated in Middleton, should be based on evidence of cost-effectiveness. Ziderman, and Adams (1993), a seminal work on TVET: Enterprise-based Training. Generally, too much emphasis is placed in Asia on preemployment, Overall, any mode of training for industrial institution-based training within the formal and commercial occupations can be cost- school system. Most skills acquisition takes effective when the institution is well linked to place on the job. The impact of enterprise-based employers, adequately financed, efficiently training on productivity has been demonstrated organized and sufficiently autonomous to in Asia (Appendix 5). ADB should explore ways adjust the size and content of courses to meet to encourage enterprise-based training through the quantitative and qualitative dimensions such measures tax rebates, training levies, and of employment demand. At the same time, apprenticeship programs. It is important to enterprise training and skills training centers determine the reasons why employers do not train have been shown to be more cost-effective workers, and ensure that policy responses tackle than vocational schooling. the causes. Postsecondary Technician Training. Postsecondary Informal Sector Training. The informal sector is technical training is likely to gain in importance as the dominant segment of the labor market in most DMC economies move up the value chain. Already DMCs. Training for the informal sector should the Republic of Korea and Malaysia are beginning become a high priority. In this context, training to defer most technical skills development to the for entrepreneurship plays an important role. postsecondary level. Consequently, postsecondary Adequate new resources should be allocated for technician training institutions can be an informal sector training. Training strategies should appropriate target for investment. Demand for
38 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific technicians is expected to grow, especially in can gain practical experience through internships countries seeking competitiveness in the global and work-release programs in nearby businesses. economy. Postsecondary technical institutions Rather than integrating TVET into formal schools, occupy special places of leadership in TVET resources would better be allocated to intensive systems as a whole, especially in smaller countries. training programs that are well grounded in the In stagnant or slowly growing economies, emphasis labor market, targeting those who are in, or about should be placed on upgrading the quality of to enter, that market. technician training, as recommended in the TVET review by ADB (1999b). Secondary Vocational Education. ADB support of secondary vocational education should be Emigration. Training for employment abroad, considered with caution, on a case-by-case basis. either short- or long-term, may be important in If graduates of these institutions are not motivated terms of relieving domestic unemployment and to enter the labor market and instead pursue gaining remittances. This applies particularly to further education, investment to prepare them for Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, immediate entry into the workplace will not be and some countries in the Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji successful. This was the case in Malaysia, where Islands, and Marshall Islands). Raising the skills only a small minority of the graduates of ADB- and remuneration of those going abroad is a key supported secondary technical and vocational strategy. Indonesia, in particular, is eager to send schools went into the labor market. More than more skilled and fewer unskilled workers abroad. 90% of them intended to pursue higher education. Replacement of expatriate workers domestically When supporting basic education in DMCs where can also be important, as in Bhutan, Marshall basic education includes secondary education, Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In this context, it will be important to carefully assess whether ADB support may be considered for embryonic streams for vocational education should be regional qualification frameworks. included, or if other arrangements would better respond to labor market needs. Simultaneous Need for Strategic Selectivity pursuit of expansion of basic education and Support for inflexible, government-dominated vocational education streams should be viewed systems of TVET, such as unreformed systems with considerable caution. The aims of each are typical in former command economies, should focus quite different, depending on requirements for on implementing comprehensive systemic reform economic development and labor market needs, to rationalize and streamline these systems, and to and may undermine each other. ensure they are responsive to labor market needs. Efforts at “articulation” between TVET and higher levels of education should also be treated Diversified Secondary Education. ADB has not with caution. Such an approach may help raise financed this type of institution, but the idea is the status of TVET and could usefully promote a hardy perennial with strong political appeal.13 upward social mobility for a minority of students. However, it is costly and difficult to implement, However, financing students through a series of requiring specially trained teachers (who are in TVET levels, or using TVET as a stepping stone to short supply), workshops and equipment that are further education, is not cost‑effective preparation expensive to procure and maintain, consumable for employment (Johanson 2007). Copenhagen supplies, and especially, an ethos that does not Development Consult A/S (2005), in its report occur easily in an academic environment (Johanson on TVET in the PRC, recommended that the and Adams 2004). Nevertheless, the transition Government reconsider its objective of channeling from school to work can be eased with classes in 50% to 60% of secondary students into vocational secondary schools that provide useful skills for courses. Rather, investment in general secondary work but do not require purpose-built facilities or education and expansion of TVET at the tertiary expensive equipment, such as accounting, business, level was recommended. In Indonesia, on the other and entrepreneurship. Students in such classes hand, support for upper secondary vocational schools may be justified because students come from lower-income segments of the population 13 Diversified secondary education is attempted in most Pacific and virtually all enter the labor market upon island states, and to some extent in India. For a summary graduation. About half of their instruction is of reasons why this is not generally recommended, see Johanson and Adams (2004) and Lauglo and MacLean devoted to core academic fields, facilitating their (2005). adaptability and occupational mobility.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training | 39 Vocational Qualification Frameworks. These to have extraordinarily high payoffs if properly frameworks are difficult to develop and implement, designed and executed. The amount of project- taking more than a decade in New Zealand and related training financed by ADB is likely to exceed Scotland. Administrative requirements for their substantially that invested directly in TVET projects. operation and maintenance tend to be onerous. As stated by Young (2005) in an excellent review ADB should learn from the rich regional experience of the subject for developing countries, the best on skills development—i.e., cross-country approaches are gradual, building on what exists. analyses of key themes. ADB should facilitate the Competency-based training seems relatively simpler consolidation, distillation, and exchange of lessons to design and implement successfully. about successful TVET approaches in the region. The region has a history of rich experiences in skills Regulation of Private Training Providers. DMCs formation, particularly among (but not limited to) must balance regulation sufficient to ensure that the newly industrialized countries. Lessons from basic standards are met with flexibility to encourage these experiences can provide valuable guidance to the entry and expansion of private training less-developed DMCs. Key themes for investigation providers. One lesson is clear, as identified in include (i) incentives that have proved most cost- regional reviews for Africa and the Pacific: countries effective in stimulating enterprise-based training, typically underestimate the resources required to (ii) the effectiveness of national training authorities monitor continued compliance with established versus mere coordination of training organizations, standards. The initial check is usually the only step (iii) the feasibility of implementing vocational taken in quality assurance, and that is often fraught qualification frameworks in DMCs, and (iv) lessons with venal practices. from implementation of competency-based training.
Implications for ADB ADB must seek to fill key knowledge gaps. Particular attention should be given to investigation of the following subjects: Policy advice must be based on careful and comprehensive analysis. In comparison with other • the dynamics of traditional apprentice education subsectors, the international knowledge systems in South Asia, and intervention base on TVET is thin. If ADB is to carry out the strategies that work to strengthen them; recommended strategy for TVET, with emphasis • labor market analysis to identify the skills on organization and management, occupational implications of changing business systems standards and outputs, financial incentives, and and technological advances; and private training provision, considerable effort will • ways to mobilize TVET financing without need to be devoted to development of knowledge penalizing trainees from lower segments of and skills in TVET. the population. To do this, ADB must learn more from its own projects. The most recent review of completed ADB must strengthen its subsector analysis of skills TVET projects took place in 1999, and covered development. This is most important. In the past only four countries. Since then, a dozen additional decade, ADB appears to have sponsored subsector TVET projects have been completed, reflecting analyses in only a few places, i.e., the Philippines new priorities. They should be thoroughly and the Pacific. Project preparation technical assessed, particularly the lessons to be gained from assistance as a rule is an instrument for project implementation of training projects for the informal development and has not been used sufficiently to sector. delve into policy analysis. A review should be undertaken within ADB of the incidence and performance of training ADB staff knowledge and skills should be updated. components (i.e., project-related training) in Given that TVET is challenging and technologies non-education projects, such as in agriculture, are changing frequently, ADB should invest in infrastructure, and small and medium-sized updating staff knowledge and skills. This can be enterprise projects. Project-related training supports done through seminars, workshops, and training the training requirements of specific investments programs to familiarize staff with leading TVET in other sectors. Studies of this topic in other systems in the region (Republic of Korea, Malaysia, development banks (World Bank and Inter-American and Singapore, as well as Australia and New Development Bank) have been revealing. They tend Zealand). This should include wider exposure to
40 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific business and employers to better understand labor demand in different contexts.
ADB should establish partnerships where expertise is limited. ADB may need to rely on partnerships with other organizations to acquire sufficient expertise in some areas, such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) in training for the informal sector. Over the medium term, ADB should aim at acquiring a critical mass of staff expertise in TVET.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training | 41 Chapter 4 Higher Education
Introduction expanding access, raising quality, and improving the relevance of higher education are appraised, and recommendations provided for ADB’s future role cross Asia, many countries have become and direction in the subsector. victims of their own success. Increased enrollments at primary and secondary A education levels are fueling sharply rising demand for access to postsecondary opportunities, The Higher Education a demand that countries are struggling to cope with. The problem needs to be solved. The highly Landscape in the Region educated are enormously important to social and economic development. Investment in good Shifts in International Support for quality higher education is returned through higher incomes and economic growth. Money spent on Higher Education higher education benefits all of society, not just those who go to college. National contexts also are Since 1970, ADB has provided about $7 billion in changing as developing member countries (DMCs) loans to the education sector, of which 12% was confront the globalization of markets, high-speed for higher education (Appendix 2). Over time, communications, and an expanded role of however, there was considerable variation in this technology in all aspects of life. Modern economies commitment. Lending to higher education grew cannot be managed effectively by primary and between 1970 and 1990, but dropped from 1990 secondary school graduates. onward as ADB and most other international The rapid growth in education in recent years donors concentrated their support on basic has come at a cost. As in all levels of education, education. Support for higher education fell from the quality of higher education has suffered. about 22% of ADB education lending in the 1970s Universities in many DMCs suffer from inadequate and 1980s to 15% in the 1990s, to about 2% in the infrastructure and weak instruction. Low quality is years since 2000 (LaRocque 2006a; Appendix 2). the biggest problem and greatest challenge facing The decline in financial support for higher higher education systems in many DMCs. education reflected the international consensus Over the next decade, expanding and reached at the 1990 World Conference on strengthening higher education will be a priority Education for All (EFA): that the central concern in nearly all DMCs. Governments face development challenge of that era was to expand strong social demand to expand access. Most see access to basic education. A principal argument for a need to increase the supply of highly trained this conclusion was that higher education is costly. personnel, and all seek to incorporate advances One year of university education for one student in technology in their economies (Bray 1998). In costs as much as providing a year of primary the face of these challenges, many countries will schooling for 20–40 children, and investing in look to ADB for access to both its financial and primary schooling has a considerably higher public knowledge resources. return. On average, low-income countries spend This chapter examines trends and issues in 34 times more on a student in higher education higher education development across the than they spend on a student in primary education, region, and assesses anticipated demand for and 14 times more than they spend on a student ADB assistance in this subsector. Strategies for in secondary education. The analogous figures for
42 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific high-income countries are 1.8 and 1.4 (Glewwe and higher education, but rather, achieving the right mix Kremer 2005). Another powerful assertion was that among the three levels. most of the benefits of higher education accrued to Evidence consistently shows that countries the students themselves rather than to society. In that invest heavily in higher education benefit the years following the EFA conference, there was economically and socially. For example, in countries a massive shift in development funding by most in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation major international assistance agencies in favor of and Development (OECD), every dollar invested basic education (Heynemann 2006). in attaining higher-level qualifications results in The renewed interest in higher education a significant return through economic growth. across the region has been influenced by the This investment provides tangible benefits to all convergence of three factors. First, DMCs have of society, not only to those who benefit from had dramatic success in expanding access to greater educational opportunities (Schleicher 2006). primary and secondary schooling. Increased Countries that provide its citizens with 1 additional enrollments at these levels are now fueling sharply year of education can, over time, boost productivity rising social demand for access to postsecondary and raise economic output by 3–6% (Schleicher opportunities. Second, the increased economic 2006). Country analyses suggest that a 1-year interdependency among countries (sometimes increase in average years of schooling of a country’s termed “globalization”), speed of communications, labor force raises average output per worker by and importance of technology have created new 5–15% (LaRocque 2007). At the same time, benefits demand for higher-level technical, managerial, and to individuals are significant. An additional year of administrative skills. Third, considerable assistance schooling is estimated to raise income by 10%, and from donors, often in the form of grant aid, is possibly as much as 20% in low-income countries available to support basic education. Hence, while (LaRocque 2007). The earnings differential between expanding access and improving the quality of workers with secondary and higher education ranges basic education remain important, in many DMCs from 25% to 119%. That differential grew by an they are being supported by bilateral development average of 1% per year between 1997 and 2003 partners through grant financing. In such DMCs in 18 of the 22 OECD countries (Schleicher 2006). ADB no longer has a comparative advantage Meanwhile, people without basic qualifications were in supporting the expansion of access to basic found to face a significantly higher and growing risk education through loan financing. of unemployment and poverty (Schleicher 2006). It Primary and secondary schools aim to provide is reasonable to assume that in the robust economies students with a strong grounding in basic literacy, of many DMCs, similar patterns hold true. numeracy, and other vital skills. Higher education A realistic concern is that the expansion of offers the depth and flexibility people need to thrive higher education opportunities might result in in the modern workplace (World Bank 2000a). The massive degree inflation and a decline in the value highly educated are enormously important to social of degrees and qualifications. However, evidence and economic development. Investment in higher points to the opposite conclusion. Across nearly education is thus strongly in the public interest. all OECD countries, earnings and other indicators The World Bank (2000a) argues that sustainable that tell us something about the labor market value poverty reduction will not be achieved without a of education have risen faster than the supply renaissance in the higher education systems of of degrees and qualifications. This suggests that developing countries. It also maintains that the demand for high-level skills is increasing faster than issue is not primary and secondary education versus institutions are able to deliver them (Schleicher
Higher Education | 43 2006). Again, it is reasonable to assume a similar by future teachers. Those teachers need solid pattern will be observed across the region. content preparation in the subjects they will teach, Renewed interest in higher education is preparation in modern pedagogical techniques, and reflected in the shifting priorities of international training in the use of technology in instruction. development organizations. The World Bank To the extent that schools receive better-prepared (2002), for example, offers a four-point rationale teachers, and to the extent those teachers have the for its own shift toward greater attention to higher support they need to implement their new abilities education. One is that social and economic progress once teaching, future secondary graduates will is achieved principally through the advancement be better equipped for direct entry into the labor and application of knowledge. Second, higher market or for higher education. education is necessary for the creation, Educating higher-level technical and dissemination, and application of knowledge, and administrative personnel is also vital. International for developing technical and professional capacity. finance, business management, and national Third, developing and transition countries are governance increasingly depend on automation, at risk of being further marginalized in a highly high-speed communications, and complex competitive world economy because their higher information flows that require high levels of education systems are not adequately prepared to administrative sophistication, technical proficiency, capitalize on the creation and use of knowledge. and analytic capacity. Secondary education alone Fourth, governments have a responsibility to put cannot provide the managerial and technical in place an enabling framework that encourages leadership needed in modern business, industry, higher education institutions to be more innovative and government. and responsive to the needs of a globally The centers of innovation and creative thinking competitive knowledge economy, and to the provided by higher education institutions are changing labor market requirements for advanced critical for the innovation upon which economic human capital. and social development increasingly depend. Universities have a potentially important role in The Role of Higher Education driving innovation and development in DMCs. They can do so through their role in research and in National and Regional development, and by training workers for the Development knowledge economy (LaRocque 2007). Context and Recent Developments Higher education contributes to national development in three principal ways. First, it prepares the primary and secondary teachers who The growing demand for higher education across shape the dimensions and quality of the overall the region is influenced by, among other things, education system. Second, those teachers train the the rate of population increase, the size of the high-level technical and administrative personnel school-age population, and primary and secondary needed in government, business, and industry. school participation and completion rates. The Finally, higher education institutions operate as proportion of secondary school completers seeking incubators of the innovation and creative thinking higher education, in turn, is fueled by rising family needed for an economically competitive society. incomes, changes in the labor market, and social The preparation of teachers for primary and tastes and values. The pattern across the majority secondary schooling is essential. Low-quality of DMCs is that more students are entering primary and secondary education lead to enormous general education, a higher percentage is finishing inefficiencies in higher education, as incoming students secondary school, and an increasing proportion lack preparation for postsecondary study (Hanushek of those graduates want to continue on to higher and Woessmann 2007). This creates a vicious cycle education. as poorly prepared entering students combine in Demand for higher education across Asia will many institutions with low-quality instruction to continue to grow. Data indicate that, while student yield poorly prepared graduates. When some of these enrollments in higher education across DMCs are graduates return to primary and secondary schools as increasing rapidly, growth in higher education gross teachers, the cycle is perpetuated. enrollment rates is more modest (Appendix 8). One way to break this cycle is to raise the This suggests that higher education enrollments quality of postsecondary preparation received have been driven more by the increasing size of
44 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific the college-age cohort than by an increase in the sufficient attention to the conditions of success. The percentage of that cohort continuing on to higher World Bank (2000a) observed that while demand education. A second implication of this pattern for higher education is rising rapidly, higher is that even when (and if) population growth education systems are expanding chaotically. Low- rates in DMCs slow, it is likely that demand for quality institutions mushroom in the private sector, higher education will hold constant or grow due while public sector provision suffers from lack of to increasing participation rates. Future demand funding and vision, poor management, and low may differ by subregion, however, as evidenced morale. As a result, quality has suffered. by the substantial differences among them in size A primary reason for the low quality is that and rate of increase, with the highest enrollments system expansion has been so rapid that demand in East Asia (Appendix 8). Additional evidence of for qualified college and university instructors the pressure to expand higher education capacity is has outstripped the supply. This shortage is reflected in the increasing number of new colleges exacerbated by increasing alternative employment and universities that have been opened across the opportunities for highly educated individuals region (South East Asian Ministers Education within the fast growing economies of the region. Organization 2007). The number of such higher Many institutions lack the resources to pay education institutions in selected Southeast Asian salaries that are competitive with private sector countries in 2007 is shown in Table 2. In summary, opportunities available to would-be faculty the demand for higher education in DMCs will members. They also face the related challenge of continue to increase, resulting in both a need retaining the attention and loyalty of instructional and an opportunity for ADB support of further staff they are able to hire. Many of their faculty development in the subsector. members have supplemental employment that may compete for the time they would otherwise commit to their teaching and research (Postiglione 2002; Chapman 2000, 2002). Challenges and Issues The experience of the National University of Laos (NUOL) illustrates this issue. The university in Higher Education instructional program during the day is tuition-free for admitted students and taught in Lao. NUOL Key issues constraining quality and growth of faculty members supplement their university salary higher education in the region are examined below. by teaching a special evening course in English, for which students must pay a fee. While this Internal Efficiency arrangement provides a necessary financial supplement for instructors, it has made it difficult for NUOL to capture the time and attention of faculty The low quality of higher education institutions is members for participation in research and governance of considerable concern in many DMCs, a situation activities that would strengthen the regular (day) created, in part, by rapid expansion without program of the university (Chapman 2002).
Table 2: Number of Higher Institutions in Southeast Asia by Sector and Type, 2007 Public Private Total Country Degree Nondegree Subtotal Degree Nondegree Subtotal Brunei 1 10 11 — — — — Darussalam Indonesia — — 81 — — 2,435 2,516 Lao PDR 24 41 65 28 11 39 104 Malaysia 18 40 58 22 519 541 599 Philippines 424 1,352 1,776 1,363 2,045 3,408 5,184 Thailand 66 — 66 54 401 455 521 Viet Nam 201 — 201 29 — 29 230 — = data not available, Lao PDR = Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Sources: www.seameo.org/images/stories/SEAMEO_General/SEAMEO_Statistics/ Education_Histogram/ED_Histogram.htm except Myanmar: www.yangoncity.com.mm/education/index.asp#Edu5
Higher Education | 45 External Efficiency (Appendix 8), urban-rural and income disparities continue to block access for some. A strong External efficiency concerns the extent that the argument for an ADB role in supporting higher knowledge and skills of secondary school graduates education is to help DMCs ensure inclusive growth. are aligned with the entrance requirements of If access to the opportunity for higher education higher education institutions, and the extent that is limited by family resources or background, the the knowledge and skills of higher education distribution of benefits in a society is distorted, graduates are aligned with the labor market. In and inclusive economic and social development many DMCs there are problems at both points. is impeded. Higher education institutions in many DMCs grapple with a tension between aligning Administration and Governance their entrance standards and curriculum to be responsive to students’ prior level of learning, versus aligning their curriculum with international Increasing emphasis on privatization and standards. Higher education institutions are faced decentralization in higher education across Asia is with a choice of diverting resources to providing changing the face of higher education institution remediation, failing to meet international quality management and governance. These trends have expectations, suffering extremely high dropout rates at least two implications. The decentralization of as poorly prepared students are unable to cope with university management in countries such as People’s the university curriculum, or some combination Republic of China (PRC), Indonesia, and Mongolia of the three. The articulation between secondary has resulted in campus-level administrators needing and higher education requirements is further greater managerial and leadership skills than complicated in some countries by the responsibility in the past. At the same time, the move toward for these two levels of education being split between greater privatization of higher education has put a ministry of education and a ministry of higher new pressures on campus-level administrators education. If communication between ministries is to secure new funding streams, manage funds in weak, alignment of curriculum and the accuracy of more transparent ways than has been historically expectations tend to suffer. necessary, and employ levels of accountability that Even as demand builds for greater access to are new to many higher education institutions. higher education, graduates in some countries have difficulty finding jobs. This is due in some Cost and Financing cases to employers’ concern about the quality of education received by students. In other cases, it is because students have only limited information Higher education in most DMCs is still mainly about existing and projected jobs, entry points concentrated in public universities, and is largely for access to desired careers, and career ladders publicly financed. Two significant changes during associated with desired professions. Some higher the 1990s have been the growth of private education institutions, such as Cantu University in institutions, and financial diversification in public Viet Nam, have undertaken graduate tracer studies institutions through introduction of tuition fees and and employer surveys as a basis for assessing increased reliance on nongovernment sources of the relevance of their curriculum and instruction funding—mainly research and consultancy income methods. Many other higher education institutions (World Bank 2000a; Woodhall 2001). would benefit from this practice. One particularly sensitive issue is the growing expectation in many DMCs that students and Access and Equity their families should pay a larger share of the cost of their education. While both society and the individual benefit from higher education, the Given the importance of higher education in largest returns accrue to the individual (Woodhall national development and the clear returns to 2001). Graduates will have better job opportunities individuals who earn a higher education, it is and higher lifetime earnings than those with only important that the opportunity be fairly distributed. primary or secondary schooling. Consequently, The benefit stream that flows from earning a students and their families should pay more of the higher education needs to be available to all. While cost of higher education, but with two stipulations: considerable progress has been made over the (i) governments recognize that there needs to be last decade in reducing disparities due to gender continued protection for students from low-income
46 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific backgrounds; and (ii) mechanisms must be available to education is warranted, basic education need through which students can borrow to cover higher not command the same level of emphasis it has in education costs, with some arrangement for future the past. Rather, economic and social development payback. As a result of these concerns, there has of the region requires that substantial attention been growing interest in student loans. be devoted to post-basic education and higher The World Bank (1994) argues that cost education. ADB is well positioned to play an sharing cannot be implemented equitably without important role in responding to that requirement. a functioning student loan program to assist At the same time, there are differences about what students who need to borrow for their education. strategies will best support higher education. Student loan programs now exist in over 50 In certain DMCs, lending may not become countries, including Canada, United States, several the main criterion of ADB success in assisting European countries, much of Latin America and higher education. As DMCs develop, providing the Caribbean, and in an increasing number of expertise has become more important to many countries in Africa and Asia. New student loan of them than accessing external financing. Loan schemes recently have been established in the PRC financing should not be the primary product, and Philippines. The Australian Higher Education particularly in DMCs that have more private Contribution Scheme has attracted particular capital. For this group of DMCs, it is knowledge interest, since it uses the tax system to collect that matters, and more emphasis should be placed repayments on an income-contingent basis. In many on meeting their knowledge management needs. A developing countries, however, student loans have strategic question in this regard is to what extent been beset by problems, particularly administrative ADB has or can develop a comparative advantage failures and high rates of default. as a repository and broker of knowledge about A second major issue is faculty compensation. higher education. As competition for qualified college and university The economic future of the region lies in instructors intensifies, many higher education DMCs strengthening and mobilizing their capacity institutions are being forced to evaluate their in scientific and technological innovation. ADB faculty compensation practices. A pattern of should concentrate its efforts in higher education on underpaying university faculty while allowing (and promoting science and technology to foster greater even encouraging) them to supplement their income scientific and technological innovation (LaRocque through private consulting has been a common 2007). The most important contributions of ADB way of subsidizing higher education across the would be to help DMCs improve science and developing world. Instructors reaped the prestige of math instruction in primary and secondary a university appointment, and universities gained education, strengthen science and engineering teaching staff at low cost. However, as universities programs in higher education institutions, and help now seek to improve the quality of their instruction higher education institutions develop as centers of and to create new funding streams through research scientific and technological innovation. and university-based consulting, many institutions are seeking ways to recapture the time, energy, ADB Experience in Higher and loyalty of their instructional staff on behalf of institutional priorities. Education In summary, while DMC higher education systems have grown rapidly, quality often has ADB lending for education since the 1990s has lagged. The challenge of the future will be to raise concentrated on basic education. As a result, quality in the face of continuing strong demand for ADB has limited experience with loans for higher greater access. education (Appendix 2). Summary information about six higher education loans approved after 1990 is in Table 3. More detailed information about these loans is in Appendix 9. Implementation The Role of ADB in experience was mixed. While all projects were judged as either satisfactory or successful, only Higher Education one (in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic [Lao PDR]) was viewed as highly effective. The limited ADB’s second medium-term strategy (2006–2008) recent history of projects in higher education identified education as one of six priority sectors for and the generally middle-range assessments of assistance (ADB 2006b). While priority attention these projects suggest that ADB will have to exert
Higher Education | 47 Table 3: Assessment of ADB Experience with Higher Education Loans Country Bangladesh Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Papua New Sri Lanka Guinea Name of Bangladesh Special Higher Postsecond- Higher Science and Project Open University Rehabilitation Education ary Education Education Technology Project Assistance Project Rationalization Project Personnel Devel- Project Project opment Project Amount 34.3 68.6 235.0 22.0 16.5 32.1 ($ million) Date 1992–1997 1993–1997 1994–2000 1995–2003 1993–2003 1998–2005 Overall Considered a Internal On balance, Highly relevant, Satisfactory Highly relevant, Assess- success. efficiency and efficacious and very efficient, given the effective, ef- ment productivity efficient. and highly problems ficient, and were improved. effective. encountered. likely sustainable. ADB = Asian Development Bank, Lao PDR = Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Sources: ADB 1992a, 1992b, 1995b, 1997a, 1997b, 2000a, 2000b, 2001b, 2002a, 2002c, 2004c, 2005d, 2006d. considerable effort to become a major regional projects in other sectors. One indicator of DMCs’ broker of knowledge of higher education reform. potential interest in borrowing is their expressed aspirations for expanding their higher education Strategies for Higher Education systems. These are summarized for selected DMCs in Appendix 8. Based on such aspirations, it appears that higher education growth will be Four separate but potentially intertwined substantial over the next two decades. For example, approaches for ADB are (i) lending for the PRC and India both plan to triple their higher infrastructure and policy development to expand education systems within the next 20 years. Viet access to postsecondary education, both public and Nam wants to increase enrollments by 10% per private; (ii) developing the capacity of instructional year through 2010. staff and administrators; (iii) operating as a A second indicator is the extent to which knowledge management and knowledge-sharing DMCs have borrowed from other lenders for higher organization—funding national and regional education. The volume of such borrowing confirms hubs devoted to information sharing, brokering demand is strong when terms are favorable. During international and regional twinning arrangements, fiscal year (FY) 1990–2000, World Bank lending for and operating as a clearinghouse for technical and higher education to East Asian, Southeast Asian, and managerial expertise; and (iv) targeting support for Pacific countries accounted for 38% of that agency’s university-based science and technology as a means total lending for higher education. Among those of promoting innovation and stimulating economic countries, PRC, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, and development in the region. Each approach is Thailand ranked with the 10 largest borrowers of discussed below. World Bank funds for higher education (World Bank 2002). During the same period, World Bank lending Lending for University Infrastructure and for higher education to South Asian countries14 Policy Development and Pakistan accounted for 5% of total lending for As a financial institution, ADB’s current focus higher education, and amounted to $574.5 million. in higher education—lending for infrastructure Higher education lending to these same countries development and policy support—could well (and Afghanistan) continued apace during Fiscal continue and remain important. Emphasis could be Year (FY) 2001–2006, amounting to $334.8 million on helping DMCs expand access to higher education (World Bank 2007). and, to a lesser extent, increase quality. The basic ADB must demonstrate that it possesses the aim of this approach would be expanding access to relevant knowledge about the substance of higher postsecondary education, both public and private. Evidence of demand for higher education borrowing is ample, though higher education 14 Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri projects are often smaller than infrastructure Lanka.
48 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Table 4: Sample of Open Universities Across Asia
Allama Iqbal Open University (Pakistan) Sichuan Radio and TV University (PRC) www.aiou.edu.pk/ www.scrtvu.net/ China Beijing Radio and TV University Sri Lanka Open University www.crtvu.edu.cn/English_crtvu/index_en.html www.lankalinksystems.com/sri-lanka/sri-lanka/ Chinese Taipei National Open University university-sri-lanka.htm english.www.gov.tw/APEC/ Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (Thailand) index.jsp?categid=222&recorid=88426 www.stou.ac.th/Eng/ The Open University of Hong Kong The University of the Philippines Open University www.ouhk.edu.hk/ www.upou.org/ Indira Gandhi National Open University (India) Universities Terbuka (Indonesia) www.ignou.ac.in/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universitas_Terbuka Jiangsu Radio and TV University (PRC) Viet Nam Hanoi Open University www.jstvu.edu.cn/ www.doceos.com/vietnam/university/ Karnataka State Open University hanoi_open_university-AR1dcWEEab.html www.ksoumysore.com/ Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (India) Kota Open University (India) www.indiastudycenter.com/Univ/States/Maharastra/ www.indiastudycenter.com/Univ/States/Rajsthan/ Yashwantrao-Chavan-Maharashtra-Open-University/ KotaOU/default.asp Default.asp Shanghai TV University (PRC) Yunnan Radio and TV University (PRC) www.shtvu.edu.cn/ www.wikieducator.org/Yunnan_Radio_and_TV_University
PRC = People’s Republic of China. Source: Internet. education development to increase its rate of offers learners the opportunity to study on their lending for higher education. Some DMCs, such as own schedule and at the same time sustain other the PRC and Kazakhstan, have enough reserves that family and job responsibilities. they need not borrow, but do so to gain access to There is the risk that online instruction has the knowledge resources of the World Bank. If ADB been oversold—i.e., the promise may exceed the lending is to be attractive to such DMCs, it needs to delivery (Chapman and Austin 2002b). Problems of be packaged with a knowledge component. quality control, cross-border jurisdiction, language of instruction, equipment maintenance, connectivity, Lending for ICT. The use of information and and the recurrent cost of supplies (paper, ink) communication technology (ICT), particularly to can limit the benefits of ICT-based instruction. deliver Internet-based distance instruction, provides Sustaining student interest and engagement without another mechanism for extending access to higher the level of interpersonal contact provided by education. It is widely advocated as an essential tool traditional courses can also be a problem. The in poverty reduction as it offers a cost-effective means dominant view remains that the move toward of providing difficult-to-reach groups with expertise technology-based instruction in higher education and skills essential to their upward economic mobility is inevitable, and DMCs will have to solve these (Khan and Williams 2006; Juma and Lee 2005; Salmi problems within their own contexts. ADB could 2002; World Bank 2002). A number of DMCs are help them. already using this approach to great advantage (Table ICT-based instructional efforts are country- 4). Large-scale higher education programs through based. ADB could support and help coordinate the open universities are under way in PRC, Indonesia, regional delivery of ICT-based distance education. and Thailand (Salmi 2002). This could involve support for widening access The virtues of ICT-based instruction include to the Internet, training in use of the World Wide lower unit cost. Online instruction may offer as Web, designing instruction for use in an online much as a 60% cost savings over conventional context, assuring the quality of online instruction, campus-based instruction (Kejak and Ortmann and formulating language policy related to online 2003; Khan and Williams 2006). The cost of instruction (of particular relevance in cross-border education at the Open University in the United distance education). A group of universities in the Kingdom is about one third of that at a traditional region could be selected to sponsor and support a university (Salami 2000). Online instruction also coordinated program of distance higher education.
Higher Education | 49 The necessary coordination could be handled What kinds of knowledge need to be shared, by a university in the region, built into the work and does ADB have that knowledge? plan of a knowledge hub (discussed later), or undertaken as a for-profit activity by a private ADB has three primary sources of knowledge sector organization. about higher education. One is knowledge drawn from its experience overseeing higher education Capacity Development projects and reform. That experience is limited Strengthening the professional capacity of and the success of those projects was mixed. ADB instructional staff and administrators is a priority has not yet systematically distilled and formulated across all DMCs, but particularly in countries meaningful lessons from its experience that could where enrollment has grown faster than qualified guide higher education reform. Studies aimed at teachers and administrators could be trained such distillation and formulation should be given and recruited. In countries such as PRC, India, high priority if ADB moves in the direction of and Malaysia, higher education institutions knowledge management as a central product. have sometimes had to hire promising but The experience of countries in the region in inexperienced personnel just to meet student developing their higher education systems is a demand. In some cases, institutions have lacked promising source of knowledge worth sharing. the financial means to recruit top-level instructors However, systematic analysis of country experience and have hired less promising (but available) is uneven and generally lacking. Analyses tend to be personnel. In both cases, systematic and sustained either anecdotal or written for an academic audience. capacity development is needed. Capacity Information from DMC experience must be practical development is also a pressing need in institutions and considerably more than anecdotal reflections. struggling to adopt and use new communication One role of ADB in any knowledge-sharing and research technologies. mechanism would be to ensure the level of analysis The needs for capacity development differ by and discourse is practical, insightful, and helpful. country, but areas of particularly widespread need Knowledge drawn from wider international on the administrative side include quality assurance, experience can offer substantial benefit to DMCs. information management, transparency in financial It introduces models, management strategies, accounting, tracking and use of equipment and evaluations, and systematic approaches to facilities, and personnel management systems. curriculum development that have been successful Many university instructors express interest in in a broader range of efforts to reform higher systematically developing teaching skills, expanding education. At the same time, that information must their range of pedagogical strategies used in the be relevant and sensitive to DMC contexts. classroom, developing skills in retrieving and using electronic information sources in their teaching, and Does ADB have effective mechanisms for improving methods to assess students. sharing its knowledge?
Knowledge Management and Sharing Given its regional mandate, ADB may be in a While capital is continuously needed to good position to collect, organize, and disseminate develop higher education, providing knowledge is information relevant to higher education reform. rapidly becoming more important as alternative These knowledge-sharing functions could be sources of capital become available, and as the accomplished through a variety of mechanisms, design and operation of higher education five of which are the most widely discussed: institutions become more complex (LaRocque (i) subregional knowledge hubs, (ii) a central 2007). In general, middle-income countries are knowledge hub, (iii) international twinning more likely to desire technical advice, and are arrangements, (iv) regional twinning arrangements, requesting more knowledge components in their and (v) regional and international consultants. education lending. ADB must determine which would be the most For ADB to become more prominent as a compatible with its operations and best serve knowledge provider in support of higher education DMCs’ needs. development, three questions must be addressed: Knowledge hubs are centers established to What kinds of knowledge need to be shared? Does accumulate, organize, and disseminate knowledge ADB have knowledge to share? Does ADB have about a particular set of issues—in this case, higher mechanisms for efficiently sharing the knowledge it education development. Hubs are one way to does have? promote cross-fertilization of new ideas and new
50 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Table 5: Illustrative List of Hub Activities
Capacity development Program and personnel evaluation Financial planning and projections Applications and use of ICT Marketing and enrollment management Tracer studies Curriculum development Collaboration in research Expanding pedagogical techniques Commercialization of research
ICT = information and communication technology. Source: Author. modes of institutional interaction between industry, A variation on the subregional hub approach academe, and governments (D’Costa 2006). They is sometimes referred to as a “center for excellence.” can serve as local outposts of expertise available It is typically a university tasked to serve as a to help DMC governments and universities set demonstration site for a region or subregion. standards, develop capacity, and share information Particular programs or the institution as a whole aimed at formulating national policies and receives special funding to develop programs intended institutional strategies. Some of the activities that to serve as models for other institutions in the region. hubs might sponsor or support are in Table 5. The impact of these centers depends heavily on Hubs could operate with pooled staff from whether the model is clear to observers, the extent multiple governments, or with an independent to which observers see in the model a comparative staff selected by ADB and DMC representatives. advantage over what they are already doing, and the Ideally hubs should be rooted in local institutions cost of adopting the model (Rogers 1995). and capacities as a way of encouraging strong local ownership, full use of local capacities, and Central Hubs. The premise that a knowledge hub cooperative arrangements that are institutionally, can be more effective if it is closer to the points of financially, and operationally sustainable. Hubs can delivery of services is questionable. Unless users collect and disseminate state-of-the-art thinking, of hub services intend to visit the hub location relevant examples, and resource materials. They frequently, the location of the hub is largely typically have a broad reach to regional and irrelevant given the good electronic communication international experts with demonstrated success and transportation systems in the region. A working in the region. They can handle the site central to the region may be a more cost- logistics of fielding consultants, and provide quality effective and useful strategy as it allows for easier control over consultants’ work, making it easier for consolidation of information and cross-fertilization DMCs and higher education institutions to access of ideas. The central hub could be located at ADB regional and international assistance in higher headquarters, for example. education reform. Central hub staffing would require more than just ADB education personnel with additional Subregional Hubs. The premise in establishing responsibilities. A team dedicated to knowledge subregional hubs is that locating expertise closer to collection and dissemination would be required, as the user of hub services increases the relevance and well as timely provision of consultant services on timeliness of assistance. Presumably, knowledge an as-requested basis. DMC personnel, who better hubs create a focal point for consolidating understand the context, personalities, information and expertise and provide a clear point and issues related to their countries’ needs, of contact for governments and higher education must participate. institutions seeking assistance. The Eminent Persons Knowledge hubs have potential liabilities. Group (footnote 1) envisioned hubs as clusters Although widely advocated, they pose a series of technical staff located in major business and of challenges. It is not always clear who is academic centers in the region, though other models responsible for deciding among competing requests could be considered (ADB 2007h). A number of for services, for determining the orientation of hub-like structures already operate in the region advice offered by hub staff and consultants, or (Box 1). Hubs often specialize in particular topical for insuring that a wide variety of views are areas, such as use of technology (e.g., the Regional represented. Responsibilities for marketing hub Center for Educational Innovation and Technology services or monitoring the relevance of services [INNOTECH]). offered are also often unclear. Disagreements
Higher Education | 51 Box 1: Examples of Hub-like Organizations in the Region
The South East Asian Ministers Education organizes workshops, seminars, and confer- Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Centre for ences, creating opportunities for participa- Higher Education and Development (RIHED), tion by all interested research institutions and in Bangkok, helps member states foster efficiency governments in the region. Issues of institu- and effectiveness of higher education, with a tional research, management, methodology, focus on policy and planning processes, technology, and accessing international funding administrative and management systems, and sources are examined in these gatherings. As professional training and policy-oriented resources permit, APHERN provides a search- research. It serves as the regional center and able database of member institutions and clearinghouse for higher education information researchers with areas of research expertise, and promotes collaboration and institutional current projects, and contact details. Available: links. Available: www.rihed.seameo.org/ www.aprim.net/aphern/welcome.htm
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), in The Regional Center for Educational Bangkok, promotes technological change and Innovation and Technology (INNOTECH), sustainable development in the region through sponsored by SEAMEO, promotes the use of higher education, research, and outreach. technology in education across Asia through Established in 1959, AIT has become a leading workshops, training programs, and consultancies regional postgraduate institution, and works with governments and higher education actively with public and private sector partners institutions of member countries. Available: throughout the region and with some of the www.seameo-innotech.org/ top universities in the world. Available: www.ait.ac.th/ The United Nations University (UNU), based in Tokyo, operates as a think tank and conducts The Asia Pacific Higher Education Research research on pressing social and economic Network (APHERN) sponsors cooperative activi- issues facing the developing world. It is world- ties focusing on regional issues. A basic aim is to wide in focus, but its activities include many of promote links among researchers and collabo- central relevance to developing member ration in research. To that end, APHERN countries. Available: www.unu.edu/
Source: Author.
could arise about the extent to which hubs should collaboration over an agreed period. The objective be responsive to requests of ADB versus higher is typically to provide key personnel in the DMC education institutions, for example. with clear models, hands-on experience, and It is important that the link between hubs advice relevant to institutional development and lending be clear. While hubs typically operate through exchange of personnel, study visits, and as regional or subregional centers for knowledge consultancies. Ideally, the twinning is structured sharing, lending happens at the country level. to yield payoffs to both partners as students and Innovative regional or subregional lending faculty from the international partner learn more modalities may be needed. A further downside is about higher education development issues in the illustrated by recent experience in Hong Kong, DMC partner institution. China, where senior staff of six universities The advantage of international twinning expressed reluctance to join together to create a is that key participants in each institution higher education hub, in part from concern that have sufficient recurrent contact to build a financial support for the hub might compete with working relationship. Collaboration allows funds for their own institutions (Tam 2007). participants to get deeper into the operational mechanisms of university administration than International Twinning. In twinning arrangements, might be possible through workshops or stand- a DMC university and a university in a more alone consultancies. Operational support for industrialized country enter into sustained the twinning typically involves funding for
52 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific faculty, student, and administrator travel and consultancies are the basis of most knowledge- professional time.15 sharing approaches, even within hub and twinning Twinning has its limitations. These arrangements strategies. They can be used as a stand-alone can narrow experience sharing to the particular approach or embedded within hub or twinning models of the partner institutions. Key personnel arrangements. Advantages of this approach are in the international partner institution can lose that consultants can be hired directly by the higher interest or be distracted by other opportunities education institution or DMC government without and commitments. In some cases, the financial going through intermediate organizations, and underpinnings of twinning may not be workable. the recipient of services retains complete control The University of New South Wales closed its of the choice of experts. The disadvantage is that operations in Singapore just 4 months after they many DMC higher education institutions have began because of lower-than-anticipated enrollments difficulty identifying relevant expertise outside their (Financial Times 2007). There also may be differences own geographic area, and may not understand the in cultural or institutional values. In 2005, the norms and procedures for contracting, supervising, University of Warwick (United Kingdom) dropped and evaluating consultant services. An advantage of plans for a hub after its faculty expressed concern procuring consultants through a hub or twinning about the cost and potential curbs on academic arrangement is that those intermediaries can freedom in Singapore (Financial Times 2007). provide some level of screening and selectivity. They can be given specific responsibility for maintaining Regional Twinning. The success of regional twinning a roster of experts, and for follow-up to see that depends on there being good higher education consultancy work fulfills its terms of reference, is models in reasonable proximity to the DMC partner. well received, and is helpful. When there are, regional twinning presumably offers a more relevant partnering experience General Critique of Knowledge Sharing. There is as collaborators most likely have undertaken no overriding advantage of one form of knowledge- reforms within similar cultural and educational sharing mechanism over another, or any reason to circumstances. A further advantage is that proximity limit the range of mechanisms ADB might broker results in lower transportation costs and makes across the region. Each approach has strengths and it easier to sustain longer-term professional weaknesses. ADB can, and probably should, employ relationships even after the formal twinning ends. some combination of approaches in response to The downside of regional twinning is the same DMC and subregional needs and sensitivities. The as for international twinning. The range of expertise importance of placing knowledge hubs close to is narrowed to that of the collaborating partner, the end-user is diminishing given the high-quality and anticipated benefits may not materialize. communication and transportation systems in Support for the regional twinning also may compete much of the region. More important than physical for funds that might have gone directly to the proximity is that those staffing knowledge hubs universities involved in twinning. and twinning arrangements are knowledgeable and articulate about the issues of higher education International and Regional Consultants. The development, and sensitive to the regional contexts. provision of knowledge to DMCs from individuals While the need for knowledge management associated with ADB most often comes from and brokering is persuasive and such a role offers consultants, not ADB staff members. Consultancies an attractive extension of ADB’s support for are already a widely used and well-understood higher education, it carries risks. ADB education practice across the region. Direct individual sector staff is not presently configured to serve as knowledge brokers, and ADB’s history with higher education projects, while competent, is not distinguished. It is often unclear who needs the 15 Numerous twinning arrangements are under way. Malaysia and Singapore both use twinning with Western knowledge or how to deliver it in a useful way. higher education institutions. The European Institute for The World Bank has the World Bank Institute for Business Administration (INSEAD) and the University of training and knowledge development in various Chicago business school have set up campuses and sectors and thematic areas. ADB does not have a offer part of their programs in Singapore. Webster comparable organization. ADB efforts in this field University has a campus in Hua Hin, Thailand. Johns Hopkins University, Nottingham University, and the may compete with those of other organizations University of Minnesota have twinning arrangements with more experience in knowledge brokering. ADB in the People’s Republic of China. has strengthened and institutionalized knowledge
Higher Education | 53 management in support of its operations in sectors to higher education. ADB’s lending pattern for and thematic areas in recent years. Further work in science and technology projects consequently is this regard will be needed. similar to that for higher education. Lending All these constraints can be overcome if ADB increased from only $71 million in the 1970s to chooses to make this strategy a priority. Doing so $280 million in the 1980s, peaking at $360 million will require a sustained commitment, an increase in the 1990s. Lending has dropped significantly and reconfiguration of education staff, and the since 2000 to only $38 million (LaRocque 2007). support of key DMCs. It will also require attention While more higher education in science and to seven factors critical to the success of any of the technology across the region is widely supported, knowledge-sharing strategies discussed above: the role of higher education institutions in fostering innovation and technological change is less clear. (i) early DMC access to expertise, OECD countries offer considerable evidence that (ii) ability to shift skills mix as problems change, research and development funded or performed (iii) emphasis on regional expertise without by universities and the public sector has a positive jeopardizing access to wider world effect on overall productivity and on business expertise, research and development (OECD 2000). There are (iv) clear identification of where the expertise questions, however, about the degree investment in resides, university-based science and technology will lead to (v) competitive procurement procedures able to the innovation and economic stimulation suggested attract top talent for short-term activities, by the Eminent Persons Group. (vi) mechanisms to sustain relationships over time, and Higher Education Institutions’ Role in Research (vii) conferences on a technical level that share and Development. Capacity in science and techno knowledge and highlight the knowledge logy can be developed in at least two ways. One products available through ADB. is by improving secondary and higher education in science and technology, building a labor force Fostering Innovation through University-based with stronger skills that can support development Science and Technology of more technology-based business and industry. A central argument of the Eminent Persons Another is using universities to serve as incubators Group was that ADB should concentrate on of innovation and fuel the development of new promoting science and technology as a means of businesses and industry. fostering innovation that would, in turn, fuel The number of graduates in science and economic growth (ADB 2007h). The link between engineering across Asia is lower than in Europe innovation, technological change, and economic and North America. However, the proportion of growth is well established. Evidence indicates that graduates in science and engineering versus those research and development provides an important graduating in other fields is roughly comparable contribution to output and overall productivity across regions (Appendix 8). On a percentage growth. A 1% increase in the stock of research and basis, enrollment growth in math, science, and development typically leads to an increase in output engineering across Asia appears to be flat. While of 0.05% to 0.15% (LaRocque 2007). the absolute number of graduates in these fields Experience in countries belonging to the is increasing, it is only increasing at about the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and rate overall enrollment in higher education is Development (OECD) indicates that innovation and increasing (Table 6). These data suggest that one technological change are among the most important area for attention would be measures to encourage factors affecting economic performance. They are enrollment in fields that most directly contribute to thought to contribute significantly to economic scientific and technological innovation. growth and the attainment of broader development Just encouraging enrollment growth in goals, such as poverty reduction, improved health science and engineering will not be enough. and communications, and a cleaner environment Once enrolled, students must have a meaningful (LaRocque 2007). program of study and research. In many DMCs ADB has a track record of supporting that is not consistently the case. Little research is university-based science and technology. Between conducted in public universities in many DMCs, 1970 and 2006, ADB provided loans totaling about and much of that research is of low quality. The $750 million for science and technology projects. low quality is due, among other things, to its Most of these projects were part of ADB assistance theoretical nature, the lack of qualified staff, old
54 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Table 6: Enrollment in Science, Math, and stimulate scientific and technological innovation Engineering in Selected Asian Countries would concentrate on top universities that have a (% of all higher education students) research mission. Investing in top universities would Country 1998–2003a 1999–2004b not necessarily resolve access constraints, and investing in instruction-oriented universities would Brunei do little to promote research. Darussalam 8 8 Investment in university-based science and Cambodia 17 19 technology may be questioned on the grounds Lao People’s that the development of science and technology Democratic is not an outcome of just one sector, but the Republic 8 11 convergence of sectoral (e.g., education) inputs Malaysia 40 40 with many other factors. A common assumption Myanmar 42 42 underpinning research and development and science and technology policy in most developing Philippines 25 25 countries is the linear model (Government of Bangladesh 13 13 the Philippines 2007). This model assumes that India 20 22 by developing good teaching in the sciences Kyrgyz Republic 16 14 and spending more on research—particularly at Mongolia 26 24 university-based basic research centers—advanced technology will be developed, disseminated, and Note: Comparisons across countries should be made with caution. commercialized by business and industry in ways a 1998–2003 data: UNESCO. For details and caveats, that promote national economic development. see www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?ID=4930_201&ID2=DO However, this model is increasingly challenged. b 1999–2004 data: UNESCO. For details and caveats, see http://www.uis.unesco.org/ The principal factors that promote technological development are not the activities of universities, science ministries, or specialized institutes. and outdated equipment, and differences in the Development of productive technologies is more timeframes and results orientation of academia often the outcome of industrial and trade policies and industry. These weaknesses are exacerbated by that promote in-house research and development the lack of links between universities and industry, by business and industry, taxation policies, fiscal the fragmentation of research efforts, weak policy, and even foreign policy (Government of the commercialization and exploitation of research and Philippines 2007). development, and the lack of connection between A series of preconditions to investing in regional economic strengths and research excellence university-based science and technology must be (LaRocque 2007). met if such investment is to lead to innovation and The World Economic Forum’s Global economic growth (Hansen and Lehmann 2006; Competitiveness Report indicates that the quality of OECD 2000). Among other things, there must be scientific research institutions is low in both East Asia and Southeast Asia (compared with developed • a strong entrepreneurial climate; countries), and particularly weak in Indonesia, • strong links between science and industry; Philippines, and Thailand (LaRocque 2007). This • independence for faculty members to pursue may help explain why an analysis of research research they believe is important even in the and development across East and Southeast Asia absence of any immediate applicability or (Appendix 10) suggests that, with a few notable demand from government, business, or civil exceptions (e.g., Hong Kong, China), university- society; based research lagged well behind business research • a sufficiently stable resource base to ensure and frequently behind government-based research. continuity of effort; Lending to expand access to higher education • incentives sufficient to retain top researchers; and lending to promote science and technology • well-developed financial markets; would follow quite different directions. Expansion • access to capital; of access often involves creating or enlarging • strong legal protection for intellectual colleges and universities that have a primarily property rights; instructional mission. These are often second-tier • favorable regulatory policies; institutions that may offer good instruction but • a framework for commercialization of new are not necessarily research oriented. Lending to products and ideas;
Higher Education | 55 • a stable and supportive macroeconomic and development between universities, private environment, including low and stable firms, and private research organizations, but inflation; they also can play an important role in other • competitive product markets; areas. When managed effectively, they can help • liberal trade and foreign direct investment develop and integrate a country’s long-term policies that reduce barriers to international technological competencies and fund early-stage technology transfer; technological development. They can provide a • availability of good quality ICT means of funding universities, private research infrastructure to foster innovation by organizations, and private research contractors to facilitating information exchange and help small and medium-sized companies upgrade reducing the transaction costs of their technological competencies and receive international trade and foreign investment expert advice. flows; and Through PPPs, a range of business skills can • public support for basic scientific research. be transferred to the education sector, including managing people and resources, conducting strategic Higher education institutions should focus planning, performing needs assessments, allocating on developing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes resources, analyzing markets, using incentives to that foster scientific thinking and innovative accomplish objectives, anticipating demand, and inquiry, and on helping students understand career innovating to create new opportunities. Advocates opportunities and entry requirements in science offer a list of anticipated benefits (Ingram and and technology fields. They should also concentrate Schneider 2006): on building links with private sector employers that support placement of graduates in research • PPPs can help train better managers within and development settings. While ADB should the education sector. support universities becoming hubs of scientific and • Effective public-private alliances draw on technological innovation, resources should not be the comparative advantages of varied exclusively devoted to this agenda. alliance partners, each of which brings unique strengths to the solution of a pressing Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Strong links development problem. with the private sector are an essential component • Promoting private sector involvement in in both stimulating university-based research university activities can improve sector and moving university-generated research and integration through increased relevance of innovation into wider use in ways that have an training. impact on the larger economy. PPPs16 are an • Business clearly benefits from a well-trained increasingly popular strategy for forging those and educated workforce, while education links, and move away from the traditional model systems have the opportunity to benefit from of government procurement to deliver public training grants. services. They also differ from more casual, arms- • Businesses benefit by partnering with length, or hierarchical relationships. Instead, universities, as it helps them access university they involve institutionalization of arrangements, resources and expertise, enhance corporate with government as a partner, shared objectives, visibility, and deliver on social responsibility co‑investment of resources, and clearly defined commitments. public interest and involvement (LaRocque 2007). OECD describes PPPs as one of the Reilly (2005) and LaRocque (2007) identified best measures for building industry‑science key elements in successful PPPs, including a clear, relationships (LaRocque 2007). Their principal well-articulated vision and statement of objectives; contribution is supporting collaborative research identification of partners who are well-motivated and aligned with those objectives; adequate resources; a supportive government; and the right 16 A public private partneship (PPP) is any formal relationship or social conditions. Projects undertaken by PPPs arrangement, over a fixed term or indefinite period, between must make use of each partner’s skills and promote public and private entities, where both sides interact in the synergies. Other important elements include good decision-making process and co-invest scarce resources such as money, personnel, facilities, and information to management skills, effective communication and achieve specific objectives in the area of science, technology, coordination, and regular and systematic project and innovation (Dryden 2006). monitoring and evaluation.
56 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Despite their anticipated advantages, few PPPs and technology within a country differ substantially. have been used to promote university participation Advocates of a supply-side approach argue that in entrepreneurial research. Four factors may help more innovation depends on the production of explain this. One is the apparent reluctance of more graduates with advanced training in science private firms to collaborate in research and and technology. They believe that higher education development programs. Another is the poor institutions need the capacity and leadership to alignment between public investments in science increase their enrollments in science, math, and and technology and the technology development related fields to produce the next generation of needs of business. The inadequacy of mechanisms scientists, technicians, and technology-based promoting such collaboration is also a factor, as is entrepreneurs. Advocates of the demand-side the sporadic and uneven nature of public funding approach maintain that innovation can be fostered for science and technology. better by creating a favorable regulatory framework Some groups question the appropriateness and tax structure, strong protection for intellectual of government promotion or support of PPPs property, and access to capital to support (Government of the Philippines 2007), expressing entrepreneurial use of innovative thinking. concerns that may be relevant to possible ADB Which strategy offers greater promise depends support. One is that research and development on which problem ADB wants to solve. If public by private corporations are typically done for and private sector demand for university-based profit, rarely for altruistic purposes. Governments research in a country is robust but constrained by need not invest in business activities that firms lack of researchers and laboratory facilities, then will be doing anyway. Another is that private a supply-side strategy of financing better research firms will generally insist on proprietary rights infrastructure and staff might make sense. However, over research and development they fund, even evidence suggests that demand for university-based if done at a university-based research center. It research is often weak. Where that is the case, a is not necessarily appropriate for governments demand-side strategy may be more appropriate. to subsidize such research. Multinational firms Lending and policy interventions to promote that have in‑house research and development university-based research and innovation in such capabilities almost always conduct such research at a setting would not necessarily target universities. their foreign headquarters. Local activities mostly Public and private sector demand for focus on adapting original research findings to a university‑based research is more likely to be local context and do not require the same level of stimulated by creating a favorable regulatory investment as original research (Government of the environment and the incentives for business Philippines 2007). described above. PPPs may offer a useful strategy for engaging Both supply- and demand-side strategies are private firms with universities in ways that important but not equivalent. Support for research stimulate research and innovation, but success and innovation should follow a two-pronged depends on how the partnership is designed and strategy. The central strategy should concentrate on implemented. Successful PPPs maximize self- strengthening teaching of science and technology at interest as a way of promoting sustainability. The secondary and higher education levels to prepare a interests of business would include improving the workforce for high technology and research-oriented curricular relevance of higher education, recruiting employment. Most of those employed in science and screening students as potential employees, and and technology will not be conducting cutting-edge accessing university equipment. Higher education research. They will be working in settings that interests would include gaining opportunities to require scientific literacy, problem-solving skills, an improve curricular relevance, accessing private understanding of scientific methods, and skill in sector equipment and laboratories, working with the use of high-tech equipment. The second prong business to commercialize research and technology of the strategy would encourage university-based undertaken at universities, and placing interns research and development through such measures in business as a way of improving the relevance as (i) creating and managing faculty incentives, of their education. Even with fulfillment of such (ii) capturing faculty members’ time to work interests on both sides, the sustainability of PPPs through the institution rather than private will be at issue (LaRocque 2007). consulting, (iii) accreditation and quality control, (iv) procedures for marketing and commercializing A Role for ADB in Promoting Science and innovations, and (v) arrangements for contracting Technology. Visions of how best to improve science with business and industry.
Higher Education | 57 The problems faced by higher education or they may well move out of education into institutions in innovative research and development competing career opportunities. differ across subregions (LaRocque 2007), and An active ADB role in knowledge management different weaknesses require different solutions. South and sharing offers an attractive extension of its Asia is particularly weak in education and ICT. East support for higher education, but carries some risk. Asia is relatively strong in indicators of innovation, ADB education staff is not presently configured but weak in education and economic incentives. for this role, and would have to be expanded Central Asia is stronger in education but weaker in and reconfigured. ADB’s experience with higher economic incentives. Building science and technology education is neither extensive nor adequately proficiency in DMCs will require a range of strategies. consolidated. Consolidation of experience and systematic expansion of higher education Summary Analysis of Strategies knowledge are required. The World Bank has the World Bank Institute for training and knowledge for ADB Support of Higher development, while ADB lacks a comparable Education organization. ADB may find itself competing with organizations with more experience in knowledge brokering. ADB would also have to Arguments in favor of and opposing the four main decide what mechanisms for knowledge sharing modalities for ADB support of higher education— would best suit the region’s needs and sensitivities. lending, capacity development, knowledge Different mechanisms have different strengths and management, and targeted support for science and weaknesses (Appendix 8). technology—are summarized below and in Appendix 8. While the connection between innovation, Continued ADB lending for investment in technological change, and economic growth is well infrastructure and policy development would help established, the role of higher education institutions support the substantial future growth of higher in that context is less than clear. The link between education institutions expected in the region. The higher education institutions and innovation and procedures for this modality are already well technological change is tenuous. The activities of understood within ADB and its DMCs, contributing universities are not the principal factors that to its effective use. Alternative sources of capital for promote technology development. ADB support such investment, however, are more widely available could help higher education institutions retain top now, and an increasing number of DMCs have researchers and deal with salary inequities of sufficient resources for such investment without science and technology faculty, but current borrowing. ADB lending in support of ICT could education lending allows DMCs to allocate funds be a cost-effective means of expanding access to to science and technology. Success of such support higher education, and marries lending with interest is largely contingent on factors outside the higher in science and technology. ADB has increasingly education subsector, and the payoff is uncertain. supported ICT for basic education, and has Needs will differ by country. To some extent, organized regional conferences and implemented country context follows geographic lines. More analytical studies in this rapidly evolving field. often, however, it is determined by economic, social, Drawing on this useful experience, ADB should and political differences, as suggested in Table 7. consider expanding such activities in the higher education subsector, too. Crosscutting Issues ADB support to develop capacity of higher Attention to six crosscutting issues will be education institutions clearly can be justified by essential to development of higher education in the erosion of institutional, administrator, and the region, regardless of whether ADB takes a instructor capacities in recent years resulting from leadership role in support of that development, and the expansion of higher education systems regardless of the focus of ADB support among the outpacing growth in the number of qualified strategies discussed above (Chapman and Austin administrators and instructors. Administrators with 2002a). Higher education institutions will need to better managerial skills will increase the efficiency and cost‑effectiveness of higher education, and (i) seek a new balance in their relationship with better instructors will improve its quality. However, government; administrators and instructors with improved (ii) cope with autonomy; capacities must be supported by sufficient resources (iii) manage expansion while preserving equity, to effectively apply their expanded capacities, raising quality, and controlling costs;
58 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Table 7: Higher Education Priorities by Country Typology Context of Higher Exemplary Countries Most Salient Needs Education Post-conflict countries Afghanistan, Cambodia, Timor-Leste • Rehabilitation of damaged or incomplete physical facilities • Basic faculty development Countries with rapidly growing People’s Republic of China, Malaysia • Systems for quality assurance higher education systems and • Information management systems international higher education • ICT for higher education, including providers distance education in higher education • Systematic instructional development, expanding the range of pedagogical strategies used in the classroom Countries with well-established Republic of Korea, Philippines, Thailand • Advanced level of faculty development higher education systems • Development of research skills • Retrieving and using electronic information sources in teaching • Student assessment Countries with emerging or Pacific island nations • Strategic planning new higher education systems • Infrastructure development • Networking and twinning ICT = information and communication technology. Source: Author.
(iv) tackle new pressures for accountability; (v) support academic staff in new roles; and Box 2: Snapshot Case Study: Higher (vi) diversify financial resources. Education Reform in Mongolia During the 1990s, the Government granted Changing Nature of Government-University universities more autonomy, shifted more Relationships. Shifts toward privatization and management responsibility to each university, decentralization, as seen in the PRC, are changing and expected each university to generate more the relationship between governments and higher of its own income. Universities were allowed education institutions, often in ways that cannot be (and expected) to charge fees to cover their fully anticipated. As new relationships are forged, expenses. But fee levels were still regulated by goals sometimes collide. This often happens when the Government. Universities were not allowed system components change at different rates. to raise their fees at a rate that would cover the Conflicts may emerge, for example, when the costs of instruction. Government continued to pace of change in tax laws, land ownership rights, treat all university income and assets as state financial accounting systems, and institutional property. Public universities could not dispose operating procedures differs. New rules create of outdated equipment (e.g., computers, contradictions and misalignments. Uncertainty furniture, and laboratory equipment) to arises about what some new policies mean. upgrade to newer equipment without permission Innovative practices that some see as necessary and of the State Property Committee. Universities appropriate are viewed by others as violations of were given responsibility for generating income existing laws and regulations (Box 2). The conflicts but not the authority needed to do so. These that emerge between rules, operating procedures, misalignments have been reduced but they and incentive systems can threaten to undermine slowed reform. the very system changes being sought are to strengthen (Chapman and Austin 2002a). Source: Weidman and Bat-Erdene (2002). Misalignments often are the result of well- intentioned people and groups working at different speeds with different perspectives. One of the most Implications of Greater Institutional Autonomy. In effective ways of blocking reform, however, is to many countries, institutional leaders have long argue that actions being proposed are illegal, and pushed for greater institutional autonomy. But that those advocating reform are breaking the law. greater autonomy from government often changes
Higher Education | 59 the distribution of campus power and resources. it is predicted that 80% of the full professors in Institutions often want more independence in universities will retire by the middle of this decade. campus governance without giving up their To recruit enough staff to replace them, many dependence on public funds. Governments, institutions will need to improve faculty incentives however, often want colleges and universities to be (e.g., salary and conditions of employment, such more financially self-sufficient, but may not want as housing and workload). Universities will have to relinquish authority over their operations. The to help faculty balance the competing pressures search for balance is one of the central challenges of on them to teach, develop curriculum, conduct higher education reform in virtually every country. research, and take on institutional leadership roles. The benefits of autonomy are often clearer than the To do this well, university leaders will require costs, to both universities and governments. considerable information about the needs of their academic staff. How much time do instructors The Simultaneous Challenges of Managing spend in preparing lessons? In meeting with and Expansion while Preserving Equity, Raising Quality, advising students? Does academic staff feel and Controlling Costs. There is generally a tension prepared for teaching and advising responsibilities? (and sometimes a direct trade-off) among the How much money does academic staff earn from political necessity to expand access, the educational work outside university employment? Once desire to raise quality, and the overwhelming need programs and policies to recruit and retain faculty to control costs. Governments are being forced are developed, universities will need a mechanism to choose among the politically prudent, the to assess their efficacy. academically desirable, and the financially feasible (Box 3). Institutional leaders must understand the Opening New Markets. Virtually all analyses of interrelationship of these factors. They need higher education in the region cite the shortage of guidance on the appropriate balance among these funds as a critical constraint, and the search for competing goals. This is the central focus of much new funding streams as a major challenge. One higher education research in many countries. way for higher education institutions to create new Research of this type examines the cost of different funding streams is to offer new products and widen programs relative to the quality of instruction and their clientele. Some institutions that have served the success of graduates. only the traditional college-age population are experimenting with adult and continuing education New Pressures for Accountability. Rapid increases programs. In the Lao PDR, the national university in enrollment, financial challenges, and the growing offers tuition-bearing nondegree courses in the prevalence of online courses can undermine the evening to supplement its regular tuition-free day quality of university education. This happens when program. PRC, Malaysia, and Singapore, which have instructional staff must be hired faster than they historically been active in sending students abroad, can be adequately trained, when new institutions are seeking to attract more international students lack clear procedures and systems for quality to their own universities. They do this by improving control, and when new modalities of delivering the quality of their university systems, by offering instruction (such as the Internet) lead to questions more programs in English, and by underpricing the about how educators can be sure quality is being competition (Welch 2007), as shown in Table 8. maintained. The convergence of these events, such as is happening in PRC, India, Indonesia, and Conclusions Thailand, impart new importance to the design and The low quality of higher education is the control of quality assurance procedures. biggest problem and greatest challenge facing Higher education research can help many DMC higher education systems. Among the institutional leaders monitor instructional quality areas needing greatest attention are (i) aligning the across different types of institutions. Such research knowledge and skills of secondary school graduates can be a valuable tool for assessing the extent new with higher education entrance requirements, technologies and pedagogical practices are being (ii) linking higher education preparation with labor accepted by teachers and students. market demand, (iii) diversifying the financial resources of public higher education institutions, Supporting Academic Staff in New Roles. The (iv) financing private higher education, (v) increasing growth of higher education across the region has emphasis on cost-sharing by students and families, created enormous demand for new instructional and (vi) dealing with staff compensation issues. staff, sometimes at a rate greater than qualified Pressure to extend access and improve the personnel can be trained and recruited. In the PRC, quality of higher education will continue to increase
60 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Table 8: Competitive Advantages of Countries in Attracting International Students Student Visa Moderate Programs to Not Required Low Tuition Tuition Prepare Foreign for Study for (up to ($5,000– Students Before Less than $5,000 $15,000 Low Living Moderate They Start Country 3 Months per year) per year) Costs Living Costs Classes Australia X X UK X Canada X X X X PRC X X France X X X Germany X X X Japan X Malaysia X X New Zealand X X X X Singapore X X US X X PRC = People’s Republic of China, UK = United Kingdom, US = United States. Source: Inside Higher Education. 2007. across many parts of the region. Demand for a Implications for ADB stronger role by ADB in support of higher education can be expected to grow. The most promising Future ADB operations in higher education will approaches for ADB support of higher education need to be accompanied by a more significant development include investment in infrastructure knowledge component, requiring stronger and policy development, capacity development, and emphasis by ADB on this component. ADB knowledge management and knowledge sharing. capacity to collect, consolidate, synthesize, and Concentrating higher education funding in science share key findings and knowledge about the and technology should be viewed with caution. The development and reform of higher education development of science and technology is based on systems will have to be greatly augmented. ADB the convergence of inputs from multiple sectors. The also should consider serving as a repository and activities of universities are not among the principal provider of such knowledge. factors that promote such development. Demand- Assuming a greater knowledge-sharing role side market mechanisms may be more effective in will require a bigger budget and staff. Education stimulating growth in science and technology. staff is likely to require reconfiguration and possibly ADB’s operations in higher education will expansion. Increased support for targeted research increasingly need to be complemented by the studies, conferences, and seminars is likely. If provision of expertise in the substance and resources are inadequate to fully develop higher management of higher education. ADB must education staff, ADB could position itself as a broker demonstrate that it has the relevant knowledge and of partnership arrangements (e.g., knowledge hubs, efficient ways of sharing that knowledge. However, twinning, and consultant pools) as an alternative ADB does not yet have a comparative advantage as strategy. Internal staff expertise in higher education a knowledge broker in higher education, and is not will remain crucial, but could be supplemented yet configured to serve in that role. through outsourcing and partnerships. Promising mechanisms for regional sharing The overall conclusion is that ADB could of higher education knowledge include central significantly increase its support for higher and subregional knowledge hubs, international education, but a greater role for ADB in knowledge and regional twinning arrangements, and the use management and knowledge sharing related of regional and international consultants. No one to higher education will be necessary. This will approach offers overwhelming advantage. Using require a sustained commitment, an increase and some combination of these mechanisms is probably reconfiguration of staff devoted to the education the most appropriate strategy. sector, and support from key DMCs.
Higher Education | 61 Chapter 5 Recommendations and Implications for ADB
he study provides a strategic framework long and successful record in designing and for assessment of ADB assistance in the implementing TVET projects. Project performance education sector. It concludes that ratings in this subsector have improved considerably, T education, at all levels, is essential for reflecting successful incorporation of lessons sustained and inclusive economic growth and social learned and experience gained by DMCs and development. The importance of broad-based ADB. Regional demand for skills development education sector development encompassing the will continue to evolve rapidly. An ADB approach three key subsectors is increasing as developing to TVET anchored in strong analytical work and member countries (DMCs) move up the systemic reform is recommended, with emphasis development and technological ladder. The reviews on formal and informal TVET assured by national of the three subsectors make it clear that rapid qualification frameworks. ADB is well positioned to change and development in DMCs have given rise support public-private partnerships in the subsector. to new issues and challenges. ADB continues to have significant comparative The chapter on basic education recognizes advantage in TVET, given the subsector’s substantial that, while much progress toward universal future financing requirements. Only a few bilateral primary education has been achieved as a result development partners support TVET in the region, of international emphasis on Education for All and they have relatively low financing capabilities. (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals The chapter on higher education recognizes the (MDGs), the contribution to development has rapid expansion of higher education throughout the been hampered by inadequate quality. Increasingly region, as well as its essential role in lifting DMCs complex requirements for development mean to the next level of growth and development. that basic education must expand beyond Demand for higher education will continue to grow. primary into secondary schooling. In countries Higher education enrollments are driven more by where universal primary education is not yet an the increasing size of the college-age cohort than by immediate goal, the accumulated experience of EFA growth in the percentage of that cohort continuing should be brought to bear to accelerate progress. on to higher education. Even where population ADB has accumulated significant experience growth rates are slow, demand for higher education supporting DMC development of basic education. will likely remain steady or grow due to increasing Lessons learned from earlier projects have been participation rates. This is expected to fuel a need incorporated into project designs of recent years. and an opportunity for ADB to support ADB has successful experience in many DMCs development of higher education. While recent as the lead development partner in this subsector. expansion of higher education systems in DMCs While grant financing from bilateral development has been accompanied by a variety of innovative partners will continue to be available for basic arrangements and new delivery systems, equity, education, financing gaps are likely to remain in and especially quality, have sometimes suffered. many DMCs. With its experience and financing Both resource support and knowledge sharing and resources, ADB continues to have a comparative networking are essential to deal with this situation. advantage in the subsector. ADB has limited experience in supporting higher The chapter on technical and vocational education. The continuing expansion of higher education and training (TVET) recognizes its vital education systems may well increase demand for role in dealing with the rapidly increasing shortages additional financing in many DMCs. This is likely and mismatches in skills that are hampering to be accompanied by rising demand for ADB development in the region. ADB has a relatively technical assistance and advisory services.
62 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific The three subsectors cannot be treated centered methodologies, this is the best means of independently; the symbiotic relationship among transmitting quality education. them is clear. The quality of TVET and higher Development of a professional and accountable education is dependent on the quality of entrants bureaucracy is essential to carry out reforms. prepared by basic education. Conversely, the Capacity development in sector policy, planning, quality of basic education and TVET depends and administration is needed, including deployment, on the quality of teachers and sector managers transfer, and supervision of teachers and school produced by higher education. As countries administrators. Assistance is required to consolidate move up the ladder of development, they need to the expansion of basic education to include balance priorities among the three subsectors to secondary education—even upper secondary—in meet growing and increasingly complex education DMCs where economic and social development and skill requirements. The need for quality and requires a strengthened foundation of basic relevance is becoming progressively more important education. in the sector. Equity of access to education should continue to be emphasized, with special attention to disadvantaged and underserved groups, to promote equitable access to the fruits of growth. It will be important to Strategic Recommendations help governments realize that the excluded will not easily adapt to mainstream education systems, and Strategic areas of intervention are identified where to help governments adjust these systems to better ADB can make the greatest impact and contribution. accommodate disadvantaged groups. Because countries differ greatly, the strategic The potential benefits of theother important perspective for development of education in each will dimensions of basic education, such as early also differ. The main sections of this report elaborate childhood education, literacy, and adult education on the different perspectives, but a set of policy programs, should be realized in DMCs where this strategies commonly applicable to most countries has not yet occurred. emerges from the analysis of each subsector. Innovative modalities and partnerships, such as use of ICT and links with private, corporate, and Basic Education. The following areas are community sectors will be increasingly important in recommended for attention. support of all of the above priority areas. Quality should receive emphasis to ensure For TVET, the focus of attention should be on that basic education systems deliver citizens who system reform to better align skills formation with can contribute to and benefit from equitable, requirements in the labor market, as outlined below. inclusive, and sustainable growth. DMCs will need Organization and management of TVET help to manage the risk of quantitative expansion systems should be improved. Getting the undermining quality improvement, and to organizational structure right is one of the first enhance quality through curriculum reform where steps toward establishing a successful TVET system. enrollments are already high. This means forging close links with the labor Retooling and upgrading of teachers is market based on employer involvement in the required, using ICT and other innovative means system. Where possible, apex training organizations and incentives in preservice, in-service, and and national training authorities should be created continuous professional teacher development or strengthened to analyze trends, set policy programs. Combined with interactive and learner- direction, and allocate resources.
Recommendations and Implications for ADB | 63 Quality standards need to be created, based by ADB to ensure that training is directed at those on development of occupational standards through motivated to enter the labor market and apply the design of efficient vocational qualification newly acquired skills. frameworks and the setting of minimum training standards. Support of overly ambitious frameworks Higher Education. Recommended areas for should be avoided because some DMCs have attention are outlined below. limited administrative capacity. Development of Quality improvement is vital. Low quality is competency-based training is proving to be an the biggest problem and greatest challenge facing efficient way to deliver instruction emphasizing many DMC higher education systems. Among the achievements rather than time spent training. areas needing greatest attention are (i) aligning Financial incentives should be improved. knowledge and skills of secondary school graduates Financial mechanisms currently provide little with higher education entrance requirements, (ii) incentive for better performance and result in linking higher education preparation with labor inertia. Positive incentives should be established for market demand, (iii) diversifying financial resources institution managers to mobilize and use financial in public higher education institutions, (iv) resources. Financial transfer mechanisms from apex financing private higher education, (v) increasing organizations to institutions should incorporate emphasis on cost-sharing by students and families, performance conditions. ADB could help establish and (vi) dealing with faculty compensation issues. competitive training funds with equal access by Infrastructure development, knowledge public and private providers. management and sharing, and capacity development Private training provision should be expanded. are recommended as the most promising investment It can be a vital instrument for increasing access to strategies for ADB support of higher education skills formation at little or no cost to government. development. While investing in infrastructure Standards must be established and enforced, but development will contribute to the expansion of the regulatory framework should ease rather than and access to higher education systems, it will be impede expansion of private provision. In some important to accompany such investment with places, encouraging private training provision measures to ensure equitable access. Knowledge requires a change in the perspective of public management and sharing, and capacity development, administrators and society. will be important for strengthening quality in Greater attention should be devoted to the above-listed areas needing greatest attention. continuous in-service training of adults and Virtually all DMCs seek to incorporate advances in enterprise-based training. This emphasis contrasts ICT to improve delivery of higher education. with the past almost-exclusive focus on institution- ADB needs to become more of a knowledge based preemployment training. Training for the organization to strengthen its relevance in the informal sector should be given prominence, higher education subsector. ADB could serve as particularly in less-industrialized DMCs, as a a repository and provider of knowledge about means of raising the productivity and incomes of strategies for continued expansion and quality low-income populations and supporting inclusive improvement in higher education. To fill this development. In DMCs where economies are role will require that ADB increase its capacity moving up the value chain, postsecondary technical to collect, consolidate, synthesize, and share key training should be accorded high priority in view findings and knowledge related to the development of its seminal role in leveraging improvements of higher education systems. throughout training systems. A promising strategy would be for ADB to Support for “vocationalizing” secondary position itself as a broker of partnership education should be approached with caution in arrangements (e.g., knowledge hubs, twinning, and view of its undistinguished record in developing consultant pools), if resources are not available to countries worldwide. Attempts at “diversified expand staff resources in higher education. Staff secondary education” have failed widely because expertise in higher education will remain crucial, of high costs, shortage of instructors, and the low however, but could be supplemented through status of the programs in an academic context. outsourcing and partnerships. Careful monitoring of the destination of Science and technology as a focus of graduates of secondary technical and vocational investment in higher education should be schools through tracer studies should be supported approached with caution. The development of
64 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific science and technology is based on the convergence experience of education staff with other staff and of inputs from multiple sectors. The principal with DMCs. factors that promote development of science and For priority as well as innovative areas where technology are not the activities of universities. ADB experience is limited, some staff may have Higher education can support development of to be upgraded or retooled. This can be done in a science and technology when comprehensive variety of ways, including regular training sessions, policies and cross-sectoral national development country visits, and short study leaves. If warranted frameworks exist in this field in DMCs. by demand, more professional staff for specific priority areas may be recruited. In fields where it is not feasible to develop staff expertise, ADB can cultivate a network of expert Implications for ADB organizations, associations, and individuals with the required expertise, to be called upon when The knowledge component of ADB work in needed. The potential for a variety of partnership general can be expected to increase in line with arrangements will contribute to ADB’s role as the knowledge management role foreseen in ADB’s knowledge broker. long-term strategic framework (ADB 2008b). This Using an expanded and consolidated will be true in all three education subsectors, if the knowledge base, ADB can continue to lead in above recommendations are to have an impact. the anchoring work of rigorous sector analyses, There must be a knowledge base, a depending less on project preparation technical repository of experience and latest thinking about assistance and more on its own country education education issues and subsectors. For example, the databases to identify areas of intervention were it international knowledge base for TVET is relatively can make a distinctive contribution. weak, and ADB has a unique opportunity to fill For some new priority areas, flexibility, innovative this gap. ADB must consolidate its experience modalities for implementation, and new collaborative and institutional memory in TVET, organize it, arrangements with partners and the private sector will and house it as a repository of knowledge about be needed. Future projects should explore and pioneer effective strategies. ADB must do the same with its new financing and partnership arrangements. considerable experience in basic education. As a knowledge organization, ADB should This will mean developing additional capacity provide more venues for the exchange of to carry out these tasks. It may mean setting information and expertise, first among education up a mechanism or an organizational unit to staff who deal with similar problems across the systematically package, organize, and share the region, but also among DMCs.
Recommendations and Implications for ADB | 65 Appendix 1: Education Economics: Emerging Issues in the Asia and Pacific Region
Introduction Economic Rationale for Public Involvement in Education This appendix was prepared as a background paper for Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Synopsis of Context Development in Asia and the Pacific, commissioned The economic rationale for public investment in by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It reviews education and training was well established based new empirical research on education economics on work dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. since the 1990s, and considers the case for Arguments in favor of public finance (and, in some continued public investment at various levels of the cases, public provision) include market failure, education ladder in light of recent research. positive externalities, equity objectives, economies of scale, and the view of education as a public good.
Update Review of Literature No significant research challenges the fundamental arguments in favor of public investment in This section concisely summarizes research in education, per se. However, evidence is increasing education economics since the late 1990s. It is that questions the rationale of public rather than assumed that readers are familiar with the state of private provision of education, particularly at knowledge up to that time. Only a brief synopsis is levels beyond basic education. Evidence also thus presented of the “knowledge context” within questions the rationale of economies of scale; some which recent research has been conducted. evidence shows diseconomies of scale, reflected Organization and presentation of this summary in movement toward decentralization, charter is complicated by interactions between many of schools, and deliberate reduction in the size of the key themes—supply and demand; quality and large secondary schools. efficiency; cost, finance, and sustainability; and the It is important to emphasize that arguments in role of donors all interact with one another. If a favor of public investment do not imply a need for single theme emerges in recent research, it is that public production. As an analogy, decisions to invest relationships are nonlinear and are context bound. in physical infrastructure are not put forward as a It is difficult to speak of education policies and rationale for public institutions to build civil works. likely impacts independent of the broader social, The general consensus remains that “there is economic, and policy context. Different investments an unambiguous role for governmental subsidy in education can have quite different impacts of education, because it both raises GDP [gross depending on the national (and increasingly, domestic product] and creates a more equal income global) context. distribution” (Hanushek, Leung, and Yilmaz 2003). A final introductory point is that the discipline of economics focuses on the efficient allocation Costs of limited resources. The emphasis in this paper is primarily on research that has policy implications for development assistance in general and for ADB Synopsis of Context in particular. With this in mind and recognizing International organizations have developed the need for a concise yet comprehensive review, extensive databases on education indicators that discussion centers on the main trends of research include information on average government and does not discuss methodological details. expenditure on education, by level, for most
66 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific countries. Reliable information on private cost and average unit costs, and in all likelihood understate finance generally is not available (Psacharopolous actual requirements. The actual costs of reaching and Patrinos 2004). However, World Bank data for marginalized children (from poor households, or the most recent year available suggest that private those living in remote areas) will undoubtedly be costs—on average across all levels—are about substantially higher. One estimate, based on 18.5% of total costs. Data tend to be incomplete data from 94 countries, suggests that reaching and are sometimes of questionable accuracy. Of MDG education targets would require increasing greater importance is that these data sources do not educational expenditure by one third (Baldacci, include information on unit costs by institution— Guin-Siu, and de Mello 2002). There are also information that is essential to address equity concerns about the adequacy of defining basic and efficiency issues. One clear pattern is that education as 5 years of schooling. Many experts enrollment and costs have been rising, with public believe that a minimum of 8 or 9 years is required expenditure often consuming as much as 20% of to provide critical skills (Sperling and Balu 2005). national budgets and 6% of GDP. As a consequence Research regarding private costs is ongoing. of expansion, the share of education budgets While high, however, private costs are difficult to required for salaries has increased, often squeezing estimate. In many countries, it is not uncommon out resources for other educational inputs. In for children to receive after-school instruction in low-income countries with rapidly increasing “cram” schools, or in private classes provided by enrollments, it is not uncommon for salaries to their own teachers. Publicly funded education, consume over 90% of the total education budget. which is ostensibly free, can involve significant private costs for such things as uniforms, books, Update supplies, travel, and “contributions” to the parent- A substantial amount of work has been teacher association. There is some concern that accomplished in recent years aimed at estimating these private costs will increase with the expansion the likely cost implications of meeting the of public provision in the context of budget education targets of Education for All (EFA) and constraints, and may constitute a barrier to access. the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There are extreme cases, such as the Chinese Development agencies, including the World Bank, “study mothers,” who accompany their children the United Nations Educational, Scientific and studying in Singapore (Huang and Yeoh 2005). Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Overall, evidence suggests that international data United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have substantially understate the full cost of education. undertaken a number of large-scale studies with this aim. Findings of nine major studies are reviewed Returns and compared in a recent report of the Finance Working Group of the EFA Fast Track Initiative (Gurria and Gershberg 2005). Estimates of the Synopsis of Context annual financing gap ranged widely from $3 billion Since the mid-1960s and the emergence of the to $11 billion per year—a difference of almost four concept of human capital and “new labor to one! These marked differences are attributed to economics” (associated with Gary Becker and differences in study assumptions and methodologies. Jacob Mincer), hundreds of studies and probably It is estimated that the cost of providing secondary thousands of individual analyses have established education to the 400 million children currently not and confirmed that there are strong and consistent enrolled would be about $22 billion to $45 billion private returns to investment in education. During a year (Binder and Woodruff 2006). These cost this period, research findings were comprehensively estimates are generally based on currently observed summarized by George Psacharopoulos in 1973, and updated in 1985 and again in 1994. The private rate of return to an additional year of These include the United Nations Educational, Scientific and schooling is typically about 10%. Estimated social Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Statistical Yearbook, the rates of return are generally lower than private, United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human higher for women, higher in developing countries, Development Reports, the Organisation for Economic Co- and decrease by level of education. operation and Development’s (OECD) Education at a Glance, the World Bank’s Development Indicators, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Educational Update Policy Resource Center, and ADB’s newly developed statistical In a major update, Psacharopolous and Patrinos database system. (2004) summarized information on rates of return,
Appendix 1 | 67 based on data from 98 countries. Private and social global integration increase the return to education. rates of return continue to be high, with some A study of nine transitional economies found that evidence that the private rate of return to higher returns increased substantially with transition. education has been increasing, as shown in Figure In countries where the transition was slow, the A1.1, below. average rate of return was about 3% lower (Yemtsov, Cnobloch, and Mete 2006). This pattern also emerged in studies of individual countries Figure A1.1 Rates of Return to Education, By Level (Patrinos, Moock, and Venkataraman 1999). In cases of extremely constrained labor markets, 35 returns are severely depressed and may actually disappear. For example, one study found no return 30 26.6 to primary education for black females in one 25 province of pre-independence South Africa (Fryer and Vencatachellum 2005). 20 18.9 19.0 17.0
Percent 15 13.1 10.8 Externalities 10
5 Synopsis of Context The value of positive externalities has generally 0 Primary Secondary Higher been ignored in most rate-of-return analyses Private Social because they are difficult to measure, and Source: Psacharopolous and Patrinos 2004, Figure 1. particularly hard to quantify in monetary terms. Despite this, substantial research on externalities has been conducted. By the mid‑1980s, 19 separate A number of studies have questioned the benefits, in addition to income differentials, had conventional wisdom that returns to primary been identified (Haveman and Wolfe 1984). education are consistently higher than those at Research on the social benefits of education as secondary and tertiary levels. In an analysis of data of the late 1990’s is summarized in Behrman and from a survey of employment and unemployment Stacey (1997). in India, using dichotomous variables for education level, Kingdom and Unni (2001) found that returns Update are actually higher at higher levels. Similar findings Psacharopolous and Patrinos (2004) differentiate have been reported in other studies (Fryer and between the “narrow” and “wide” social rates of Vencatachellum 2005; Gibson and Fatai 2006). return. The narrow rate of return, typically A study of returns in Australia (Junankar and Liu reported in empirical studies, captures only market 2003) found a curvilinear relationship between outcomes associated with investments in education returns and level—concave for most of the and training. The wide return includes positive population but convex for Aborigines. externalities. Psacharopolous and Patrinos suggest Some evidence shows that returns to that wide social rates of return might actually investment may differ by stage of development of a exceed private rates of return to education. country, and that in low-income countries primary Analysis of data from 57 demographic and education is the best investment. For middle-income health surveys in developing countries shows a countries, expansion of secondary education would strong negative relationship between education and yield the highest social returns, while in high- unwanted fertility (Brown 2006). Impact appears income countries the returns may be greatest in to be conditional, in part, on the cost of fertility tertiary education. control (Kim, J. 2005). However, some research suggests that the causal impact of education on Functioning Labor Markets. Returns to education fertility reduction in these studies may be are clearly depressed in controlled labor markets. overstated, especially in the case of higher education The transition to an open market economy and (Angeles, Guilkey, and Mroz 2005). Maternal education is strongly related to child health in the forms of decreased under-5 See Gibson and Fatai (2006) for a recent review of this mortality (Sastry 2004), lower child morbidity, issue. improved self-reported health status, and—in the
68 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific case of higher education levels—increased use of education to girls’ school participation is well prenatal, delivery, and postnatal health services established in earlier literature. Maternal education (World Bank 2005b). It is estimated that a 10% also has been found to increase the probability increase in female primary enrollment is associated that children will learn to speak English (Bluedorn with a decrease in infant mortality of 4.1 per and Cascio 2005). Evidence shows positive 1,000 live births; the corresponding estimate for “neighborhood effects,” through which the average secondary education is 5.6 (World Bank 2005b). education in a community can affect youths’ A strong correlation exists between schooling and economic outcomes by impact on school quality, good health, whether measured by mortality rates, information flows, job networks, and examples morbidity rates, or self-reported health status (Jensen and Seltzer 2000). A recent review of (World Bank 2005b). Analyses of demographic and research on the social benefits of education can be health surveys in 49 developing countries show that seen in Lange and Topel (2006). the mortality rate of children under 5 is highest in households where mothers have no schooling and lowest where mothers have some secondary schooling or higher (World Bank 2005b). Education Employment, Productivity, is also related to an individual’s health status, with a continuing positive relationship of education to and Economic Growth health throughout the lifetime (Adams 2002). Education has substantial spillover benefits Education and Employment in improving citizenship and social capital. Increased education is associated with higher voter participation, support for free speech, and Synopsis of Context greater civic knowledge (Dee 2004). Completion The link between education and employment is well of secondary school is associated with reduced established. In most countries, strong and consistent criminal activity and incarceration in the United evidence shows that educated individuals are more States (US) (Lochner and Moretti 2001). likely to be in the labor force—particularly in the Two extremely important externalities formal sector, and that they have lower levels of associated with increased educational opportunity unemployment. Many developing countries, are reduced income inequality and social instability. however, have a perennial problem of unemployed It is well documented, however, that economic youths among school leavers and graduates. growth is associated with increased income inequality. In Asia, income inequality increased in almost all countries between 1995 and 2005. The Figure A1.2 States Unemployment Rates for Ages 25 and greatest increases in inequality were experienced Above, by Educational Attainment, 2006 in Bangladesh, Cambodia, People’s Republic 8 of China, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In many Asian countries, school participation of children from 7 the lowest income quintile is about one third that d
e 6 of the highest quintile (Ali 2007). The pattern y o l suggests that targeting disadvantaged groups to p m 5 e assure inclusive growth may be essential to promote n U
t 4 sustainable economic development. n e c r
Increased education is also associated with e
P 3 reduced public corruption, which, in turn, increases investment in education and other social services. 2 A comparative study of 64 countries (1996–2001) found that public corruption distorts the structure 1 of public spending and reduces the portion 0 allocated to the social sectors, including education < HS HS HS+ Assoc BA MA Prof (Delavallade 2006). Education For married couples, wives’ education has a < HS = less than high school diploma, Assoc = associate degree, BA = bachelor of arts degree, HS = high school diploma, HS+ = more than high school diploma, strong and significant effect on husbands’ earnings MA = master of arts degree, Prof = professor (doctor of philosophy degree). (Amin and Jepsen 2005; Kimenyi, Mwabu, and Source: United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Available: www.bls.gov/emp/ Manda 2006). The relationship of maternal emptab7.htm.
Appendix 1 | 69 However, the consensus is that education and found no relationship (or possibly a minor negative training, in and of themselves, do not create jobs. relationship) between growth in educational expenditure and growth in output per worker. Update The pattern of decreased unemployment at Update higher levels of education has remained consistent With globalization, increased international trade, with earlier research. See, for example, unemployment and migration of capital and skilled labor between patterns in the United States in 2006 (Figure A1.2). countries, there is increased recognition of the importance of technology and innovation to Education and Productivity improve competitiveness and sustain economic growth. In countries at low levels of development, economic growth primarily depends on increases in Synopsis of Context primary factors of production, including land, labor, A basic tenet of economic theory is that wages and primary commodities. As countries make the reflect marginal productivity in a competitive transition to middle-income status, growth is driven market economy where firms seek to maximize by “technological diffusion”—the introduction and profit. However, in economies with large public adoption of global technology in local production. sector employment, the relationship of education to Growth in high-income countries requires labor productivity is likely to be less robust. “technological innovation”—the capacity to develop new technologies. Within this framework, Update investments in education and technology are In a widely cited review of empirical research, essential in facilitating the transition to higher Pritchett (1996) found that the stock of human status. In the transition from basic production capital had no positive effect on the growth rate to technological diffusion, “…a sophisticated of output per worker; in some cases, he found a educational base is needed to absorb and upgrade negative relationship. In addition to average stocks primary innovations and foreign technologies of human capital, the distribution of education effectively” (Porter et al. 2002). Technological levels may also influence productivity. A study of innovation requires a population with high levels 94 countries during 1960–1995 found that both of tertiary education and substantial institutional the average index of human capital as well as the capacity in research and development. dispersion of human capital positively influences Numerous country studies in the Asia and productivity growth (Park 2006). Pacific region have found that education is an important factor in economic growth. In the Education and Economic Growth People’s Republic of China, for example, analysis of interprovincial differences in economic growth in 1978–1988 (Kawakami 2004) and 1900–2000 Synopsis of Context (Qian and Smyth 2006) found growth strongly Education and human capital and their impact on related to education levels. The same finding technological change, in particular, have featured emerged in an analysis of growth in Taipei,China prominently in economic growth models since during 1965–2000 (Lin 2003), with higher the 1950s. Khan and Williams (2006) provide a education and engineering and natural sciences review of the evolution of these approaches. While identified as being of particular importance (Lin most analyses have found a positive relationship 2004). In India, it was estimated that an increase between education and economic growth, findings of 2 years in average schooling for all would have had low statistical strength. In cross-country lead to permanent increases in GDP growth analyses, findings have been inconsistent, while of 0.15–0.20% (Jain 2004). Other analyses of there are strong and consistent relationships in Indian growth in 1966–1996 attribute gains to microanalyses (measuring the relationship between primary but not secondary education. However, individuals’ income and education). However, female education at all levels was found to be macro analyses (measuring differences between important (Self and Grabowski 2003). In Thailand, countries in aggregate education and growth) often inadequate investment in education is posited to fail to find similar relationships. One of the most explain loss of growth and decreased technology influential and widely cited studies before 2000, divergence (Stokke 2004). titled Where Has all the Education Gone? (Pritchett Similar patterns emerge in many studies of 1996), reviewed cross-sectional growth models and intercountry or regional differences in Asia. The
70 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific experience of East Asian growth is frequently cited. technology fields was found to be positively For example, World Bank analyses found that associated with growth of employment and per improvement in primary education was a powerful capita income (during business cycle expansion) in a explanatory variable for East Asian economic study of United States metropolitan areas (Hill and growth, accounting for a half point of the higher Iryna 2007). Growth in pharmaceutical research was growth there as compared with Latin America closely related to local university research (Furman (Khan and Williams 2006). The relationship of and MacGarvie 2007). education investment and economic growth in East Despite the many individual studies in which Asia is examined in a series of 12 papers (Boldrin, an education-growth nexus appears, there is a lack Chen, and Wang 2004). In South Asia, where of consistent supporting empirical evidence, and no growth rates were lower, public expenditure on consensus that this relationship exists in aggregate education was still found to be an important and data. The relationship between individuals’ statistically significant predictor of growth (Parida education and earnings within countries (based on and Pravakar 2007). It is estimated that had human “Mincerian” earnings function analysis) is capital stocks (as measured by average years of consistent and persuasive, implying a positive schooling) in India been comparable to those impact of education on individual productivity. The observed in Southeast Asia, the average economic same pattern is not consistently found in aggregate growth rate in India would have increased from the cross-country analyses. observed 2.8% to 5.1% (Siddiqui 2007). There is considerable interest in trying to Patterns observed in the Asia and Pacific understand the lack of a consistent relationship in region are replicated in studies in other regions. aggregate data. One explanation is that average An analysis of government expenditure in 30 years of schooling (which are used in most developing countries during the 1970s and 1980s studies) is a poor proxy for human capital stocks by Niloy, Haque, and Osborn (2007) found that (Woessmann 2003). The quality and learning expenditure on education was the only outlay impact of an additional year of schooling differs significantly associated with economic growth, substantially across countries. When education controlling for other factors. Analysis of pooled quality measures (such as average performance on time-series data for 94 developed and developing international standardized tests) are included in countries (1960–1995) found a positive relationship growth models, the overall explanatory power of between human capital and productivity growth estimates increases substantially, and the importance (Park 2006). Similar findings emerged in a study of of years of schooling decreases (Hanushek and 93 countries, where education was found to have a Woessmann 2007). It is estimated that an increase significant and positive long-run impact on growth of one standard deviation is associated with a 1% (Agiomirgianakis, Asteriou, and Monastiriotis 2002). increase in annual growth of per capita GDP In addition to direct positive impacts on (Hanushek 2005). Another factor is that the growth, education is seen as acting indirectly impact of education can be conditional on stage of through increased social equality and cohesion economic development (Sianesi and Van Reenen (Gylfason and Zoega 2003). There is also evidence 2003), with tertiary education being most important of the positive impact of secondary education on in advanced economies. Analysis of patterns in Asia growth in countries where the education sector since 1960 (Keller 2006) suggest that expenditure functions productively (Rogers 2003). The on primary and secondary education was of the availability of a skilled labor force also is critical in greatest importance. The impact of education on attracting direct foreign investment (Faini 2004). Evidence is clear that growth is related to national capacity in scientific research and The so-called “Mincerian” earnings function refers to the development. In economies where scientific capacity economic model developed by Jacob Mincer (Mincer, is expanding particularly rapidly, such as the J. 1974. Schooling, Experience and Earnings. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research and Columbia People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; University Press), in which the log of observed earnings is Taipei,China; Republic of Korea; and Singapore, postulated to be a function of years of schooling, years of the publication rate has more than doubled in experience, and years of experience, squared. The estimated the previous decade (World Bank 2000a). Higher regression coefficient on the years of schooling variable is education, research and development, and university- widely accepted as being an estimate of the rate of return to investments in education. The model has been estimated on private sector links are found to be important drivers literally thousands of data sets over the past 30 years and of innovation and growth in advanced economies. provides remarkably stable results in a range of countries The quality of doctoral research in science and and population groups.
Appendix 1 | 71 growth has also been found to be more robust in migration as another investment in human capital, open than in closed economies (Jamison, Jamison, increasing the return on investments that have and Hanushek 2006; Jain 2004). already been made. Recent studies support this Interest in education’s role in income inequality hypothesis. Most migrants to countries belonging is also keen. Substantial empirical evidence to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation supports the hypothesized “Kuznets curve,” an and Development have a secondary (high school) inverted U‑shaped relationship between economic education or higher (Adams 2003). growth and income inequality, where inequality The value of remittances by foreign workers increases with economic development and then to their home countries now outpaces official declines (Iradian 2005). Investments in basic development assistance. The World Bank estimates education clearly help reduce income inequality that transfers through formal channels reached $70 during the development process. Evidence shows billion in 2004, $125 billion in 2005, and $167 that education inequality actually slows economic billion in 2006 (Brinkerhoff 2006). This represents growth (Bowman 2007). an average annual growth rate of over 50%, in In summary, substantial empirical evidence current dollars. In 2001, South Asia was the second- shows the impact of investment in education on largest recipient of remittances in the world (over economic growth. The failure of many aggregate $15.4 billion) and had the highest remittances as a growth studies to confirm this relationship is share of GDP (over 2.5%). In the Philippines during attributed to measurement error and misspecification 2001–2003, remittances constituted over 10% of of models. Many anticipate that as better data GDP (Brinkerhoff 2006). It is generally agreed become available, the apparent divergence between that official estimates significantly understate the microanalyses and macro analyses will be resolved. true level of remittances due to the use of informal It is increasingly clear that a principal factor in remittance systems (Brinkerhoff 2006). stimulating economic growth is improvement in Research indicates that remittances have a cognitive competencies and skills, rather than years strong positive impact on investment at home, of schooling or educational expenditure, per se. As including household investments in education. In noted in the review of efficiency issues below, there is analyses of household surveys, it is found that in little evidence of a relationship between educational recipient households, school enrollment rates are spending and learning outcomes. This pattern is also higher (Acosta 2006), retention in school is observed in an analysis of East Asian economies significantly better (Edwards and Ureta 2003), and (Nabeshima 2003). The relationship between educational expenditure in general is higher (World education and growth is perhaps best summed up by Bank 2004). This is particularly clear in cases where Hanushek (2005): “Education can boost economic the value of remittance income increased suddenly growth—but simply spending more money is seldom due to exchange rate shocks, such as occurred in the answer.” Mexico (Docquier and Rapoport 2004) and the Philippines (Yang 2006). Globalization and Migration It is unclear whether increased educational expenditure is primarily a wealth effect (recipient families can better afford education), or whether, Synopsis of Context to varying degrees, remittances are specifically In general, earlier studies of migration emphasized “earmarked” for the education of family members. “brain drain” issues and the concern that, with One study found that remittance income had 2.6 migration, public expenditures in developing times the impact of other income on increasing countries constituted a subsidy to developed school attendance, suggesting an element of nations. Concern was also expressed about lost tax earmarking (Edwards and Ureta 2003). This is an revenue from emigrants with higher education, and area that warrants further study. Research also loss of positive externalities in the local economy. shows that receiving remittances reduces the level and depth of poverty, thereby enabling households Update to invest more in education and entrepreneurial There has been increasing awareness of the positive activities (Adams 2007). Analysis of data from 127 impact of migration on development. Multinational developing countries also suggests that the prospect agencies, including the World Bank and ADB, have of emigration itself fosters investment in education initiated research to better understand the scope at home (Beine, Docquier, and Rapoport 2006). of migration and the impact of worker remittances The benefits of migration are not limited to on home economies. Human capital theory views remittances alone. There is strong evidence that
72 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific links to the overseas diaspora foster innovation. educational participation and attainment of poor In the case of the People’s Republic of China, it is households, and the reluctance of some families to noted that earlier migration has produced overseas educate girls, however, remain problematic. communities of engineers, scholars, and managers who are familiar with cutting-edge technology and Update best-practice management approaches, and who The main focus of EFA and MDG education understand the dynamics of international product initiatives has been to expand the supply of and financial markets (Dieter 2006). Developing places in basic education—when schools are not countries benefit from network effects (such as available enrollment clearly is not possible. There business contacts, investments, and technological is, however, an important demand-side aspect to help) from skilled and successful emigrants reaching out to schoolchildren. Research continues abroad (World Bank 2004). Evidence shows that to show that decisions regarding schooling are the positive impacts of migration on growth are responsive to private economic incentives, and that positively related to the technological development participation increases with household income of sending countries (Corrado di and Stryszowski and anticipated returns, and decreases with cost. 2006), particularly where inequality in income or There is a significant positive relationship between schooling is low (Fabio 2004). changes in wealth and changes in the demand for It is also clear that many migrants return education (Glewwe and Jacoby 2004). Household home after gaining skills and experience abroad. wealth is an even a stronger predictor of attendance Immigration records in the US over 1971–1981 than orphan status (Ainsworth and Filmer 2006). indicate an average 30% return rate across all There is also a link between students’ self-reported countries, with some countries as high as 50% assessment of school quality and the probability of (Wescott and Brinkerhoff 2006). Overseas workers remaining in school (Hanushek, Lavy, and Hitomi reinvest income to purchase homes, and return 2006). Decreases in child mortality (associated with migrants often start businesses (World Bank 2004). a higher probability of realizing a return) are also Cyclical migration is also common, particularly in associated with increased willingness to invest in Pacific island countries, where migrants accumulate education (Baland and Estevan 2006). resources to reinvest in the local economy Research indicates that in some situations, (Baldacchino 2006). By example, migration targeted, demand-side subsidies are more cost- provides a signaling effect that increases incentives effective than supply-side expansion (Coady and for others to obtain education at home (Ranis Parker 2004). However, in a review of 122 World 2007), and migrants are a source of information Bank–targeted antipoverty interventions in 48 about modern concepts (Fargues 2006). countries, a quarter of the interventions were Recent research indicates that the negative found to have been regressive (Coady, Grosh, effects of migration are typically not a major and Hoddinott 2004). One study also found that concern. For those countries where the educational adult literacy campaigns are 1.5 to 2.5 times more attainment of migrants can be estimated, less than cost-effective than building more schools (Handa 10% of the best-educated (tertiary level) population 2002). It has been demonstrated that enrollment of labor-exporting countries has migrated. Studies and attendance can be effectively raised through of the impact of migration on the teaching force complementary programs such as school feeding, in home countries have found that the impact and nutritional and health interventions. For is generally limited (Docquier and Rapoport example, in a randomized experiment, deworming of 2004). For a handful of labor‑exporting countries, school children in Kenya reduced absenteeism by one however, international migration does appear to quarter (Miguel and Kremer 2004). cause brain drain (Adams 2003). Finance and Sustainability Stimulating Demand and Improving Access Synopsis of Context The financial sustainability of the expansion of the Synopsis of Context education sector in developing countries has been By 1999, research had firmly established that, in a long-standing concern of governments and donor economic terminology, education is a “normal” organizations. As enrollments and the size of the good: i.e., individuals and societies “consume” more teaching force increase, resources for other learning- education as income increases. The low levels of related inputs are squeezed out. In the past, donor
Appendix 1 | 73 organizations have typically been unwilling or anticipated that school effects might be found to be unable to support recurrent costs. This has resulted stronger in developing countries, where differences in relative over-investment in capital projects between schools are greater. A voluminous body which typically have not been well maintained. An of international research followed publication of example of the concern about such problems is the Coleman study, which attempted to identify the 1990 World Bank study, The Sustainability of the specific school inputs that made a significant Investment Projects in Education. Data collection difference in student outcomes. In general, there at the time of project design and completion of a have been no consistent findings relating specific sustainability analysis were strongly recommended inputs to outcomes. as part of the appraisal process in this study (World Bank 1990). Update On the whole, research has not found a consistent Update or significant relationship between purchased Development agencies have been shifting support inputs and school learning outcomes in either toward coordinated financing of multiagency developed or developing countries (Hanushek and programs. Increasingly, such programs use a Luque 2003). Some studies do find a link between sector-wide approach, which includes budget levels of spending and education outcomes (Gupta, support that can include recurrent cost items. This Verhoeven, and Tiongson 2002), but overall, change does not, however, fully come to terms findings are mixed at best. with issues of financial sustainability. National Teachers’ salaries are the largest component budget projections typically do not extend beyond of education expenditure in virtually all school 3 years, while education projects have long-term, systems. A synthesis of 277 studies of the ongoing recurrent cost implications. External relationship of class size to student achievement support programs generally involve commitments found no consistent relationship (Hanushek and for a limited period (often 3–5 years). In accepting Luque 2003). Most of the studies (72%) found no support for recurrent costs, the implicit expectation statistically significant relationship; the remaining is that donor programs will be renewed or 28% were evenly divided between positive and extended. Sustainability analyses are now often negative effects. Similar results were found in Asia included as part of the appraisal process. However, (Chapman and Adams 2002). Some researchers since they are undertaken with reference to a have questioned this conclusion, challenging the specific investment project that has already been findings on methodological grounds (Borland, designed, there may be perverse incentives for Howsen, and Trawick 2005). A comparative study analysts to develop optimistic projections that will of efficiency of education systems in Group of facilitate project approval. Seven countries found that systems with lower pupil/teacher ratios tended to be less efficient, and Efficiency and Quality that efficiency was inversely related to the share of social spending going toward salaries (Verhoeven, Gunnarsson, and Carcillo 2007). While there Synopsis of Context is clear evidence that some teachers are more Economists differentiate between technical effective than others in facilitating learning gains, efficiency (making the best use of a defined set of most empirical evidence suggests that degrees and resources) and efficiency of allocation (selecting teacher qualifications are not related to student the best combination of inputs, based on cost achievement. Similarly, in-service training of and marginal impact). A substantial body of teachers in many cases does not have a consistently economic education “production function” research positive impact (Hanushek 2005). emerged following publication in 1966 of the The failure of so many studies to find consistent Coleman Report in the United States. It found that relationships is hypothesized to be due to low levels differences in learning outcomes were predicted of technical efficiency in most education systems— primarily by differences in household characteristics i.e., inputs are not used optimally, resulting in poor rather than schools (Coleman 1966). The Coleman student results. However, an underlying assumption findings and methodology have been challenged of production function research is that resources on a variety of fronts, mostly related to the are used efficiently. While there are incentives for correlation of home and school characteristics and efficient production in profit-maximizing firms the generally small differences between US schools competing in a market economy, there are no (relative to differences between families). It was comparable incentives in public sector provision of
74 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific education. In the absence of efficient production, the Update conceptual basis of the production function model It is widely accepted that capacity in ICT is an collapses (Worthington 2001). essential precondition for a country’s transition It has been observed that the efficiency of to a modern economy. Substantial international education systems is lower in countries with high attention has been directed at the “digital divide” levels of corruption (Swaroop and Rajkumar 2002), issue. In January 2000, The World Economic where aid dependency is high (Hanushek and Luque Forum launched a Global Digital Divide Initiative. 2003), and in countries with higher ratios of public- This was followed by similar efforts by other to-private financing (Pang and Herrera 2005). international organizations, such as the G-8 Dot Perhaps the most significant change in the Force, the United Nations ICT Task Force, and economics of education literature since the late InfoDev, a multidonor program administered by the 1990s has been the increased recognition of the World Bank. importance of cognitive skills and school quality— The growth of distance education to provide as opposed to years of school attendance—in university degrees and teacher upgrading has, in explaining individual returns and economic growth. general, been successful. Analysis of the 10 largest This is not an entirely new issue. What has changed, distance education services shows an average cost however, is the growing body of empirical evidence reduction of almost two thirds compared to demonstrating its importance. traditional classroom instruction. Together, these Concerns about quality are increasingly institutions serve 2.7 million students. Five of the voiced by international and development agencies. 10 largest systems operate in ADB developing The Asian Development Outlook 2007 notes, member countries, serving over 1.5 million students. for example, that measures of average years of In these countries (People’s Republic of China, education or educational attainment do not capture India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, and Thailand), critical factors linked to quality (ADB 2007a). average unit costs are about one quarter of those of Data underlying these concerns emerged, in part, traditional universities (World Bank 2000a). from a major ADB study of school quality in Results of using computers and ICT in member countries (Chapman and Adams 2002). traditional classroom settings at the primary and The importance of school quality in economic secondary level have been disappointing. In an development is reflected in the fact that measures analysis of Programme for International Student of school quality are now included the World Assessment (PISA) results for 32 developed and Economic Forum’s annual index of international developing countries, the availability and use of competitiveness. “…[E]ducation policy makers computers at home and at school did not have a and development agencies are therefore strongly positive impact on learning outcomes. When urged to measure the effects of education policies statistical controls for household socioeconomic on quality and relevance, rather than focusing status were included in the analysis, no impact was exclusively on raising attainment” (Porter et al. found for computers in school, and access at 2002, par 1.1.6). home was found to be statistically significant and negative. The authors suggest that the “mere Key Emerging Issue—Information availability of computers at home seems to distract students from effective learning” (Fuchs and and Communication Technology Woessmann 2004). In the US, a Congressionally mandated study Synopsis of Context of the impact of computers on learning involved Three major approaches have been employed an experimental design with random assignment in the use of information and communication of 132 schools to treatment and control categories. technology (ICT) in education: direct delivery of Sixteen instructional reading and mathematics services to learners, use of computers in traditional software packages were used. The $15 million classrooms for quality enhancement, and training study concluded that there were not statistically individuals to use computers and become computer significant differences between treatment and literate (addressing the so called “digital divide”). control groups (Dynarski et al. 2007). Findings Costs have decreased and special initiatives have from the US, however, where home access to been undertaken to provide laptops in developing computers is common, may not be applicable to countries, and major development agencies, such developing countries. as ADB and the World Bank, have financed various Hardware costs have dropped significantly ICT education projects. and there has been a great deal of publicity about
Appendix 1 | 75 plans to provide laptops to schools in developing high rate of return to investment in basic education, countries at a subsidized cost of about $100 each. and the clear importance of literacy, numeracy, and However, this cost target appears to have been other basic skills as requisites for national unrealistic, with the estimated cost rising by almost development underpin an international commitment 90% as of September 2007, and likely to increase to meeting EFA and MDG education goals. Universal further. However, even at a unit cost of $100 basic education also contributes significantly to (and assuming the availability of free operating addressing concerns about income inequality. system software), the cost of these laptops would The rationale for public investment is clear: not be financially sustainable in many DMCs, significant positive social externalities associated where teacher salary costs consume over 90% with reduced fertility, improved public health, and of the recurrent budget. The costs of computer social stability which are essential for national maintenance, replacement, consumables, electricity, development and economic growth. It has and connectivity are substantial. consistently been demonstrated that the education A chronic sustainability problem in education is of girls and women is of particular importance. that donor organizations have tended to “over-invest” A number of countries, some in the Asia in capital goods, without due consideration of the and Pacific region, are clearly at risk of not ongoing recurrent cost implications of the investments. meeting MDG education targets by 2015. Of Substantial literature on the so-called “R‑coefficient” equal concern—even where numeric enrollment dates back at least two decades. Experience in ICT and retention targets are met—is that the quality projects has demonstrated the danger of of education may be so poor as to have limited, underestimating the full recurrent cost implications or perhaps, no significant impact on learning of investments. As a consequence, the concept of outcomes. In some countries, the rate of return “total costs of ownership” (TCO) evolved. The TCO to basic education has declined, suggesting a need approach was initially developed in the late 1980s to for policy makers to attend to quality concerns estimate the full cost of owning and operating personal (ADB 2007a). computers. TCO is defined as the sum of all the costs Climbing primary enrollments will inevitably of any item from “cradle to grave”—i.e., from lead to growing social demand for places at the purchase of the item, through its use and maintenance, postprimary level. In fact, the opportunity to attend to its disposal or end of its useful life. The TCO secondary school is often a factor in the decision approach aims to arrive at the “real cost,”—including to enroll children in primary. The World Economic the often “hidden costs”—of deploying ICT in schools. Forum has identified universal secondary education In addition to TCO concerns, it is often difficult to as a critical precondition for countries attempting recruit staff with relevant skills, or to retain teachers to move their economies beyond a traditional who acquire these skills. primary commodity base (Porter et al. 2002). Development literature strongly indicates that in a knowledge-based global economy, a minimum of 9 years of education constitutes a reasonable The Case for Public minimum target for universal education. It is therefore reasonable to consider the first 9 years of Sector Investment in schooling as constituting basic education. Education in Asia and Technical and Vocational the Pacific Education and Training (TVET)
Basic Education (Grades 1–5 and With globalization and the transition to a Through Grade 9) knowledge economy, the ability of nations to deal with technological change is increasingly recognized as a key factor in economic development. The By worldwide consensus, access to basic education is implications of this phenomenon for investment a fundamental human right. The consistently observed in education differ by level of development, but the rationale for public investment in stimulating supply, demand, and opportunities for cost-effective See news article at http://osnews.com/story.php/18620 TVET is clear. This does not, however, imply that See, for example: World Bank (1990). state provision of TVET is required.
76 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific The history of state-run TVET institutions has Education economics literature suggests that been disappointing. There have been examples of TVET should be demand- rather than supply- successful institutions, however, which typically driven. Substantial evidence shows that individuals target specific market needs. In many countries, are willing to pay for high quality TVET and that, there has been a proliferation of publicly funded in a supportive regulatory environment, private TVET institutions offering programs at all levels, sector providers will be responsive to demand. often under the control of different ministries. The most effective training is enterprise-based, or The impetus for their establishment was often a system of combining institutional training with linked to manpower forecasts and concerns about enterprise-based internships. youth unemployment and the employability of Bearing in mind the diversity of the TVET academic graduates. Creation of these institutions sector and the danger of overgeneralization, it is was encouraged and sometimes funded by donor clear that investments in vocational and technical agencies. In general, these institutions have proven skills can be an important factor in economic to be inefficient, to have high unit costs and, development and growth. This is particularly the in many cases, to saturate labor markets with case when technological and ICT skills are involved. redundant skills. The key challenge is to identify mechanisms A key issue at the secondary level is whether where public resources can be used to stimulate academic or vocation curricula contribute most to a supply response to market demand for specific economic growth. The emerging consensus is that competencies. It has been clearly demonstrated that academic education has a greater long-term impact supply-driven initiatives can be extremely costly on growth. For example, differences in growth rates and inefficient. between Europe and the US in the 1980s and 1990s are attributed to differences in education policies Higher Education during the two previous decades. It is argued that as the rate of technological change increased, those with more general academic backgrounds were Expansion of higher education and the existence better able to adapt (Krueger and Kuman 2004). of national or regional university research centers In a study of growth in Japan, Self and Grabowski are increasingly recognized as crucial elements for (2003) found that primary education had a positive economic development in the global economy. The impact on growth in general, and that secondary greatest expansion of higher education enrollment and higher education had a particular impact in will occur in developing countries in the coming the post-World War II period. Vocational education decades (Altbach 2003). Studies of the Asia and was not found to have contributed significantly to Pacific region have demonstrated the critical role of growth. Despite higher costs, most empirical studies education in economic growth. The presence of a generally found that there was no concomitant highly educated workforce also contributes directly wage differential observed for vocational education to attracting foreign direct investment. graduates, except for instances where there were In addition to producing graduates, higher specific skill shortages, growing employment, and a education institutions can serve as catalysts for good match of vocational skill training to vacancies research and development. A recent ADB study (Neumand and Ziderman 2003). asserts that to make the transition from low-cost Students and parents appear to be aware of assembly to high-value innovation, the Asia and the benefits of academic training, and it is widely Pacific region must develop world-class research observed that vocational options are often a second and development capacities (ADB 2007h). choice for students who fail to gain admission However, in a number of countries, particularly to academic institutions. This is not universally in South Asia, the production of higher education the case, however. In Thailand, where private graduates has outstripped the demands of the labor returns to vocational training are higher, students market, suggesting that there can be instances of from affluent families were more likely to choose “over-education” (ADB 2007a). TVET options at upper secondary (Moenjak and Worswick 2003).
Appendix 1 | 77 0.00 1.04 7.12 3.32 13.51 21.72 50.91 12.82 39.88 20.69 14.98 14.01 % 100.00 100.00 TOTAL 0.00 13.50 175.49 282.25 661.38 166.60 719.15 520.82 247.45 487.03 115.30 ($M) 1,386.13 1,299.22 3,475.88 Value 7.79 0.00 0.00 8.08 0.00 20.16 61.09 10.97 31.02 24.41 19.46 17.03 % 100.00 100.00
0.00 0.00 70.00 98.60 181.25 549.26 699.52 550.55 438.92 182.20 384.20 899.11 ($M) Southeast Asia Value 2,255.39 5.30 0.00 0.00 8.95 8.75 7.83 6.98 2.60 47.32 38.43 63.12 10.73 % 100.00 100.00 8.00 0.00 0.00 13.50 71.42 58.00 50.60 62.00 45.25 40.33 15.00 South Asia 364.79 150.92 577.97 ($M) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 21.15 39.33 39.53 % 100.00 100.00 100.00 Pacific 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 16.00 10.70 19.90 20.00 16.00 50.60 ($M) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 % 100.00 100.00 East Asia 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 15.50 15.50 ($M) Value 0.00 0.00 4.29 0.00 0.00 41.81 43.31 10.59 53.97 20.47 10.84 14.71 % 100.00 100.00 Asia 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 97.49 24.70 10.00 62.50 84.80 101.00 311.12 118.00 233.19 576.42 ($M) Central & West Value
Period in the Education Sector Assistance Grants, and Technical ADB Loans, Training and Skills Development Training and Skills Development Training Appendix 2: and Grants—Breakdown by Subsector Subregion, 1970–2007 A2.1: Loans Table A. 1970–1989 Basic Education Secondary Education Education Tertiary Nonformal Education Education, Vocational Technical Education Sector Development TOTAL 1990–1999 B. Basic Education Secondary Education Education Tertiary Nonformal Education Education, Vocational Technical Education Sector Development TOTAL
78 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific 8.37 2.05 6.00 5.65 9.84 53.40 12.99 17.19 39.92 12.73 11.67 20.19 % 100.00 100.00 TOTAL 52.50 214.00 153.53 332.13 439.76 933.15 855.57 414.48 721.66 ($M) 1,365.84 2,927.46 1,480.54 2,557.76 7,332.86 Value 0.96 6.38 4.85 5.90 3.47 44.28 14.82 28.71 28.35 16.93 15.94 29.42 % 100.00 100.00 7.50 50.00 38.00 346.80 116.10 224.87 666.65 627.67 232.20 136.60 783.27 ($M) Southeast Asia 1,116.32 1,158.33 Value 3,937.77 3.05 3.93 6.97 5.18 4.57 5.71 7.40 9.12 61.06 19.81 57.20 16.00 % 100.00 100.00 35.00 45.00 79.88 59.30 85.60 South Asia 699.50 227.00 107.00 138.63 171.05 300.00 1,072.29 ($M) 1,145.68 1,874.57 Value 0.00 4.84 12.67 10.68 11.13 19.82 45.71 14.52 16.33 21.46 22.12 20.73 % 100.00 100.00 Pacific 7.00 5.90 0.00 6.15 5.90 10.96 25.26 17.70 19.90 26.15 26.96 25.26 55.27 121.87 ($M) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 % 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 East Asia 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 27.00 42.50 27.00 42.50 ($M) Value 0.00 3.20 6.77 7.45 1.29 9.16 57.19 10.43 22.41 53.18 12.90 16.02 % 100.00 100.00 Asia 0.00 57.00 17.50 37.00 17.50 312.54 122.50 721.15 175.00 101.00 124.20 217.30 546.54 ($M) Central & West Value 1,356.15
Period Training and Skills Development Training Training and Skills Development Training C. 2000–2007 Basic Education Secondary Education Education Tertiary Nonformal Education Education, Vocational Technical Education Sector Development TOTAL 1970–2007 (total) D. Basic Education Secondary Education Education Tertiary Nonformal Education Education, Vocational Technical Education Sector Development TOTAL ADB = Asian Development Bank, M million, % percent, $ US dollar. Source: Asian Development Bank. table A2.1 continued... and Grants—Breakdown by Subsector Subregion, 1970–2007 A2.1: Loans Table
Appendix 2 | 79 2.77 8.60 5.75 7.72 2.32 3.79 4.01 % 18.63 23.64 11.44 34.92 29.13 16.08 18.00 23.32 25.50 38.19 26.19 100.00 100.00 100.00 TOTAL 374,800 614,000 649,000 Value 2,800,000 8,695,000 4,725,000 6,349,000 4,127,000 6,179,920 4,237,400 ($’000) 18,835,000 23,900,000 11,571,000 35,308,000 23,954,000 13,225,500 14,802,000 19,176,500 82,232,000 16,182,120 101,109,000 0.00 0.00 5.76 0.00 2.27 0.00 0.00 0.00 % 20.44 15.56 36.67 27.33 32.11 26.69 33.17 23.01 47.42 29.57 100.00 100.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Regional 920,000 700,000 355,000 140,000 595,000 764,400 Value 1,650,000 1,230,000 1,980,000 1,646,000 2,045,000 1,226,000 ($’000) 6,166,000 4,500,000 2,585,400 0.95 4.75 2.43 6.17 5.82 0.00 0.00 5.83 % 13.71 43.63 34.52 32.77 13.94 22.04 19.27 29.06 53.84 11.27 100.00 100.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 500,000 320,000 618,000 Value Southeast Asia 7,195,000 2,495,000 1,275,000 2,120,000 4,790,000 2,000,000 7,576,000 6,621,500 1,594,000 2,953,720 ($’000) 5,485,720 22,900,000 18,118,000 11,262,000 52,483,000 34,369,500 0.00 3.23 5.58 3.30 6.52 3.82 2.87 6.29 % 10.03 13.26 39.00 34.48 43.35 16.83 24.42 14.50 17.90 54.61 100.00 100.00 100.00 0.00 South Asia 500,000 799,000 199,800 150,000 758,000 329,000 936,000 Value 1,550,000 2,050,000 6,030,000 5,330,000 1,350,000 4,070,000 1,577,000 5,907,000 2,855,000 ($’000) 5,227,800 10,485,500 15,460,000 24,188,500 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 % 27.98 17.39 27.92 26.72 15.83 58.68 25.49 49.53 14.98 35.49 100.00 100.00 100.00 Pacific 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 95,000 500,000 805,000 314,000 225,000 634,000 Value 1,770,000 1,853,000 1,100,000 1,766,000 1,690,000 ($’000) 3,158,000 6,326,000 0.00 9.70 0.00 9.70 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 9.66 0.00 % 28.86 14.77 13.42 20.13 22.82 80.60 90.34 100.00 100.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 East Asia 500,000 500,000 935,000 100,000 Value 2,150,000 1,100,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 1,700,000 4,155,000 ($’000) 7,450,000 5,155,000 1,035,000 6.72 0.00 2.69 6.72 9.79 2.83 6.53 0.00 0.00 % 35.26 48.62 38.06 10.98 31.81 14.41 12.35 12.35 60.88 100.00 100.00 100.00 Asia 0.00 0.00 0.00 400,000 900,000 260,000 600,000 175,000 150,000 150,000 739,200 Value Central & West ($’000) 5,250,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 7,240,000 3,500,000 1,010,000 2,925,000 9,195,000 1,214,200 14,890,000
Vocational Training Training Vocational Vocational Training Training Vocational Vocational Training Training Vocational and Skills Development Skills and and Skills Development Skills and and Skills Development Skills and Development Development Development
C. 2000–2007 Basic Education Secondary Education Education Tertiary Nonformal Education Education, Technical Education Sector TOTAL TOTAL Basic Education Secondary Education Education Tertiary Nonformal Education Education, Technical Education Sector
B. 1990–1999 B.
Assistance—Breakdown by Subsector and Subregion, 1974–2007 A2.2: Technical Table A. 1974–1989 Basic Education Secondary Education Education Tertiary Nonformal Education Education, Technical Education Sector TOTAL
80 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific 6.65 % 21.63 14.65 11.31 16.32 29.43 100.00 TOTAL Value ($’000) 43,163,800 29,239,000 13,276,000 22,569,500 32,552,920 58,721,900 199,523,120 2.68 9.77 % 21.88 13.51 21.67 30.48 100.00 Regional 355,000 Value 2,900,000 1,295,000 1,790,000 2,872,000 4,039,400 ($’000) 13,251,400 7.46 5.21 % 19.99 27.10 12.78 27.46 100.00 Value Southeast Asia 6,884,000 4,815,000 ($’000) 18,457,000 25,020,000 11,804,720 25,357,500 92,338,220 3.34 4.58 % 28.67 24.59 21.75 17.06 100.00 South Asia Value 1,500,000 2,057,000 9,762,000 7,656,800 ($’000) 12,864,500 11,036,000 44,876,300 3.10 0.94 % 10.87 24.62 35.02 25.45 100.00 Pacific 95,000 314,000 Value 1,100,000 2,491,000 3,543,000 2,575,000 ($’000) 10,118,000 0.00 7.33 % 18.59 11.73 42.93 19.43 100.00 0.00 East Asia Value 2,535,000 1,000,000 1,600,000 5,855,000 2,650,000 ($’000) 13,640,000 8.10 1.62 3.95 % 10.87 40.18 35.28 100.00 Asia 410,000 Value Central & West ($’000) 8,925,000 2,050,000 1,000,000 2,749,200 25,299,200 10,165,000
Vocational Training Training Vocational and Skills Development Skills and Development
ADB = Asian Development Bank, Devt Development, % percent, $ US dollar. Source: Asian Development Bank. TOTAL Basic Education Secondary Education Education Tertiary Nonformal Education Education, Technical Education Sector table A2.2 continued... Assistance—Breakdown by Subsector and Subregion, 1974–2007 A2.2: Technical Table 1974–2007 (Total) D.
Appendix 2 | 81 Appendix 3: The EFA Development Index and its Components in Selected ADB Developing Member Countries
Ranking Developing Gender- According to Member Total Primary Adult Literacy Specific EFA Survival Rate Level of EDI Country EDI NERa Rate Index (GEI) to Grade 5 High EDI 7 Kazakhstan b 0.992 0.990 0.996 0.986 0.995 28 Georgia c 0.976 0.931 0.998 0.993 0.982 30 Kyrgyz 0.974 0.946 0.992 0.991 0.969 Republic b 35 Tajikistan b 0.970 0.974 0.996 0.930 0.980 42 Fiji Islands c 0.966 0.987 0.929 0.960 0.987 51 Azerbaijan b 0.950 0.846 0.993 0.980 0.981 Medium EDI 53 Armenia b 0.949 0.862 0.994 0.975 0.963 62 Indonesia 0.935 0.983 0.904 0.959 0.895 66 Mongolia b 0.929 0.880 0.975 0.952 0.909 67 Tonga b 0.926 0.981 0.992 0.958 0.772 74 Maldives b 0.910 0.797 0.969 0.952 0.921 79 Viet Nam 0.899 0.878 0.903 0.945 0.868 82 Philippines 0.893 0.944 0.926 0.955 0.749 94 Myanmar 0.866 0.902 0.899 0.963 0.699 103 Cambodia 0.807 0.989 0.736 0.871 0.631 Low EDI 105 India b 0.797 0.946 0.641 0.811 0.789 107 Bangladesh b 0.759 0.976 0.505 0.906 0.651 108 Lao PDR b 0.750 0.836 0.714 0.820 0.630 110 Nepal b 0.734 0.801 0.539 0.810 0.785 120 Pakistan 0.640 0.681 0.499 0.684 0.679 ADB = Asian Development Bank, EFA = Education for All, EDI = EFA Development Index, GEI = Gender-specific EFA Index, Lao PDR = Lao People’s Democratic Republic, NER = net enrollment ratio.
a Total primary NER includes children of primary school age who are enrolled in either primary or secondary schools. b Adult literacy rates are United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS) annual literacy estimates. The estimates were generated using the UIS Global Age-specific Literacy Projections model. c Adult literacy rates are unofficial UIS estimates. Source: UNESCO 2005a, 2007.
82 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Appendix 4: Definition and Scope of Technical and Vocational Education and Training
Technical and vocational education and training alongside an experienced worker. This should not (TVET) refers to a broad range of preparation be confused with training for the informal sector of at different levels of the education and training the economy, which means training people for work system. “Vocational” refers to middle level, or outside the wage or modern sector of the economy. traditional trade occupations for semi-skilled and Formal, nonformal, and informal means of training skilled workers. “Technical” refers to occupations can be delivered by either public or private (i.e., in the technician category that are usually prepared nongovernment) providers. at the postsecondary level. Vocational and technical Within the formal education system, TVET “education” refers to exposure to the world of occurs at different levels. The International work and to preparation for entry into further Standard Classification of Education, developed studies in vocational and technical education. by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Technical-vocational “training” means preparation Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1997, specifies for direct entry into, or upgrading in, specific (or four levels of education and training pertinent clusters of) occupations in the labor market. to TVET: level 2 (lower secondary), 3 (upper The terms “formal,” “nonformal,” and secondary), 4 (non-tertiary postsecondary) and 5 “informal” training also have specific meanings (first stage tertiary, nondegree.) Within these levels in this study. Formal education and training is there are three types of program orientation—type structured learning that takes place in the education A (general), type B (pre-vocational), and type C system, and usually ends with accredited or certified (vocational or technical)—for direct entry into outcomes. Nonformal education and training is specific occupations (see figure below). structured learning that takes place outside the TVET considered in this study includes that recognized education system, in or outside the delivered at secondary, postsecondary, and first workplace, and does not result in an accredited stage (nondegree) tertiary levels within the formal qualification. Informal education and training is education system, and nonformal (i.e., organized) less organized and structured, and usually takes TVET outside the education system. place in the workplace—such as learning by doing
Figure A4: International Standard Classification of Education Mapping Diagram
2A 3A 5A 6 4A
0 1 2B 3B 5B 4B
2C 3C
Labor Market
A = general, B = pre-vocational, C = vocational or technical, 1 = primary, 2 = lower secondary, 3 = upper secondary, 4 = non-tertiary postsecondary, 5 = first stage tertiary, nondegree, 6 = higher education, degree level.
Source: International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (UNEVOC) 2006, 11.
Appendix 4 | 83 Appendix 5: The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Landscape in the Asia and Pacific Region
TVET in Asia and the general education in schools. TVET is provided within monotechnic or polytechnic institutions, Pacific: Diverse and and in institutions supported by nongovernment organizations, church agencies, and for-profit Complex organizations. TVET training programs may last for a few days or for 3-to-4 years. The clientele may be TVET is provided at different levels within the youths for preemployment training or continuing education system—secondary, postsecondary, and training, or adults for upgrading or retraining. It may tertiary. It is provided in schools and technical be given full-time, part-time, or on block release. In institutes within the formal education system, short, TVET provision is heterogeneous and complex. in dedicated training centers outside the formal In Asia, TVET can be divided into three main education system, and on the job in both the formal categories: (i) TVET as part of the formal school and informal sector (e.g., traditional apprenticeships). system of education and training, (ii) nonformal It is provided in separate training institutions, in TVET (organized training outside the formal parallel with general education, and integrated with education system), and (iii) enterprise-based training.
Figure A5.1: Percentage of Upper Secondary Students Enrolled in TVET Programs in Selected Countries, 2002
30,000 80
70 25,000
GDP/capita 60
20,000 % Secondary in TVET 50 Linear (% Sec. in TVET)
15,000 40 per Capita ($) P P 30 GD 10,000
20
5,000 % Upper Secondary Students Enrolled in TVET 10
0 0 h y n a a n R a n C G m UK Indi PR PN Nepal Japa France jikista iet Na Sweden Pakistan Thailand Australi Malaysia Ta Lao PD Mongolia Indonesia V
German Cambodia Uzbekista Kazakhstan Banglades Kyrgyz Rep. Russian Fed. New Zealand Rep. of Kore Fed. = Federation, GDP = gross domestic product, Lao PDR = Lao People’s Democratic Republic, PNG = Papua New Guinea, PRC = People’s Republic of China, Rep. = Republic, Sec. = Secondary, TVET = technical and vocational education and training, UK = United Kingdom.
Source: Calculated from enrollment data in International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (UNEVOC) (2006).
84 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Figure A5.2: Percentage of Tertiary, Nondegree Enrollment (ISCED 5B) in TVET Programs in Selected Countries by GDP Per Capita, 2002
40,000 100
90
35,000 )
80 30,000 GDP/Capita 70 ) 25,000 % Tertiary Nondegree Enrollment in TVET 60 Linear (%Tertiary Non-degree Enrollment in TVET) 20,000 50 per Capita ($ Programs, 2002 rtiary Enrollments (ISCED 5B Te GDP 40
15,000 TVET in 30 10,000 20
5,000 % of Nondegree 10
0 0 h a a n C a UK PR US Indi Japa et Nam France Malaysia Thailand Australi Vi Germany Indonesia Pakistan
Mongolia Philippines Banglades urkmenistan Russian Fed. T New Zealand Rep. of Kore
5 = first stage tertiary, nondegree; B = prevocational; Fed. = Federation; GDP = gross domestic product; ISCED = International Standard Classification of Education; PRC = People’s Republic of China; Rep. = Republic; TVET = technical and vocational education and training; UK = United Kingdom; US = United States.
Source: Calculated from enrollment data in International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (UNEVOC) (2006).
Formal TVET TVET programs in 2002, for example (World Bank 2006d, ii). The proportion of enrollment in formal TVET at the Governments commonly establish high targets upper secondary level is highly correlated with per for the proportion of secondary students to enroll capita income. In contrast with general education, in vocational programs. In Indonesia, the target however, few systematic data are available on was 70% of upper secondary students in vocational enrollments and outputs from TVET.Available data schools, while the State Council in the People’s best describe the proportion of students enrolled in Republic of China (PRC) targeted 60% enrollment TVET subjects in upper secondary (International in secondary vocational programs (Copenhagen Standard Classification of Education [ISCED] level Development Consult A/S 2005, 7). Policy makers 3), and in tertiary, nondegree, prevocational (ISCED are keen to expand vocational education despite 5B). Figures A5.1 and A5.2 show these data for poor labor market outcomes. Pakistan planned selected Asian, Pacific, and higher income countries, to add technical vocational streams in secondary and the strong correlation between the proportion education, and aimed for half of all secondary of students enrolled in TVET subjects and per students entering those streams (World Bank capita income. The higher per capita income, the 2006c). India targeted 25% (World Bank 2006d, higher the proportion of students enrolled in TVET ii), while in Bangladesh the goal was 20% of all subjects. As may be seen in the two figures, the secondary students enrolled in vocational/technical vocational education stream is quite small in South secondary (World Bank 2007a, 12). Starting from Asian countries. Less than 3% of students at the such a very low base—only 1% to 3% of total upper secondary level in India were enrolled in enrollments in 2002, as may be seen in Figures A5.1 and A5.2—the targets of these three latter countries were extremely ambitious. See International Centre for Technical and Vocational Advanced countries are making upper Education and Training (UNEVOC) (2006) for an extensive secondary vocational education more general, and examination of this topic. deferring TVET specialization until postsecondary
Appendix 5 | 85 levels. The Republic of Korea is moving away from no cross-country data exist for TVET outside vocational secondary education. The proportion the formal education system—e.g., in vocational of students in secondary vocational programs is training centers, industrial training institutes, and being reduced in favor of more general secondary rural training centers. In the People’s Republic education, with TVET specialization deferred until of China, nonformal vocational training is more the postsecondary level. Vocational students made important in quantitative terms than vocational up 46% of secondary students in the Republic education in schools. Counting all types of of Korea in 1995, but this share had dropped nonformal training—preemployment, upgrading, to 31% by 2003. The proportion of vocational and reemployment training—a total of 76 million secondary graduates entering higher education people participated in 2003, compared with 12.6 increased from 19% to 57% over the same period million students in vocational secondary education (Pillay 2005, quoted in World Bank 2006d, 17). (Copenhagen Development Consult A/S 2005). Similarly, Malaysia is emphasizing postsecondary In India, some 350,000 to 400,000 secondary TVET at the expense of secondary vocational and students are enrolled in vocational education (less technical. A 1999 Asian Development Bank (ADB) than 3% of the 14 million students in Grades impact study of TVET in selected Asian and Pacific 11–12), whereas craftsman training schemes in countries found that only 1% of final year students industrial training institutes and centers enroll in secondary technical and secondary vocational over 740,000 trainees (World Bank 2006d, 12, 20). schools intended to enter the labor market. More Similarly, in Papua New Guinea, vocational centers than 90% intended to pursue further studies (ADB enroll about 18,000 trainees, compared with 1999b). These findings were confirmed in a more relatively few in secondary vocational programs. recent ADB project completion report (ADB 2007e). Nonformal training tends to make up the bulk of Student enrollment in tertiary (nondegree) training provision. TVET also correlates with per capita income. Figure A5.2 shows the proportion of students enrolled Enterprise-Based Training in TVET programs at the tertiary, nondegree level (including certificate and diploma programs.) Formal TVET provision has been widely seen as Most skills acquisition takes place on the job in irrelevant to industry in South Asia. Employers have one of two forms: enterprise-based training in the long preferred to recruit trainees through systems formal sector of the economy (e.g., in regulated that select candidates from unskilled and casual apprenticeship systems), or in the informal sector labor (King 2007, 6). One of the consequences of (traditional apprenticeships). the relatively low enrollment in TVET in South Asia In the formal economy, the rates of enterprise- is a scarcity of TVET skills in the labor force. based training vary substantially by country. Firms in South Asia, however, appear to be In Bangladesh it is barely conceivable underinvesting in worker skills. Only about 22% of that there should be so few people in the all firms in Bangladesh and 17% of manufacturing labor market with technical/vocational establishments in India provide formal training for qualifications. The 2002/03 Labor Force Survey estimated only 53,000 such men and 5,000 such women….For every single person Figure A5.3: Incidence of Formal Enterprise Training by Firms, in the labor force with technical/vocational by Region qualifications there are some 690 others 60 who have not gone beyond grade X, more 50 than 104 others who have completed SSC [secondary school certificate] or HSC [high 40 school certificate] and even 34 who have a university degree (World Bank 2007a, 3). 30
20
Nonformal Training Percentage of all Firms 10
0 Enrollments in various types of nonformal South Africa Europe & East Latin America & Total Asia Central Asia Caribbean training often make up the bulk of participation Asia in skills formation programs. However, little or Source: Tan and Savchenko (2005) as presented in World Bank 2006d, 62.
86 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Figure A5.4: Percentage of Firms that Provide Formal Figure A5.5: Incidence of In-service Formal Training by Firms Enterprise-based Training in Selected Asian Countries in Selected Central and South Asian Countries
40 PRC 35 Malaysia 30 Total 25 Bangladesh unweighted 20 weighted Philippines Percent 15 India 10 Pakistan 5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 Percentage of all Firms Pakistan India Bangladesh Sri Lanka Source: Tan and Savchenko (2005) as presented in World Bank (2006d). PRC = People’s Republic of China. Source: Tan and Savchenko (2005) as presented in World Bank (2006d). employees. These figures are low compared with managers, professional staff, production workers, those in the fast growing economies in East and and non-production workers. In Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, such as the Republic of Korea and Pakistan, employers extend in-service training Malaysia. When firms in South Asia do train, they to only a small fraction of their workforce. The tend to extend training to a much smaller share of percentages of workers trained in India and their workforce than firms in East Asia (Figures Sri Lanka are considerably higher, but are still much A5.3 and A5.4). lower than in East and Southeast Asia. A World In-service training also varies among countries Bank study found that Malaysian manufacturers in Central and South Asia. Figure A5.5 compares provided in-service formal training to 22% of their Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka using workers in 1994 (Tan and Batra 1995). data gathered from World Bank Investment Climate In the PRC, enterprise-based training is the Surveys. The unweighted estimates show that, norm rather than the exception. The Ministry of on average, Indian firms are less likely to train Labor estimated that there were 22,000 firm-based than firms in Bangladesh (27%) and Sri Lanka training centers in 2003 that provided courses for (38%). Even when the data for other countries some 30 million people. Enterprises are considered are weighted to have the same size distribution as key elements in the provision and delivery of India, the low relative ranking of India remains TVET, for both preemployment and upgrading. unchanged, although the training gaps with Several laws stipulate the obligation of enterprises Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are reduced somewhat. to provide systematic vocational education and In Bangladesh and India, external training training for employees, and enterprises must appears to have a positive and statistically spend 1.5% of their wage bill for worker training. significant effect on productivity among firms that However, the incidence of such training may be export or conduct research and development. This declining with the restructuring of the economy could explain the greater propensity to train among and the reduction in the number of state-owned firms facing international competition or using new enterprises (Copenhagen Development Consult technologies (World Bank 2006d, 67; World Bank A/S 2005, 9). 2007a, 20). The main reasons for non-training by firms are The incidence of training of individuals also examined in Figure A5.6, based on data gathered varies, but is lowest in certain Central and South in the World Bank’s World Business Environment Asian countries. Table A5.1 shows the percentage of Survey (World Bank 2000b). It is important to workers in these countries receiving enterprise-based investigate why employers do not train their training in each of four occupational groups— workers, as interventions to stimulate greater enterprise-based training must address the root causes of failure to train. See World Bank 2006d, 62; and World Bank 2007a, 37. The Some reasons cited for non-training that may ability of a firm to provide on-the-job training depends partly be related to market failures include (Batra and on its size. Opportunities for enterprise-based training are Stone 2004, 9): generally lower for smaller firms. For example, in Indonesia about 90% of enterprises are very small, employing on average only 1.6 workers. It is not realistic to expect much • Training is unaffordable owing to the firm’s training in this context. limited resources. Economic analysis shows
Appendix 5 | 87 Figure A5.6: Reasons for Not Providing In-Service Training Cited by Firms
Skepticism about benefits of training
Adequate skills acquired in school
Lack of knowledge about techniques
Skilled workers hired from elsewhere
Adequate in-house informal training
Costly or high labor turnover
Unaffordable due to firm’s limited resources
Traditional technology and new workers are proficient
2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Degree of Agreement (5 = maximum) Source: Estimated from Batra and Stone 2004, 10.
that training employees has a high payoff to enrolls fewer trainees than either nonformal firms. If so, inability to finance this investment training or enterprise-based training. The could reflect a capital market failure. estimates in the PRC shown in Figure A5.7 • Cost of high labor turnover. Firms cannot illustrate this point, showing the relative capture the full benefits of training owing to importance of formal training, nonformal training, externalities, such as poaching among firms. and enterprise-based training. This causes them to under-invest in worker training. Traditional Apprenticeship • Lack of knowledge about training techniques, or skepticism about the benefits of training. Systems Firms may suffer from inadequate information about the benefits of training. These still function widely and may be the primary source of skills development in South The above factors may argue for incentives Asia. They are increasingly important in Central that counter market failures, such as training levies Asia (Box A5.1). The informal or unregistered refundable against private training expenditures by sector is responsible for between 80% and 90% firms (Batra and Stone 2004, 21). of employment in much of South Asia (King 2007, 7). This type of training has not been adequately Relative Importance of the Three analyzed, but clearly has several advantages. The main strengths of traditional apprenticeship are Types of TVET its practical orientation, its self-regulation, and the fact that it is self-financing. Apprenticeship The relative weights of the three principal types of also caters to individuals who lack the educational training (formal, nonformal, and enterprise-based requirements for formal training, serves important training) vary from country to country. However, it target groups (rural populations and the urban is common to find that formal, school-based training poor), and is generally cost-effective. However,
Table A5.1: Percentage of Workers Trained in Selected Central and South Asian Countries, by Occupation Non-production Country Managers Professionals Production Workers Bangladesh 1.9 3.0 1.2 0.4 India 6.0 7.3 7.0 2.9 Pakistan 2.0 3.5 3.3 0.4 Sri Lanka 10.4 11.3 22.4 6.0
Source: Tan and Sachenko (2005).
88 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Figure A5.7: Estimated Number of Persons Receiving Training in the PRC, 2003 (Percent of Total Trainees by Type Box A5.1: Traditional Apprenticeship in of Training) Pakistan
Formal TVET: 12.5 million (11%) Pakistan is the world’s largest exporter of EBT: 30 million (25%) surgical instruments.
The success of this sector is explained by simple technology and skills, an elaborate system of subcontracting among the large and small units and a thriving market for their products. The small enterprises possess a pool of skills and metal-working knowledge which, though limited, allows them to shift from one product to another…. The main system of skill diffusion is through informal apprenticeship with Nonformal TVET: 76 million (64%) the ‘ustaad’—or master craftsman— transferring skills to young apprentices…. EBT = enterprise-based training, PRC = People’s Republic of China, TVET = technical and vocational education and training. Note: Formal TVET refers to vocational secondary education; nonformal includes This system is complemented by interaction preemployment training, upgrading, and reemployment training; EBT includes the estimated number of persons training in 22,000 firm-based training centers. with the large firms.
Source: Calculated from Copenhagen Development Consult A/S (2005). Source: International Labour Organization 1998, 167–168.
its disadvantages must be weighed against these strengths. Traditional apprenticeship is gender biased, screens out applicants from very poor such as that provided by the various Don Bosco households, perpetuates traditional technologies, schools and institutes operated by the Roman and lacks standards and quality assurance. In Catholic Church. In some countries in Asia and many countries traditional apprenticeship is the Pacific, most formal and nonformal TVET is proving too narrowly focused to cope with the provided in nongovernment institutions. In the increasing challenges of technological change, skills Philippines, 60% of all training institutions in enhancement, and wider markets (Johanson and institution-based, middle-level skills development Adams 2004, 32). are private, and they accommodate 80% of total enrollments. Private technical-vocational skills Private Training Provision development is financed almost exclusively from nonpublic sources, mainly tuition fees. There is little or no subsidy for private training (Johanson 1999, 4). This is becoming more widespread throughout Asia, In Indonesia, 77% of the vocational secondary and takes several forms. It includes not-for-profit schools in 2006 were private, enrolling 73% of all training provided by nongovernment organizations, students (ADB 2007f, 27).. community organizations, and church agencies. In Bangladesh, nongovernment institutions It also includes training provided by commercial accommodate more than half of the trainees at the enterprises for profit. Typically, for-profit training basic skill level, 73% at the secondary school certificate concentrates on types of training and fields that vocational level, all the high school certificate trainees have low unit costs, such as commercial studies, in business studies, and about of half the students at accounting, information and communication diploma level (Box A5.2). Until 1990, private sector technology, tailoring/sewing, and tourism/catering. participation was negligible. By the late-1990s, the This is the case, for example, in Bangladesh, where private sector was supplying about 40% of total private providers tend to focus on less expensive enrollments in TVET. By 2005 this proportion had courses (World Bank 2007a, 11). Church agencies risen to over 60%, in part with the support of public often provide training in higher-cost fields. Private subsidies for teachers’ salaries in nongovernment training by church agencies can be of high quality, institutions (World Bank 2007a, 11, 12).
Appendix 5 | 89 Box A5.2: Bangladesh Underprivileged Children’s Education Programme (UCEP)
The Underprivileged Children’s Education (iii) The third stage is placement in employ- Programme (UCEP), established in the early ment and follow-up on the job. 1970s, seeks to raise the living standards of poor urban children and their families. It targets Factors that have contributed to making UCEP working street children, and aims to provide successful include them with skills to enhance their employability, often in the informal sector. • providing students with a solid base of general education; UCEP is conducted in 30 general schools for • focusing on the appropriate target group— nonformal basic education in four major cities of i.e., those with “blue collar working Bangladesh, working three shifts per day. Total aspirations”—who intend to enter the labor enrollment is about 20,000. Skill training is force after training as semiskilled workers; provided in three training institutions working • ongoing links with industry, which ensure two shifts each, training a total of 1,400 that trainees are trained in the knowledge, trainees. UCEP has extraordinarily high skills, and attitudes sought by employers, completion and employment rates for its and also that employers are aware of the graduates, both averaging about 95%. competencies of UCEP graduates; • focusing on acquisition of skills and UCEP’s program can be divided into three stages: competencies through highly structured, supervised, individual “hands-on” (i) The first stage is accelerated nonformal instruction (rather than being driven by basic education starting at age 10 or credentials and certificates); and 11. About half the graduates from this • following-up rigorously each graduate in program are admitted into vocational terms of employment, earnings, and training. performance on the job. (ii) The second stage consists of fundamental skills training which may vary in length from 6 months to 2 years. Source: World Bank (2001).
In contrast, India has a relatively weak opens ways for expanding the national training nonpublic training market, apart from industrial system without heavy commitments of public training centres. However, the size of the sector funds. Expanding nongovernment training can is increasing (World Bank 2006d, vi–vii, 54–55). enable more public spending on basic education. Under its 11th Plan, India is encouraging more Additionally, private training providers often public-private partnerships, including those for are more responsive to market needs, as their TVET. In the PRC, non-state training providers sustainability depends on the placement of are now explicitly encouraged, but operate under graduates (Box A5.3). Nongovernment training firm state control. The nongovernment training providers also can be more innovative because they sector is expanding rapidly, with almost 1,400 are subject to fewer bureaucratic restrictions than non-state vocational schools (9.3% of the total) public institutions. In competition with the public enrolling 800,000 students. An estimated 17,000 sector, nongovernment training providers can help nongovernment vocational training institutions raise quality system-wide (Johanson and Adams enrolled five million trainees in 2002 (Copenhagen 2004, 92). On the other hand, private training Development Consult A/S 2005, 34). providers can exploit students and their parents by Nongovernment training saves the public not delivering on promises. Consequently, in most sector money by reducing the need to provide countries such training providers are regulated. and finance training from the public budget. The However, regulations can be excessive and include growth of nongovernment training institutions, barriers to the entry or expansion of legitimate where trainees pay for all or most of the costs, private training providers.
90 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Box A5.3: Efficiency of Private Training Box A5.4: Training Levy in Fiji Islands Providers in the Philippines The Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji Private costs per graduate were only 70% and (TPAF) levies a 1% fee on the gross salaries of 45% of those in public institutions at skilled all employees in registered firms, regardless worker and technician levels, respectively. of their size. The public service is included, but They tend to use facilities and equipment certain workers are excluded—e.g., teachers, more intensively (74% for laboratories and nurses, and military. The purpose of the levy 80% for workshops compared with 44% for is to stimulate training within enterprises. TPAF laboratories and 55% for workshops in collects the levy itself by requiring employers government technical-vocational schools). to submit documentation and payment Also, they make more intensive use of staff: semiannually, and by contacting delinquent 90% of private training providers had staff- employers through four Levy Enforcement student ratios above 1:12, while two thirds Officers. About 5,200 employers currently pay of government schools had teacher-student the levy and an estimated 600 do not. The ratios below 1:12. proceeds amounted to Fiji dollars (F$) 8.8 million in 2003 and F$9.5 million in 2004. Source: Johanson (1999). In theory, employers can recoup up to 90% of the amount they pay into the levy each year. However, while 5,200 enterprises contributed to the levy in 2005, only 270 received any kind of reimbursement for training (through Cost and Financing 1,800–2,000 individual claims). These 270 organizations accounted for two thirds of all of TVET levies paid. The training levy makes a sizeable net contribution to TPAF’s operating funds. TVET is more expensive than general education In 2003 TPAF paid out only about 30% of levy because of smaller classes for practical subjects, revenue, and 38% in 2004. The balances of and the cost of equipment and supplies. In the PRC, levy revenue, plus income from course fees, where economies of scale can be realized, specialized finance TPAF training operations. TPAF does secondary schools and vocational schools cost not have to depend on public funds for its $660 and $350 per student, respectively, compared training operations, making it unique in with $240 per student in regular secondary schools Pacific Island countries. (Copenhagen Development Consult A/S 2005, 41). Source: Johanson (2007). Vocational secondary schools in Indonesia cost 25% more per student than general secondary schools. In India, unit costs of vocational education are about 60% higher than those of general secondary education, while those for preemployment vocational spending on TVET. Data are incomplete and usually training are five to six times higher. Higher fee levels do not account for expenditures on nonformal are achieved despite low expenditure on critical training. In the PRC, central and local government equipment inputs. For example, almost 95% of spending on specialized secondary schools, technical expenditures in industrial training institutes go for schools, and vocational schools accounted for salaries and allowances, crowding out expenditures only 8% of total expenditures. Sources of funding on other critical inputs. Allocations for training for TVET, as for general education, have been materials are less than $1/student month (World diversified successfully since the early 1990s. Tuition Bank 2006d, 72, 73). In Bangladesh, cost per student fees account for 22% to 33% of total spending, for vocational education and training (VET) is about and account for substantially higher proportions three times that of general secondary schools (World of the total in vocational than in secondary or even Bank 2007a, 40) without adequate investment in higher education. This may contribute to the low materials and equipment. reputation of VET compared to general secondary In most countries, public financing of TVET and higher education (Copenhagen Development accounts for only a small percentage of total Consult A/S 2005, 43). Funding for vocational
Appendix 5 | 91 Box A5.5: Skills Development Funds in Singapore and Malaysia
Singapore’s Skills Development Fund (SDF) of 1%, and are eligible to claim a portion of has been operating since 1979. All employers, allowable training expenditures up to the limit of including public sector enterprises, are their total levy for any given year. Reimbursement required to pay a levy of 1% of the wages of all rates vary by sector and type of training. HRDF employees earning 2,000 Singapore dollars is considered one of the best-run schemes (S$) per month or less. The basic principle administratively, and is extremely efficient in is to motivate employers to train workers by reimbursing claims and facilitating application reimbursing part or all of training expenses procedures. About 4,000 companies have from the Fund. Reimbursement of training registered with HRDF. expenses from the Fund is not restricted to only contributing companies. Any enterprise that An evaluation of HRDF was undertaken with a undertakes training may apply. Applicants for survey of 1,450 firms eligible to participate in grants must demonstrate the need to train their HRDF. The survey found that 402 firms (28%) employees. Grants can be used for direct training were not registered with the HRDF. Of those costs—e.g., fees for external training—or for registered, 35% reported that they did not establishing training infrastructure, including claim reimbursements from HRDF. Small firms the cost of trainers. Costs must be shared, with (with 50 to 100 workers) were more likely to grants only covering between 30% and 70% of be noncompliant (49%) than large firms (8%). training costs. Trainees must be employees of the The data also revealed wide variations across firms receiving the grants. The present policy is subsectors in the utilization of the HRDF scheme. to increase training for service sectors, for small The highest utilization rates were in professional and medium-sized enterprises, for less-educated and scientific instruments, general machinery, and less-skilled workers, and for older workers. electric machinery, and ceramics and glass. Training for certifiable skills is emphasized. Subsectors with low utilization rates were food, beverages, tobacco, textiles and apparel, and The Fund has been responsible for massive wood products and furniture. Comparing the growth in company training. In financial year training experiences of two groups of firms— 2003, SDF reached 100% of all companies with those registered with the HRDF and those eligible 10 and more workers, and 41% of those with but unregistered—provided some answers as less than 10 workers. The 578,000 training to whether HRDF has resulted in an increase places created represented a ratio of one out of in training among firms. Regression analysis every four workers. Total company investment showed that while HRDF did not have any impact in training reached the target of 4% of payroll on increasing training in small firms, it did have some years ago. a role in increasing training in medium and large firms. Empirical analysis showed that firms The Malaysian Human Resource Development least likely to claim from HRDF were small firms Fund (HRDF), also a levy reimbursement and firms providing no training or only informal scheme, was established in 1992. The Human training. Factors cited by employers as inhibiting Resource Development Act created the Human their training were: limited resources available Resource Development Council—comprising for training, use of technology with low skill representatives from the private sector and requirements, adequacy of skills provided by from responsible government agencies—and schools, and the availability of skilled workers a secretariat to administer the scheme. Under who can be hired from other firms. HRDF, employers pay a payroll contribution Source: World Bank 2007a, 59.
education in India reflects the low enrollments, on VET declined from 8% of the state education accounting for only 1.6% of the spending on budget in 1991 to 5.5% in 1994. On average, TVET general secondary education—most provided by schools derived only 58% of their budgets from the the individual states. In Viet Nam, expenditure state. The balance was raised through tuition fees,
92 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific contract training for enterprises, and the sale of goods and services. Box A5.6: Agencies Involved in TVET To stimulate enterprise-based training, Fiji in Bangladesh and Nepal Islands, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore use levies to provide firms with grants in In Bangladesh, vocational schools, technical proportion to the level of training their employees schools, and colleges are administered by undergo (Boxes A5.4 and A5.5). the Ministry of Education. Technical training centers are financed and managed by the Ministry of Labor and Manpower. The Ministries of Local Government, Youth and Institutional Framework— Sports, Agriculture, Forestry, and Textiles also operate training institutions. Organization and In Nepal, skills training is provided by Management the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training, Tribhuvan University, TVET is arguably the most difficult sector to govern the Department of Labor and Employment and manage because of the complexity in the Promotion, the Department of Cottage and number and type of organizational sponsors and Small Industries, the Cottage and Small ownerships, the heterogeneity of clients, the types Industry Development Board of the Ministry of delivery, and the constantly changing economic of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, the demands. Much, if not most, of skills development Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and activities—i.e., that in nongovernment training the Ministry of Tourism. institutions, on the job, and in the informal sector— Source: World Bank 2007a, 14; ADB (2004f). are not monitored and recorded by central agencies. Patterns vary from country to country as TVET is highly context-specific. Economic demands change and TVET must keep up to date with technological organizations are responsible for coordination of developments. This is difficult and expensive. skills development, for establishment of standards At the risk of oversimplification, TVET is most and accreditation/certification, and often for the commonly organized and managed by three main financing of training. Box A5.7 summarizes reforms types of organizations: (i) ministries of education being implemented in Australia. for TVET within the formal school system; (ii) postsecondary technical institutes that may Qualification Frameworks be semiautonomous and handle their own affairs under their boards of directors; and (iii) an array of ministries—including labor, employment, industry, The use of national qualification frameworks and agriculture—which commonly administer (NQFs) and vocational qualification frameworks nonformal training. Box A5.6 describes the array of is spreading rapidly in the Asia and Pacific region. involved ministries in Bangladesh and Nepal. An NQF does two things. First, it provides a clear hierarchical progression of qualifications from System-wide Reforms lower to higher skill levels. Second, it allows the development of occupational standards within the framework of qualifications. Many countries in Asia have established national NQFs promise several advantages (see training organizations to coordinate and facilitate Johanson and Adams 2004, 81; Young 2005; Cotes training. Such organizations exist in Bhutan 2006). They can motivate individuals to continue (National Technical Training Authority), Malaysia their education and training by establishing specific, (National Vocational Training Council), Marshall clear steps on the ladder to increased qualifications Islands (National Training Council), Nepal (Council (and incomes). They can lead to cost-effective for TVET), Papua New Guinea (National Training training by focusing on outcomes regardless of Council), Philippines (Technical Education and how skills are obtained—in classrooms or out Skills Development Authority), and Vanuatu of school. They can also support efforts to level (Vanuatu National Training Council), among others. the conditions under which private and public Their functions vary, but generally national training institutions compete for public funds. NQFs stress
Appendix 5 | 93 Box A5.7: Australian TVET Reforms
Australia faces challenges as a result of its TVET policy is thus now industry led. Industry changing economy, with major implications Skills Councils, representing 10 sectors and for the labor market and technical and composed entirely of industry members, vocational education and training (TVET). Strong develop standards and qualifications for various economic growth—a product of globalization, occupations. They provide continuous input for technological advance, and enhanced trade with skills definitions. the People’s Republic of China—is producing fundamental changes in the labor market, Second, a structure of standards-based including chronic and acute shortages of skilled qualifications has been developed. “Training and technically qualified labor. Casual and Packages” have been adopted based on contract employment is growing at 20% per (i) competency or unit standards, (ii) guidelines annum and is projected to equal or surpass for assessment of achievement of those permanent employment in a few decades. competencies, and (iii) the qualifications Labor is more mobile, and about 2 million framework. In effect, industry determines the workers change jobs each year. Manufacturing outcomes and providers are free to develop their enterprises are giving way to service and own training programs to achieve the outcomes. knowledge enterprises, increasing the number This has two benefits: it frees industry from the of high-wage jobs (compared to blue collar jobs minutia of curricula development, and allows in construction, engineering, and automotive creativity and innovation by training providers in industries) and the demand for highly skilled the design of training. workers. The workforce is ageing, and older workers are increasingly in need of retraining Third, a framework has been established for and upgrading their skills. quality assurance among training providers to ensure that the 4,500 training providers These labor market changes have produced throughout the country meet minimum standards new challenges for the TVET system, including in training delivery and assessment. Under the obtaining information on changes in labor Australian Training Qualifications Framework, market demand, changing the content of training providers are registered and audited training toward generic and employability skills, according to core standards. and promoting flexible job entry-exit. Other new challenges are achieving national and Fourth, funding is used to sharpen training international recognition of qualifications in provider performance. A “purchaser-provider order to make them portable, and recognition model” is used, whereby the public sector signs a of prior learning—i.e., taking into account skills performance agreement stipulating parameters acquired on the job by experienced people and standards for the required training. A undergoing retraining. financial reconciliation is made after the training, and sanctions (e.g., immediate return of the The scope of the Australian system of TVET funds) are applied in cases of under-delivery in encompasses eight state or provincial systems quantity or quality. This reform implants greater of education, 4,500 public and private training accountability in the training process. providers, and about 1.5 million trainees. Government provides about 60% of the funding Fifth, in recognition of the multiple pathways to for TVET, while 40% comes from private sources. qualifications, a system to recognize prior skills acquisition has been introduced—i.e., certification Five essential reforms have been undertaken in on the basis of skills gained on the job rather response to challenges facing the system. The than in training. Such certification is done by reforms started with greater engagement of registered training providers and assessors. industry/employers. A joint industry-government National Qualifications Council, chaired by industry, now approves all new VET programs Source: Based on World Bank video presentation by Robert and provides quality assurance on outcomes. Stowell on 13 August 2007.
94 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific the competencies acquired, not the avenues or (ISO) 9000. Several training institutions have ownership of the institutions that teach the skills. obtained IS0 9000, such as private commercial They can also promote equity through recognition institutions in Thailand. However, this certification of prior learning and skills acquisition. They can be is costly and few institutions can afford it, although used as an important element in increasing labor it contributes to more efficient operation—hence competitiveness and mobility in the Pacific region. lower costs—of the institution. International NQFs can also promote job mobility, and therefore certification of individual qualifications seems a increase labor market efficiency. more distant goal. Three systems of recognition However, NQFs also have drawbacks. The are possible. First, mutual recognition can be NQF system has been criticized in the United established, involving mapping qualifications from Kingdom as possibly contributing to de‑skilling one country to another. This can be relatively because of a narrowly defined concept of simple, targeting a few occupations. Second, competencies, based on the performance of mechanisms can be created to enable individuals elementary tasks, rather than on a wider range of to acquire the qualifications of the host country. comprehensive skills and knowledge. It takes time The proposed Australia-Pacific Technical College and effort to develop NQFs—the highly successful (APTC), in which four specializations will be system in New Zealand took 10 years to develop. It offered in four locations in the Pacific, exemplifies can impose an administrative burden that is difficult this approach. Through APTC, residents in Pacific to bear, particularly in smaller, lesser-developed Island countries will be able to achieve Australian countries. There also may be a tendency to define qualifications with the view to emigration and qualifications in terms of educational requirements, helping reduce acute skill shortages in Australia. instead of required occupational competencies, as Third, the development of regional qualifications was done in Vanuatu. would enable the skills of workers to be recognized There may be unrealistic expectations for in other countries. Regional qualifications NQFs and inadequate appreciation of the work frameworks have been discussed in several regions, involved in their establishment and operation. including the Caribbean, southern Africa, and The application of NQF models from Australia the Pacific. However, uneven development of and New Zealand in other development contexts NQFs has proved to be an obstacle thus far. Fully may be problematic because of different, much implemented NQFs appear to be a prerequisite to weaker educational, economic, and institutional development of regional frameworks. environments. Success of any reform depends to a degree on the interrelationship of complexity Use of Distance and E-Learning of design and implementing capacity. The relative slowness of implementing some interventions in developing countries may be due to weak An example of use of the Internet for distance institutional implementing capacity in the face of a learning is the package of services offered—via the high level of complexity. In short, NQFs may end Internet—by the Technical Education and Skills up imposing more regulations on training providers, Development Authority (TESDA) of the Philippines. reducing their responsiveness to demand. Its “e-TESDA” program provides (i) information on systems and standards for technical-vocational Internationally and Regionally institutions; (ii) services in terms of program registration, computerized career profiling, and Recognized Qualifications e-search and referral; (iii) a register of certified
Is there a role for regional or international recognition of skill certification, or alignment ISO is a network of the national standardization institutes of skills standards in occupational areas where of 157 countries, with its Central Secretariat in Geneva, there is much labor migration? This would Switzerland. It is the world’s largest developer and publisher allow portability of national certificates across of international standards. ISO 9000 deals with quality national boundaries. International certification management systems. of training institutions (e.g., their processes for Paul Brady, New South Wales Training and Further Education, quality assurance) is already available through the Australia, email communication 6 August 2007. International Organization for Standardization Available: www.aptc.edu.au
Appendix 5 | 95 Filipino workers and TVET-qualified trainers and assessors; and (iv) links to Internet-based training courses. The courses are of two types: online training fully accessible via the Internet; and blended training in which the theoretical, conceptual, or knowledge-based part of the training is given online, and the remainder in TVET workshops. Full online courses include accountancy technician, software development, computer networking, medical transcription, and contact center services. Blended training is provided for a wide range of fields, including automotive servicing, trainer/assessor methodology, servicing consumer electronics, machining, plumbing, and slaughtering livestock. However, according to some accounts, relatively few people have taken up e-training. Further investigation is needed into how many participants enroll and complete the programs, and the program’s cost-effectiveness.
Available: www.tesda.gov.ph
96 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Appendix 6: Main Issues in Technical and Vocational Education and Training in the Asia and Pacific Region
Analytical Framework and Southeast Asia are experiencing acute shortages of workers, particularly at higher technical and professional levels. As stated in a recent article in Technical and vocational education and training The Economist (2007): (TVET) systems can be evaluated in terms of relevance (economic and social), effectiveness Despite its booming economies and huge (quality of instruction, and organizational and numbers of people, Asia is suffering a big management effectiveness), and internal efficiency. shortage of skills. And [the Asian talent An analytical framework for evaluating TVET shortage] is about to get worse. It seems systems is shown in Figure A6.1. odd. In the world’s most populous region This framework translates into five criteria the biggest problem facing employers is a which are used to evaluate TVET in the Asia and shortage of people….But some businesses are Pacific region (the region), highlighting primary being forced to reconsider just how quickly issues. they will be able to grow, because they cannot find enough people with the skills they need. Criterion 1: External Efficiency or In a recent survey, 600 chief executives of multinational companies with businesses Economic Relevance across Asia said a shortage of qualified staff ranked as their biggest concern in China and Most analyses of TVET systems in Asia, as South-East Asia. It was their second-biggest elsewhere, point to a mismatch between the demand headache in Japan (after cultural differences) for skills in the labor market and the supply of and the fourth biggest in India (after problems skills (e.g., in the People’s Republic of China [PRC] with infrastructure, bureaucracy and wage and Pakistan). The fast growing economies of East inflation). Across almost every industry and
Figure A6.1: Analytical Framework for Evaluating TVET: Relevance, Effectiveness, and Efficiency
Supply Side Demand Side
Education Education Inputs & Training Outputs & Training Economic & Social Process Objectives Requirements
3. Efficiency 2. Effectiveness 1. Relevance (Internal efficiency) (External efficiency) Source: Author. Appendix 6 | 97 with TVET qualifications do not have skills that Box A6.1: The Supply-driven TVET meet the demands of the labor market. Even System in Nepal 3 years after graduation, over 60% of all graduates remained unemployed. Although a significant The public TVET system is largely supply- proportion of apprentices find employment, close to driven. Training programs offered are often two thirds are not employed in the trade for which based on the allocated budgets of public they were trained (a third of these were trained in training providers and available staff and obsolete skills). There appear to be three reasons equipment. Government determines what for this: (i) limited growth and labor demand in shall be taught, to whom it shall be taught, the manufacturing sector, (ii) a mismatch between who will teach it, and where it will be taught. skills attained and those actually in demand, and Thus the TVET system has no relationship with (iii) a mismatch between the skills taught and the technical skills required by employers, or with graduates’ own labor market objectives (World the current trends in industry. Employers are Bank 2006d, i, iii). not involved in setting program standards, in In contrast, demand for TVET and employment validating curricula, or in any of the decision rates have been strong in economies like Republic of processes in TVET. Korea; Malaysia; and Taipei,China, where investment has stimulated formal job growth and policies are Source: Asian Development Bank (ADB) (2004f). committed to quality work skills (Adams 2006). Apart from domestic job growth, three factors within TVET systems account for mismatches: (i) lack of information about skill requirements, sector it was the same….The region’s rapid (ii) inadequate employer involvement in directing economic growth has fished out the pool of TVET systems, and (iii) inflexible supply response available talent. by TVET providers. Each factor is discussed in sequence. Another manifestation of low economic relevance is the commonly held view that the TVET Lack of Labor Market Information. Most countries system is “supply-driven”—i.e., based on allocated lack guidance from labor market analyses and budgets rather than on external labor demand (e.g., information about skills in demand (e.g., Maldives, in the Kyrgyz Republic and Nepal). Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Viet Nam). Low economic relevance results in poor labor The Maldives needs more effective labor market market outcomes for graduates of training systems, analysis. Nepal cites weak needs assessment and the particularly in Central and South Asia. In Pakistan, inability of labor market systems to provide up- employment rates are low for polytechnic graduates. to-date information or to guide skill supply. As a In that country’s North West Frontier Province consequence, TVET courses and content are irrelevant (NWFP), diploma graduates typically spend 1–2 to labor market demand. In Bangladesh, there is years looking for work, then require additional virtually no way for students, entrepreneurs, training training of 3–6 months after recruitment. In the providers, or other organizations to get consolidated Marshall Islands, employment rates for TVET and reliable information regarding TVET. graduates are reported to be only about 30%. The results of a World Bank tracer study in Students should have access to information Bangladesh indicated that only 10% of TVET to decide which course will be most graduates were employed, and only 5% of appropriate for them. Education providers female graduates. About 45% of graduates were need to be aware of recent developments unemployed and 45% were pursuing further and trends in the local and international education (World Bank 2007a, 29). Those with labor market so that they can update their vocational qualifications that were employed courses accordingly. Above all, adequate and received lower wages than graduates of the systematic data are the prime elements by general education system (World Bank 2007a, 33), which policymakers design successful models suggesting low returns on investment in TVET. of service provision (World Bank 2007a, 34). In India, there is little evidence of demand for workers with technical and vocational skills. A World Bank survey of employers in However, this may be due to the fact that workers Bangladesh concluded that:
98 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific …so many employers are unaware of the developing curriculum or providing trainers. numbers of graduates and types of skills The Ministry of Education does not consult being produced by the VET [vocational employers in setting policy, curriculum design education and training] system, the or vetting accreditation procedures. Courses government should play a more proactive are not offered on the basis of labor demand role in providing information on the types and or in consultation with employers (World Bank quality of training. This would enable better 2007a, 37). matching of supply and demand (World Bank 2007a, 27). In India, industry involvement in the vocational training system is only beginning. Until recently, Malaysia appears to be an exception to the employers participated to only a limited degree in general lack of information. A tracer study of defining training policies and developing courses. secondary technical and vocational graduates This is now changing, and industry associations indicated 90% of technical graduates moved on and individual employers are showing considerable to polytechnics, while the remaining 10% (mostly interest in developing and managing industrial secondary vocational school graduates) proceeded training institutes (World Bank 2006d, iv) to specialized vocational institutes. A telephone An ADB employer survey in the Pacific found survey in 2006 by the Malaysian Employers that relatively few employers participated in Federation indicated satisfaction with graduates’ advising TVET systems. As shown in Figure A6.2, technical knowledge, but employers wished to less than 7% of employers advised TVET through see more emphasis placed on soft skills, such as national training councils, advisory boards, or problem solving, communication, and work ethics employment associations. Only 3% advised (ADB 2007e, 16–17). ministries of education on school curricula, only 6.5% were on advisory committees of training Inadequate Employer Involvement. Involvement by institutions, and only 4% participated in the testing employers is essential to link training supply with and evaluation of TVET students. demand, but it is difficult to engage employers. A World Bank analysis of TVET in the PRC While employers know best what skills are recommended a greater role for employers: currently in demand in their enterprises and, by extension, the economy, they typically cannot China may consider…[putting] more emphasis predict skill requirements far in advance. However, on the development and strengthening of employers are not often engaged in advising or employer involvement in the delivery of directing TVET systems. Nepal cites a lack of training to improve relevance of TVET offers, industry involvement in the TVET system. Primary technological adaptation as well as ownership vocational education in the Kyrgyz Republic suffers of the TVET system by employers. Possible from weak interaction with the private sector and measures to stimulate employer-based lack of systematic labor market research. Industry training services include financial incentives, involvement in curriculum development is limited, pro-active training institution management, and current curriculum modules are not revised curricular flexibility and official recognition of regularly to reflect changing technology and market apprenticeship training or other cooperative demands. NWFP, Pakistan cites weak links with modes of training organization (World Bank the labor market. Training institute management 2006a, 12). committees have not proved effective in inducing cooperation from industry. Not enough graduates Figure A6.2: Percentage of Employers in the Pacific Participating are being produced with skills in new technologies. In and Advising National TVET Systems In Sri Lanka, employers are not involved in 20 18 identifying training program offerings, validating 16 14 curricula, or setting program standards. 12 10 In Bangladesh: 8 6 4 2 …there are insufficient links between VET 0 institutions and employers, which results in % of Employers Surveyed NTCs Advisory Employment MOE Training Testing Boards Assns. TVET Institute Students slow and inadequate responses to labor Boards market developments. Employers have no Assns. = associations, MOE = ministry of education, NTCs = national training councils, TVET = technical and vocational education and training. scope for participating in policy development, Source: Psacharopolous and Patrinos 2004, Figure 1.
Appendix 6 | 99 Employers are inadequately involved in (diploma programs for technicians) is relatively vocational secondary education in Indonesia as underdeveloped. Employers in Bangladesh assert well. However, greater participation now occurs that more diploma holders in vocational training at local levels through chambers of commerce and should be produced. The current provision of the use of industry assessors to examine students. diploma-level education is inadequate given Most employer participation is being driven at the market demand. Sri Lanka has only one technician school level. graduate for 50 craft/operator graduates, compared with the needed ratio of 1:5 or 1:10 (World Bank Inappropriate or Inflexible Supply Response. 2007a, 27). TVET programs must be flexible, up to date, and Properly oriented and up-to-date curricula are responsive to changing labor market demands. other critical aspects of responsiveness. In the Fiji Often, however, they are too lengthy and rigid. In Islands, employers complain that the curriculum of Pakistan, diploma-level training takes 4 years. An the Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT) and vocational analysis of TVET in the Maldives cited the need secondary centers in secondary schools tend to be for short courses (ADB 2003c). In Nepal, most theoretical and based on time spent, rather than skill programs are institution‑based, lengthy, and practical and based on competencies achieved. resource intensive. Short-term programs are lacking. Curriculum updating is needed. An example is the In Bangladesh, there is an imbalance between inclusion of shorthand in the FIT franchise program extensive long-term training available to Grade 10 on office technology, a skill now in little demand. graduates and short-term training for those with In Papua New Guinea, vocational center courses less education. Most training is for preemployment, have not changed much in 25 years. In Bangladesh, and lasts 2 to 4 years. In Papua New Guinea, excessive centralization of curriculum development vocational centers run the same, standard 2-year and staff management in Dhaka severely limits local program year in and year out with little attention level responsibilities and initiatives. to outcomes and impact. Arrangements for staffing at vocational centers are not consistent with a Curriculum development—including the responsive training approach. No possibility introduction of new courses, the expansion of exists for the hiring of local craftspeople for short high demand courses, the closing of obsolete assignments. Courses are offered—such as courses, etc.—is rigid and time consuming. welding—because staff is on the roster, regardless Curricula are revised only every five years of labor market demand. In Samoa, most TVET or so. Part of this weakness stems from providers use traditional time-based courses. inadequate resources. To cite one example, Closing a program to open a new one, in response polytechnic institutes were extremely slow to to market changes, is very difficult. Providers favor integrate computers as a part of training. offering a new program while maintaining the old For instance, suggestions and plans have ones, because of sunk investment costs. In Vanuatu, been made since 1995 to add the SSC (Voc) rural training lasts 2 years without achievement [secondary school certificate—vocational] of skill levels needed to be productive in the courses in areas of high demand for labor, labor market. such as agriculture (horticulture, poultry, diary, The range of training may be limited, not agro-based food, forestry, aquaculture) and reflecting developments in the economy (e.g., in leather making, but have yet to materialize Bhutan, Maldives, and Pakistan). In Bhutan, the (World Bank 2007a, 35, 36). Village Skills Development Program, supported by an ADB project approved in 2001, was Even though the vast majority of people will subsequently evaluated as “appropriate and work in rural areas and in the informal sector, most effective” in opening up income opportunities in training is oriented toward wage jobs in urban villages during the off-farm season. However, areas. Little attention is given to the relevance impact on income was limited because of program of short courses to local labor markets—e.g., in focus on traditional crafts, while the need to agribusiness and food processing. Entrepreneurship include modern construction skills, for example, training is underemphasized and under-provided was not recognized. In the Kyrgyz Republic, (e.g., in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu). In entrepreneurial, multiskilled labor will have Nepal, the lack of post-training support is an issue. comparative advantages, but these skills currently Most training providers focus solely on training are not taught in the TVET system. In Bangladesh rather than on career placement and continuing and Sri Lanka, postsecondary technical education advisory support.
100 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific In Bangladesh, too little attention is paid to school youth, for whom there is a lack of training the important roles of the informal sector and the provision. In the Maldives, school leavers and rural sector. dropouts have inadequate access to training opportunities for employment skills. There is A significant majority of people work in concern about youth unemployment and “enforced the informal sector, but little thought has youth idleness.” The range of skills training also been given to enhancing their skills. Most needs to be expanded for women and island employment will also continue to be in the residents. Nepal provides inadequate access to rural sector. The formal training system is training. Most people, particularly the poor and not designed to offer skills to low-educated disadvantaged, lack access to skills training that people and particularly not to those in the enhances earning capacity. Similarly, in NWFP, rural non-farm sector. Nor do other providers Pakistan, a reasonable network of training facilities fill the gap. Most workers in this sector is available, but access remains limited for the rural continue to learn trades through informal population and for girls. apprenticeships at their place of work from Access to skills development is a function of other low-skilled craft people (World Bank availability, affordability, and personal choice. 2007a, 37). Negative attitudes affect TVET, and personal choice is influenced by the general view of TVET in many TVET in countries with vibrant private countries as a “second class” option. The low status training markets tends to be more responsive to of TVET derives from many sources, including the changes in labor market demand. The longevity of low priority it receives in public budgets, the lower private (for-profit) training providers often depends academic ability of those channeled into it, and on their knowledge of labor market demand, and perceptions about the financial payoff to TVET. In on adapting their programs to meet that demand. Fiji Islands and the Philippines, for example, TVET High employment rates for graduates help promote suffers from a poor image and is perceived as a providers to new clients. Thus, if private providers “dead end” and last-choice option. are interested in survival over the medium term, Lack of vertical articulation is another their incentives are to provide relevant, quality manifestation of inequities. Structural impediments— training. Students must avoid “fly-by-night” lack of opportunities for further advancement in operators interested only in short-term profits, not the education system—impede upward mobility of in providing value for services. TVET students. This contributes to views of TVET as a dead end and its low prestige. Sri Lanka, for Criterion 2: Social Relevance, example, lacks alternative paths to higher education, restricting upward mobility within the TVET system. or Equity The PRC also reports a lack of articulation between vocational education at secondary and higher levels Virtually all ADB TVET projects aim at improved (Copenhagen Development Consult A/S, 8). access for vulnerable groups. Such groups in Total access to organized skills development the Kyrgyz Republic include adults and out-of- is low relative to the number of school leavers,
Table A6.1: Index of Opportunity for TVET in Selected Countries Estimated Number of Estimated Number of Percent Country Annual School Leavers Annual Entrants to TVET Accommodated Fiji Islands 14,000 1,300 10 Papua New Guinea 60,000 9,000 15 Solomon Islands 9,000 1,000 11 Vanuatu 4,500 1,000 22 Nepal 200,000 50,000 25 TVET = technical and vocational education and training. Note: School leavers means all students who terminated their education, including dropouts and graduates who did not proceed to further education, from primary, lower, and upper secondary education. Fiji Islands excludes the Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji (TPAF). Source: Johanson (2007).
Appendix 6 | 101 resulting in widespread poverty of opportunity—a Girls and women tend to be under-enrolled lack of opportunity to achieve an acceptable quality in TVET and concentrated in traditional female of life. The most common interpretation of “poverty occupations. By and large, the TVET systems favor of opportunity” is insufficient access to education, males over females. In NWFP, Pakistan, for example, health, and other basic services, or to economic there are 12 postsecondary technical institutes opportunities. Yet, poverty of opportunity applies for men but only 1 for women. In the Philippines, particularly to TVET. Few opportunities exist for 40% of trainees are women, but they tend to school leavers and “pushouts,” females, adults, and concentrate in traditional programs such as sewing, those who live in remote areas to acquire technical arts and crafts, and food services, which lead to low and vocational skills. paying jobs. In Indonesia also, 40% of vocational The point of Table A6.1 is not comparison secondary students are female, mostly concentrated among countries, but the small minority of school in commerce and hospitality programs. leavers able to gain access to skills acquisition Men tend to monopolize technical and trades through training. No more than one in four school training, while women are found almost exclusively leavers is able to obtain a place in vocational in home economics and domestic science–related training centers in the five countries examined, and programs. This constrains women’s ability to start the more likely proportion is only about one in ten. their own businesses and to compete for jobs. There This proportion is declining. Since the number of are multiple causes of female under-enrollment, school leavers is increasing faster than access to reflecting both cultural values and employer vocational training, an increasing proportion of preferences. Cultural stereotypes of women inhibit those who need skills for employment and income young women from participating in some programs. are not given the opportunity to access such skills. In some places, parents deem travel to vocational Lower income groups, and those in rural areas institutions by daughters unsafe. As a consequence and outer islands have much less access to skills of inequitable access for females, many females development. Place of residence tends to be highly lack the basic skills to become employable, directly correlated with level of income. In the Philippines, limiting their ability to improve their welfare and for example, 86% of TVET institutions are in that of their families. For unmarried females with urban areas. A similar picture may be seen in children and no husband, the inequity of access to Indonesia. The Marshall Islands lacks skills training training makes it difficult for them to lift themselves opportunities in its outer islands, especially for out of poverty. women and youth. About 70% of students in TVET institutions Criterion 3: Quality of Instruction come from low-income families (ADB 1999b, 2002b). Level of income, in turn, is highly correlated with affordability, another determinant The purpose of TVET is to provide relevant of access to vocational training. Affordability is a knowledge, skills, and competencies for employment function of not only the direct costs of attendance, and income generation. If skills are not acquired but also indirect costs such as transportation and due to the low quality of instruction, money spent income foregone. In Indonesia, upper secondary on instruction is wasted. Skills acquisition, or the vocational schools cater more to the poor than quality of instruction, can be viewed as a function of general secondary schools, drawing 21% of their inputs, processes, and outputs. students from the lowest income quintile, compared to only 13% for general secondary schools (ABD Quality in Inputs. Lack of essential inputs 2007f, 30). compromises the quality of training in many An apparent contradiction exists. Vocational countries. An array of inputs is important in institutions cater to students with lower academic determining the quality of training provided. These abilities from low-income groups. Yet many low- include income people cannot afford the direct and indirect costs of vocational training. In Papua New Guinea, • existence of employer ratified standards; training in vocational centers is limited to those • clear and attainable objectives; who can afford to pay tuition fees, excluding • adequately prepared students on entry; potential students unable to pay the fees. Many • adequate numbers of trained instructors with students drop out and do not receive certificates relevant work experience; because their parents cannot afford continued • appropriate training content with definition tuition charges. of associated learning outcomes;
102 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific 5), and the definition of core competencies required Box A6. 2: Quality Skills Training by the as part of competency-based training. Indonesia, Training and Productivity Authority Papua New Guinea, and Philippines adhere to of Fiji the principles of competency-based training. Samoa introduced competency-based training at The Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji its Institute of Technology, greatly reducing the (TPAF) is arguably one of the best providers number of students that fail. The Vanuatu Institute of trade training in the region. Its trade of Technology also adopted competency-based testing system helps provide the standard for training, helping reduce repetition and raise training. Instructors must have apprenticeship throughput. The competency-based training method qualifications to ensure competence in ensures that trainees are able to perform stipulated practical activities. Employers are closely tasks. These standards provide clear targets toward involved in reviewing training content, which which trainers can aim. focuses on practical applications. The system Standards, however, can be overly rigid, as in is reasonably well financed, in part through a the PRC. training levy on enterprises. The trade testing system provides both a goal and a standard The development and expansion of TVET for measuring acquisition of skills (outputs). from the 1980s onwards was accompanied The TPAF system is well managed and has by the introduction of a streamlined an enterprise ethos. In addition to training, vocational qualification system in 1994. TPAF provides a wide range of services to The system comprises five qualification enterprises, including productivity advice. The levels. It is a standards-based system with TPAF model could be considered by other external testing and certification. In 2003, Pacific countries with a sizeable private sector, more than 4,000 occupational standards such as Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and had been developed….However, standards Solomon Islands. appear not to be appropriately aligned with the requirements of the labor market. Source: Johanson 2007, 63. Accordingly, government is considering the modernization of standards a policy priority (Copenhagen Development Consult A/S 2005, 9) • sufficient financing for tools, equipment, and supplies; • assessment of performance against training Vocational standards and qualifications are objectives and standards; and a powerful tool for quality enhancement. In • strong management of the training process. China, however, concern has been raised with respect to the labor market relevance of The Training and Productivity Authority of the standards. There appears to be a point the Fiji exemplifies excellence in many of these for increased involvement of employers in requirements. standard setting. Bureaucracy and procedural In contrast, quality is a serious issue for rules in standard setting and revision need vocational education in the PRC, as indicated by a to be minimized and streamlined in order lack of practical orientation, inappropriately skilled to allow flexible and fast adjustment of teachers, and a shortage of resources (Copenhagen standards with changing requirements in Development Consultant A/S 2005, 7). the labor market. The number of vocational The first, and perhaps the most important, standards in China and their level of input for quality is definition of training standards, differentiation may be reduced. In a modern based on occupational standards. In Nepal, for knowledge society, the composition and example, skills standards are lacking as benchmarks design of occupational standards need for training delivery and assessment. In contrast, to reflect the importance of core skills trade testing provides standards for training in (Copenhagen Development Consult A/S Fiji Islands, Kiribati, and Papua New Guinea. 2005, 12). Two innovations are helping put appropriate standards in place: the introduction of national Another critical input for quality is the qualification frameworks (discussed in Appendix entering student. Incoming trainees with poor
Appendix 6 | 103 educational attainment limit skill achievements, professional certification of vocational instructors lengthen training completion times, and often based on assessment of skills competencies. necessitate bridging programs. One of the main Facilities, equipment, and materials are also issues that affect TVET quality in the Pacific is the important factors in TVET quality, and tend to poor educational background of entering students. be under-provided in the region. In the Kyrgyz In Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, and Republic, poor infrastructure and lack of adequate Tuvalu, incoming students have a poor educational training equipment characterize most primary foundation. Low quality general education is vocational education. This means that students characterized by deficiencies in basic academic learn about skills in theory, not through hands-on foundation studies, such as math, science, and practice. Most training equipment was supplied English. Similarly, in the Marshall Islands, the during the Soviet era and is outdated or not College of the Marshall Islands is handicapped functioning. Public training providers in Nepal also by the low quality of incoming students. Time is lack tools, equipment, materials, and supplies, as consequently wasted in remedial instruction, and well as budgets for in-service staff development. dropout levels are high. Vocational centers in Papua New Guinea are Curriculum is another important element of characterized by poor standards of maintenance quality. TVET curricula tend to be rigid and static, and lack of suitable facilities. Trainees have to as discussed previously. In the Philippines, curricula observe work practice, rather than engage in have lagged behind rapid changes in business hands-on practice, because of the lack of sufficient and industry. The same applies in Nepal, where equipment and inadequate resources for repair and curricula are not revised regularly. maintenance of training equipment. Inadequate numbers and qualifications of instructors is one of the main factors responsible Quality Assurance Processes. A common technique for low-quality TVET instruction. In the Kyrgyz of quality assurance is skills testing, but skills testing Republic, the skills of most instructors are outdated systems in the region are often weak. In the Kyrgyz and need to be upgraded. In the Philippines, only Republic, no comprehensive assessment system 30% of trainers have trade certification and only based on agreed skills standards is in place. Schools 10% have industrial experience. Teaching personnel arrange their own examinations without formal in Sri Lanka are inadequate in number and in external quality control. Industry participates in qualifications. At the postsecondary level, 6 out examinations only occasionally. In NWFP, Pakistan, of 10 positions are unfilled owing to a hiring the problem centers on the poor quality of the freeze. Some 80% of teaching staff have diploma examinations. Examinations are rigid in scope, or lower qualifications. Only 13% have industrial content, and coverage, and in the treatment of theory experience. In Bangladesh, qualified teachers and and practice. Sri Lanka lacks quality assurance instructors are in short supply, and the scope for mechanisms, including audit of programs and technical teacher training is limited. A primary accreditation. In the Federated States of Micronesia, problem has been the sudden expansion in the the lack of a quality assurance, accreditation, and number of institutions, with the supply of teachers certification authority has been identified as a major failing to match this growth (World Bank 2007a, deficiency. In contrast, vocational secondary schools 36). In Nepal, technical teachers have virtually in Indonesia use competency-based instruction in no industrial experience, and pay levels are so modules along with assessment by industry inadequate that teaching is not an attractive personnel. career option for qualified individuals. Substantial Norms and standards are usually not applied numbers of vocational teachers in the Fiji Islands to public training institutions. In the Fiji Islands, the are unqualified: 42% in office technology, 44% in Ministry of Education has no working system for automotive engineering, and 59% in carpentry quality assurance—in terms of monitoring systems and joinery. and indicators—for its vocational centers. The Most government bureaucracies lack quality of training provision consequently varies by understanding of the need for TVET instructors institution. to have industrial experience rather than (or in Another important aspect of quality assurance addition to) academic qualifications. Ministries tend is accreditation of private training providers (PTPs). to treat all teachers the same, not offering salaries However, accreditation of PTPs in the region has commensurate with market demand for skills. proved problematic. Standards have been Different treatment may be needed for technical- established for PTPs in many countries, but these vocational instructors. Indonesia plans to allow standards have been difficult to enforce. “Effective
104 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific regulation of private sector providers is far from quality of instruction. In the Philippines, student straightforward and like any other regulatory performance on trade tests has been low activity, requires considerable capacity of its own” —the 49% pass rate in 1995 declined to 38% (Young 2005, 31). Assessment and accreditation of in 1998. In Pakistan, less than half of graduates PTPs is an essential first step toward achieving pass the external examination. The pass rate in minimum standards. While desirable, it is difficult NWFP, Pakistan was only 18% for the diploma in to implement quality assurance systems for PTPs. business administration. In Bangladesh, the pass Effective monitoring and control requires reasonable rate was only 50% for secondary school certificate criteria and procedures, sufficient staff with (vocational), even though the students tested were expertise and training in assessment of institutions, prescreened (World Bank 2007a, 24). The PRC had and funds to support periodic inspections. a better record of success in 2003, when nearly 7 In Papua New Guinea, the National Training million candidates went for skills testing and 85% Council has been trying to do too much with too passed, including some 1.4 million vocational little resources. It reports inadequate staff capacity secondary school graduates (Copenhagen to carry out assessment of PTPs, courses, and Development Consult A/S 2005, 9). In the Pacific, trainers. It also lacks prosecutorial powers for only one indicator could be found of training institutions failing to register. As a result, there are effectiveness: Training and Productivity Authority substantial weaknesses in the registration process of Fiji (TPAF) test results. Pass rates in TPAF tests for PTPs. Some registered private institutions vary from year to year, ranging from 66–75% for operate below acceptable quality and provide little Level III, 50%–66% for Level II, and 40–65% for value for money. Level I. More use could be made of trade training Bangladesh has also experienced problems with statistics—e.g., pass rates—to establish benchmarks its accreditation of PTPs. for quality and effectiveness of training.
Notwithstanding the considerable expansion Criterion 4: Organizational and of private places in recent years, serious concerns remain about the accreditation Management Effectiveness process. Procedures are said to be time consuming, complicated and rigid, yet are The organization of TVET at the national level often not followed properly. There have also in many DMCs is commonly fragmented (see been allegations of political interference in Appendix 5, section C.). Typically, there are two the process. Under normal procedures, after main organizations responsible for TVET: the receiving an application, the Bangladesh ministry of education for formal technical and Technical Education Board sends a team vocational education, and the ministry or to inspect the facilities available for VET department of labor for nonformal skills courses. However, the resources to carry development. In Viet Nam, for example, both out such inspections are severely limited, the Ministry of Education and Training and the which introduces delays into the accreditation Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs process, and often leads poor quality offer vocational or technical training at the upper institutions receiving accreditation (World secondary level. Viet Nam’s Law on Vocational Bank 2007a, 34, 46). Training is not clear about which of these agencies is responsible for vocational training. Similarly, Even Republic of Korea and Taipei,China in Thailand, both the Ministry of Education and have had trouble in assuring the quality of PTPs. the Ministry of Labor offer vocational training. “Taiwan and Korea also found that it is difficult to The Ministry of Education claims that its upper ensure reasonable standards and quality in private secondary programs differ, in that they are formal institutions” (Tilak 2002, 12). upper secondary and confer certification, while the Ministry of Labor’s programs are short-term Quality as Outputs. Most TVET systems fail courses for qualifications only. to monitor or evaluate the quality outcomes of Unclear or inappropriate responsibilities training in terms of competencies achieved. It is affect TVET, with confusion in the roles of key virtually impossible to evaluate the outputs of institutions, particularly concerning regulation and vocational training directly except where trade provision of training. In NWFP, Pakistan, the role tests are used systematically. In some countries, low of the provincial government should be limited to pass rates indicate underlying problems with the policy, planning, and monitoring and evaluation,
Appendix 6 | 105 with training delivery gradually devolved to TVET responsibilities of the Ministry of Education, the institutions supported by district management National Training Council, the College of the committees. Marshall Islands, and other entities often overlap In the Philippines, the Technical Education and and cause confusion. Skills Development Authority (TESDA) inherited Fragmented and uncoordinated provision of 58 technical and vocational schools and about 60 informal training limits effective use of resources. nonformal training centers upon its formation. It is In Bhutan, inter-ministerial coordination is weak. not appropriate that the agency that accredits and In Nepal, training is highly fragmented due to the supervises training institutions also operate them. lack of coordination, leading to duplication of In Nepal, the roles of the various stakeholders effort in curricula development and skills standards, have not been clearly defined or coordinated. The among other areas. In Papua New Guinea, the Council for TVET focuses on training provision, three main parts of the TVET system do not work but needs to move out of provision to focus on its harmoniously. The National Training Council, the strategic role for the sector as a whole. In the PRC: National Apprenticeship and Trade Training Board, and the TVET Division of the National Department TVET is characterized by state-control and of Education can be seen as dysfunctional. Each has largely state provision….Regulatory functions its own board and management structures; each are divided between different ministries. There develops its own policies; each forges its own links appears to be a need for better coordination with enterprises; and each is responsible for some and a clear definition of the future role of registration and certification of training providers, Government in TVET. The key function of each using different criteria in the process. the public sector should be regulation and In Bangladesh: facilitation, i.e., setting of a conducive policy and legal environment for training provision, The current institutional framework for VET quality assurance through accreditation of leads to poor coordination between the main training providers, standard setting, testing actors. Currently, the Bangladesh Technical and certification, facilitating research and Education Board [BTEB] is responsible for teachers training and setting the rules for curriculum development, examinations, and financing mechanisms. National Training accreditations of non-public courses. The Authorities established in other countries often Department of Technical Education [DTE] is as semi-autonomous bodies and with the responsible for implementing new courses, participation of industries and stakeholders staff recruitment and the establishment of may serve as an example. Government new institutions. However, inadequate may also consider concentrating its own coordination between these two agencies involvement in training provision to strategic leads to overlap of activities, and burdens fields, and on the other hand systematically both agencies with a workload for which they strengthen non-government training provision do not have sufficient resources. Furthermore, (Copenhagen Development Consult A/S the National Council for Skills Development 2005, 1). and Training (NCSDT), formed in 1979 to coordinate training policies and programs is The mandates for TVET supervisory defunct—not having met in over 20 years. organizations tend to be unclear in several There is a complicated delegation of authority countries. In Papua New Guinea, the division of between the Ministry of Education, Department labor is unclear between the Ministry of Labor of Technical Education, the Bangladesh and Industrial Relations and the National Technical Education Board, and heads of the Department of Education, as evidenced by different institutions. This can be seen clearly in the and sometimes contradictory plans for the same multiplicity of institutions overseeing SSC policy areas. Roles are also unclear between the (Voc) [secondary school certificate— Department of Education and the Department of vocational] schools, which generally fall Community Development on responsibilities for informal sector training. The latter agency has responsibility for training for the informal sector, Also, the Department of Secondary and Higher Education but lacks the training expertise that resides in the handles salary subsidies to private secondary schools, former. In the Marshall Islands, unclear mandates including those that offer secondary school certificates lead to duplication in several areas. The roles and (vocational).
106 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific under the Directorate of Secondary and the government have little autonomy to Higher Secondary Education, but are bound replace training courses with new ones, to policies and instructions from DTE and ensure that students receive quality training, BTEB for their accreditations, examinations, change curricula, and involve the private curriculum, staff issues, financing, and sector in decision-making at the institutional facilities (World Bank 2007a, 34). level. At the same time institutions are not held accountable for performance (World In India, management of the TVET system also Bank 2007a, 35–36). is fragmented. System management is shared among central and state authorities for vocational training Similarly, training institutions in India lack (National Council of Vocational Training and state incentives to improve performance. Institution councils of vocational training). While the different managers have little freedom to fill places to authorities have clearly specified functions on paper, capacity, replace training courses with new ones, there is little coordination between them, leading and ensure that students receive quality training to diverse accountability and duplication of effort, (World Bank 2006d, iv). In the same way, resources with different agencies often performing the same are not linked to outputs in Sri Lanka. functions (World Bank 2006d, iv). Several key national TVET organizations, Criterion 5: Finance and Internal particularly national training councils, lack the resources to carry out their functions. In Papua Efficiency New Guinea, the National Training Council lacks resources and expertise to carry out registration Low public investment in TVET in South and and accreditation of private training providers. Central Asia stands in contrast to strong Similarly, the Vanuatu National Training Council investment by the rapidly growing economies in has insufficient budget and staff to handle its East and Southeast Asia. Bangladesh spends just work, resulting in a backlog of applications for 1% of its education budget on TVET programs, accreditation, among other problems. while Pakistan spends 2%, and India spends Lack of data and research on TVET is an 4% (King 2007, 28). Papua New Guinea spends almost universal handicap to progress. Information just 0.7% of central government expenditure on about TVET performance is scarce in almost all education on TVET, making it the poor relation countries. In Papua New Guinea, for example, there of the education sector. In contrast, Malaysia is inadequate record keeping on graduates, and an allocated 18% of its education budget to TVET absence of basic management information on (King 2007, 28). Similarly, Republic of Korea and inputs and outputs (e.g., costs per student). In India, Taipei,China have invested heavily in TVET. TVET the preoccupation with providing and financing tends to be expensive and requires a minimum training has resulted in the neglect of a key role: level of investment to be effective. providing information about the availability and Low private investment in skills development effectiveness of training programs (World Bank in South Asia mirrors low public investment. 2006d, iv). Enterprises underinvest in the skills of their At the institutional level, managers lack workers. They have insufficient incentives to train. authority and incentives to improve their performance, such as accountability for results. Market failures diminish employer incentives Resources are not linked to outputs. In Bangladesh: to train. International experience suggests that there are three market failures that constrain …one issue of particular importance to training, particularly among small firms: internal efficiency is the over-centralization (a) the high cost of training; (b) lack of of curriculum development and staff and adequate information; and (c) high turnover resource management in Dhaka. This of skilled workers (i.e., poaching) (World Bank severely limits the scope for taking advantage 2007a, 54). of local level responsibilities and initiatives.… Institutions throughout South Asia have few In India, with state training authorities focused incentives to improve their performance. on providing training through the public sector, The main problem is the way institutions almost no attention is paid to the use of financing are governed. Principals of public sector as an innovative means to encourage good quality institutions and those provided subsidies by public training and private training, or to provide
Appendix 6 | 107 incentives to enterprises to train their workers. Many countries do not provide TVET with States are losing a valuable opportunity to leverage incentives to mobilize additional resources. In their limited training financing resources (World Bangladesh, profits of individual institutes are Bank 2006d, viii). returned to the Ministry of Finance. Institutes have Public TVET depends heavily on government little incentive to generate income from services financing, particularly in South Asia. In Bangladesh, or production, as revenues and student fees are in addition to financing virtually all costs, remitted to general government revenues (World government provides scholarships to about 60% Bank 2007a, 60). In India: of vocational students without regard to financial need or means testing. Heavy public financing, plus Training providers have insufficient interest in pervasive constraints on increased public spending, their financial state of affairs. Student fees make it difficult to raise funds to expand coverage in industrial training institutes are retained or improve the system. The result is chronic by the respective state governments and the underfinancing of the inputs necessary for quality institutional functionaries have no financial instruction. Bhutan faces a lack of capital necessary incentive to meet labor market needs—a to develop new training programs and facilities to common failing of supply-driven models of accommodate out-of-school youths, females, and VET (World Bank 2006d, ix). the unemployed. In Sri Lanka, training financed by government free of cost to participants constrains TVET is expensive, but the way funds are program expansion and contributes to uncertain transferred to TVET institutions gives little financial sustainability. incentive for better performance. In India, However, some countries have been able to diversify sources of financing. In the PRC, sources …once an institution begins to receive of funding for TVET have been diversified funding, subsequent funds are guaranteed successfully since the early 1990s. Tuition fees regardless of institutional performance. The account for 22% to 33% of total spending, with the same levels of finance are allocated to poorly proportions substantially higher in vocational than performing institutions with high dropout in secondary schools—or even higher education. rates as to those that maintain a high quality In the Fiji Islands, the Fiji Institute of Technology of teaching and performance (World Bank raised about half its operating costs from tuition 2006d, viii). fees from rising student numbers out of necessity when the Government imposed a ceiling on its Instead of transferring resources to institutions contributions (Johanson 2007). In Indonesia and on an ad hoc basis or on the basis of teacher the Philippines, the extraordinarily high proportion subventions, public resources could be transferred of private training providers operating on tuition on the basis of input or output criteria. This process fees means that private sources finance almost all is already underway in Bangladesh, where some TVET there. This is not necessarily a good thing input-based measures are being used to allocate from an equity standpoint, since vocational resources. Institutions could be financed according institutions tend to cater to lower-income groups. to the estimated cost of inputs—using norms such Cost sharing should be combined with scholarships as the number of trainees enrolled, or number of for low-income students. classes. This is better than ad hoc funding, but it Distortions occur in spending on TVET. does not overcome the inherent weaknesses of Salaries and allowances drive out spending on direct allocation, including the lack of incentives essential inputs, such as equipment, operations, (i) for quality assurance or efficiency (funding and materials. In India, almost 95% of expenditure formulas based on average costs can actually goes to salaries and allowances, leaving little for promote expansion of institutions), and (ii) to close operation of vocational training institutions. In the the gap between training and employment needs Kyrgyz Republic, only 13% of the budget is used for (World Bank 2007a, 60). operation and maintenance of TVET institutions. In Indonesia’s positive experience with direct Bangladesh, “…a consequence of prioritizing transfers is noteworthy. Both TVET and general salaries to such an extent is that there have been schools in Indonesia receive much of their funding inadequate funds for sufficient instructors, directly from central agencies with flexibility in equipment, in-service training and consumable its usage. Schools are responsible for spending the supplies, maintenance/repair of machinery and other funds according to plans approved in conjunction critical infrastructure” (World Bank 2007a, 41). with school committees. This approach has proved
108 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific successful. It empowers the school, usually leads to Control over public sector providers would lower costs, and speeds the procurement of goods need to be decentralized and institutions and services. given far greater financial autonomy if any Public TVET financing is in short supply, form of income generation was to have an but even available resources often are not used impact of the operations of institutions. Only efficiently. Spending is frequently wasteful, such then could the full potential of cost sharing as that on the large proportion of students that and income generation be realized. failed external examinations or failed to graduate in Pakistan’s NWFP and India’s Andhra Pradesh Second: (World Bank 2006d, 27). Resources are sometimes underused. TVET facilities in the Kyrgyz Republic …introduce performance-based funding are heavily underused, with only 24,000 students [that] rewards performance and pay[s] on enrolled in facilities that can accommodate 90,000 results. Institutions that meet targets should (ADB 2007g, 2). Bangladesh uses only 40% to be rewarded; those that do not are penalized. 50% of its TVET capacity (World Bank 2007a, Output targets can be defined in absolute 24). In India, the average number of trainees per terms (e.g., number of course completions, staff member in its industrial training institutes pass rates on examinations) or in relative and industrial training centres ranges from 5.5 to terms (e.g., years to completion). Outcome 9.6—indicating an underutilization of teaching targets measure the success of training staff. Allocations are distorted. In the Kyrgyz providers in meeting labor market needs Republic, only a third of staff are instructors and (e.g., job placement within a reasonable teachers, while two thirds are administrators and time). The key for both types of targets is to support staff. define transparent and measurable criteria The World Bank review of TVET in that are easily collected but not easily Bangladesh indicates what needs to be done. First: manipulated (World Bank 2007a, 60–61).
Appendix 6 | 109 Appendix 7: ADB Support for Technical and Vocational Education and Training
The regional patterns of Asian Development Figure A7.2: Amount of ADB Technical Assistance for TVET by Bank (ADB) lending for stand-alone technical and Subregion and Type, 1998–2007 vocational education and training (TVET) projects 16,000 14,000 are summarized in Figure A7.1. PPTA ADTA The bulk of the projects and lending have gone 12,000 RETA to Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, 10,000 Others Philippines, and Thailand. 8,000 Figures A7.2 and A7.3 show technical 6,000 Amount ($'000) assistance projects for TVET by region and 4,000 amount over the past 10 years. In total, the ADB 2,000 implemented 12 project preparation technical 0 assistance projects, 13 advisory technical assistance CW Asia East Asia Pacific South Southeast Total projects, and one regional technical assistance Asia Asia ADB = Asian Development Bank, ADTA = advisory technical assistance, CW = Central (Pacific). South Asia captured both the bulk of and West, PPTA = project preparation technical assistance, RETA = regional technical assistance, TVET = technical and vocational education and training. the technical assistance projects and the highest Source: Asian Development Bank. amounts. Project preparation technical assistance projects were particularly numerous in South Asia, outnumbering advisory technical assistance projects
Figure A7.1: Stand-alone TVET Projects Financed By ADB by Subregion, 1993–2007
30 900
800 25 700
20 600
500 15 400 Amount ($ million) Number of Projects 10 300 Loan
200 5 100
0 0 Southeast CW Asia East Asia Pacific South Asia Total Asia
Projects 5 0 4 8 10 27 Amount 99.5 0 11.0 91.7 577.5 779.6
ADB = Asian Development Bank, CW = Central and West, TVET = technical and vocational education and training. Source: Asian Development Bank.
110 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Figure A7.3: Number of ADB Technical Assistance Projects for Table A7.1: Primary Economic Emphasis of TVET by Subregion and Type, 1998–2007 Stand-alone ADB Training Projectsa (Year 14 Approved) Mainly for Modern-sector Mainly for the 12 PPTA (wage) Employment Informal Economy ADTA Philippines (2000) Marshall Islands (2001) 10 RETA Bhutan (2001) Papua New Guinea Others (2001) 8 Maldives (2003) Nepalc (2004) 6 Pakistan b (2004) Bhutan (2006) Number of Projects Sri Lanka (2005) 4 Kyrgyz Republic d (2007)
2 ADB = Asian Development Bank.
a Excludes projects with training components, such as those in 0 Uzbekistan and Mongolia. CW Asia East Asia Pacific South Southeast Total b Includes some training for livelihood and income generating Asia Asia skills. ADB = Asian Development Bank, ADTA = advisory technical assistance, CW = Central c Includes training for wage employment abroad. and West, PPTA = project preparation technical assistance, RETA = regional technical d assistance, TVET = technical and vocational education and training. Includes entrepreneurship training for income generation. Source: ADB. Source: ADB 2000c, 2000d, 2001c, 2003c, 2004f, 2004g, 2005g, 2006f, 2007g.
by seven to four. This may indicate the lack of although implementation has been slow because of capacity to prepare projects in the subregion. weak implementation capacity (Box A7.1). The distribution of TVET projects approved The comparatively strong performance of by ADB since 2000 by principal orientation may be TVET projects completed since 2000 is shown in seen in Table A7.1. Table A7.2 A recent project in Papua New Guinea seems to be particularly well designed and innovative,
Table A7.2: Performance of ADB-financed TVET Projects Completed Since 2000
Country/ (Year of PCR/PPAR) ability Rating Impact Overall Efficacy Sustain- Efficiency Relevance
Indonesia (2001) Successful Partly Effective Partly Likely Significant Thailand (2003) Highly High High Very Likely Substantial Successful Efficient Pakistan (2004) Successful High Effective Efficient Likely Positive Malaysia (2004) Successful High Effective Efficient Likely — Cambodia (2005) Highly High High High Likely Significant Successful Marshall Islands (2006) Partly Yes Limited Weak Weak Doubtful Successful Malaysia (2007) Successful High Partly Partly Likely Positive — = not stated (not rated), ADB = Asian Development Bank, PCR = project completion report, PPAR = project performance audit report, TVET = technical and vocational education and training.
Sources: ADB 2001b, 2002b, 2003b, 2004e, 2004d, 2005c, 2006e, 2007e.
Appendix 7 | 111 Box A7.1: Training Fund for Sustainable Skills Development in Papua New Guinea
The ADB-funded Employment Oriented Skills In financial terms this represented only about 6% Development Project in Papua New Guinea of the accrued interest that had been generated established a donor-government training fund to to date. Sustainability, therefore, was not a provide a permanent source of financial support problem, mainly because the volume of activity to informal sector training. The Fund is managed was still low. by an experienced professional and the accrued interest from the invested capital (approximately Despite a slow start and the need to streamline kina [K] 50 million) has been used to cofinance administrative procedures to increase the level short-term employment-oriented skills training of disbursements, the Fund appears to have conducted by vocational centers, churches, had some added benefits. Through the required nongovernment organizations, and private provincial contributions, it increased financial training providers. As long as the annual interest commitment to skills training at the provincial generated by the Fund is equal to, or greater level while, at the same time, stimulating the than, the annual expenditure on skills training, development of local training markets where it sustainability is assured. operated. By mid-2006, provincial contributions to the Fund totaled some K2.2 million, and The Fund was slow in starting up because a total of 88 different training providers had of requirements for special legislative and accessed Fund resources. As the Fund covered bureaucratic measures, and the need for only part of total training costs, both providers individual provinces to first contribute to the and participants contributed to the cost of Fund’s capital before qualifying for its resources. programs. This resulted in a degree of broad- Consequently, disbursements only got underway based ownership not normally associated with in late 2003, almost 3 years after the project project-financed skills training activities. began. By mid-August 2006, the Fund had cofinanced 151 short training activities for some 2,500 beneficiaries in four provinces. Source: Johanson (2007).
112 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Appendix 8: Supplementary Data on Higher Education
Table A8.1: Student Enrollment in Higher Education Institutions in Selected Countries in Asia and the Pacific Country 1980 a 1998 b 2004 c 2007 d Brunei Darussalam 143 3000 4,917 7,502 Cambodia 601 — 45,370 47,835 Indonesia 543,175 — 3,441,429 2,790,391 Lao People’s Democratic Republic 1,408 12, 000 33,760 71,359 Malaysia 57,650 443,000 632,309 692,976 Myanmar 163,197 — 555,060 555,000 Philippines 1,276,016 2,209,000 2,427,211 3,685,624 Thailand 361,400 1,814,000 2,251, 453 2,469,808 Viet Nam 114,701 810,000 845,313 785,000 Timor-Leste — — 6, 349 17,370 People’s Republic of China 1,662,796 7,364,000 19, 417, 044 — India 3,545,318 — 11, 295, 041 — Kazakhstane — 402,900 1,134,700 — — = data unavailable. a World Bank (2000a). b United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2005a). c UNESCO (2004). d Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (2007). e The Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Appendix 8 | 113 Table A8.2: Gross Enrollment Rates in Higher Education in Selected Countries in Asia and the Pacific
(Percent) Country 1991 1999 2002 2004 Central and West Asia Afghanistan — — — 1 Armenia — 24 26 26 Azerbaijan 24 15 16 15 Georgia 37 36 41 41 Kazakhstan 42 25 39 48 Kyrgyz Republic 14 29 43 80 Pakistan 3 — 3 3 Tajikistan 22 14 14 16 Turkmenistan 22 — — — Uzbekistan 30 — 15 15 East Asia People’s Republic of China 3 6 13 19 Hong Kong, China — — 31 32 Republic of Korea 39 66 83 89 Mongolia 14 26 34 39 Pacific Timor-Leste — — 10 — South Asia Bangladesh — 6 6 — India 6 — 11 12 Nepal 6 — 5 6 Sri Lanka 4 — — — Southeast Asia Brunei Darussalam 77 85 90 94 Cambodia 1 — 3 3 Indonesia 9 — 15 17 Lao People’s Democratic Republic — 2 4 6 Malaysia 8 23 29 — Myanmar 4 7 11 — Philippines 27 29 30 29 Singapore 20 — — — Thailand — 32 39 41 Viet Nam 2 11 10 10 Others (for purposes of comparison) Japan 30 45 51 54 Macao, China 25 27 65 69 — = data unavailable. Note: Gross enrollment rate (GER) is the number of pupils enrolled in a given level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population in the theoretical age group for that level of education.
Source: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics. Annual Education Surveys. Paris.
114 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Table A8.3: Number of Higher Education Students by Subregion in 1991 and 2006
(Million) Subregion 1991 2004 Central Asia 2 2 South and West Asia 6 15 East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific 14 39 Total 22 56 Source: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2006b).
Table A8.4: Enrollment in Higher Education by Course Type and Gender in Selected Asian Countries, 2007 Degree Nondegree Country Male Female Subtotal Male Female Subtotal Total Brunei Darussalam 1,137 2,537 3,674 2,061 1,767 3,828 7,502 Lao PDR 27,901 19,523 47,424 13,261 10,674 23,935 71,359 Philippines 1,085,178 1,335,678 2,420,856 601,128 663,640 1,264,768 3,685,624 Thailand — — 2,089,041 175,940 204,827 380,767 2,469,808 Viet Nam 689,109 630,645 1,319,754 — — — — — = data unavailable. Lao PDR = Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Source: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2007).
Appendix 8 | 115 Table A8.5: Country Aspirations for Future Growth of Higher Education Country Aspirations Central and West Asia Afghanistan By the end of 2010, student enrollment in universities will be 100,000 with at least 35% female students; curriculum in Afghanistan’s public universities will be revised to meet the development needs of the country and private sector growth.a Kazakhstan Not less than 30% of secondary school graduates will continue education in the higher education system as a result of increased access and prestige of higher education and the need to satisfy social and market demand.b The Kazakhstan Strategy Development Plan up to 2010 focuses on strengthening universities, and support to and integration of Kazakhstan higher education institutions into the world education system, among other goals.c Pakistan Assuming past trend will be sustained, enrollments in universities, DAIs, CoEs, and distance learning institutions are projected to double by 2010 and triple by 2015, reaching 1.0 million and 1.9 million by these dates, respectively. Accordingly, the enrollment rate in these institutions would rise from 2.5% to 6.2% of the 17–23 age group.d Tajikistan A main priority in reforming higher education is financing.e
Uzbekistan The National Program Third stage (2005 and after) emphasizes formation and development of national…high schools and capacity development, staffing, and the informational basis of higher education institutions.f East Asia People’s Republic The national goal is to achieve a 15% GER in higher education by 2010.g Among the objectives for of China 2001–2050 is to increase the GER to 23% in 2010, 40% in 2020 and 55% in 2050; and to have 1,500 engineers and scientists per million population in 2020 and 3,000 per million population in 2050.h Republic of Korea New University for Regional Development (NURI) is one of the ministry’s key projects supporting development in regional universities of areas of specialty and strength. An estimated W1.4 trillion is to be invested over 5 years to develop capacity for innovation and human resources development in regional universities during 2004–2008.o Preparation is under way for the 2nd Brain Korea 21 project investment cycle.p South Asia India The 11th Five Year Plan aims to expand capacity in all institutions of higher education by 50% over the next 3 years.i The education scheme involves a package consisting of fellowships for a 5-year period in basic sciences, social sciences, humanities, and applied sciences; creation of 100 additional posts in colleges and universities; and the setting up of computer laboratories in all government colleges and university departments, and scientific labs in schools and colleges.i Southeast Asia Indonesia Under the Higher Education Long-Term Strategy 2003–2010, the structural adjustment to be carried out aims to have, by the year of 2010, a healthy higher education system, with provision of the corresponding framework and structures.j Lao People’s At the university level, the goals are selective expansion…to continue the training and upgrading Democratic of teachers by year 2020. Every effort will be made to increase the share of government budget Republic for education, increase enrollment of girls and ethnic minorities in higher education, and increase the student population ratio from 520/100,000 by year 2010 to 650/100,000 by 2015 and 840/100,000 by 2020.k Malaysia Fundamental research will be activated by application to get grants of RM300 million in the 9th Malaysia Plan (2006–2010). MoHE has targeted an increase in the proportion of postgraduate students from 18% to 25% in the year 2010. Also planned is an increase in higher education enrollment numbers of the 17–23 age cohort to 40% by the year 2010.l The Malaysian nation’s Vision 2020 (Wawasan 2020) promotes a paradigm shift from an economy based on labor-intensive and lower-end manufactured products to an economy based on knowledge as part of the process of becoming a fully developed nation.m Continued on next page 116 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Table A8.5—continued Country Aspirations Viet Nam In its Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan 2006–2010, the Government has established an overall quantitative goal of increasing enrollment in universities and colleges by 10% annually, to reach a level of 200 students per 10,000 population by 2010.n CoE = center of excellence, DAI = degree awarding institutes, GER = gross enrollment rate, MoHE = Ministry of Higher Education, RM = Malaysian ringgit, W = Republic of Korea won.
Sources: a World Bank (2005a); b The Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2003); c Zhakenov (2002); d WorldBank (2006c); e European Commission (2005); Government of Tajikistan (2005); f UNESCO (2002); UNESCO (2005a); UNESCO (2006a); g Wei-Meng (2003); h World Bank (2006a); i Rediff India Abroad (2007); The Hindu (2007); j Djanali (2005); k Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) (2005); UNESCO (2005); UNESCO (2004); UNESCO (2007); SEAMEO (2007); l Sulaiman (2005); m Kamogawa (2003); n World Bank (2007b); Tran Ngoc Ca (2006); o New University for Regional Development (NURI); Accessed May 31, 2007 from http://english.moe.go.kr/; UNESCO (2003); p Kim (2005).
Table A8.6: Science and Engineering Doctoral Degrees a in Selected Regions and Countries, by Field (2000 or Most Recent Year) All Math/ Social/ Region and Doctoral Natural Computer Agri. Behavior Location Degrees All S&E b Sciences c Science Science Sciences Engin. Non-S&E All Regions 207,383 114,337 46,715 7,389 7,761 20,054 32,418 93,046 Asiad 47,489 24,409 8,658 373 3,085 1,467 10,826 23,080 PRC (2001) 13,001 8,153 2,655 – 536 621 4,341 4,848 Taipei,China (2001) 1,463 970 144 107 90 108 521 493 India (1997) 10,408 4,764 3,498 – 968 – 298 5,644 Japane (2001) 16,078 7,401 1,586 – 1,241 610 3,964 8,677 Kyrgyz Republic 396 256 161 19 8 20 48 140 Republic of Korea 6,143 2,865 614 247 242 108 1,654 3,278 Middle East 5,759 2,902 1,307 241 265 495 594 2,857 Sub-Saharan Africad 2,064 679 253 0 142 143 141 1,385 Europed 97,840 53,119 23,567 4,412 2,577 8,927 13,636 44,721 European Free Trade Association 3,391 1,418 729 129 76 149 335 1,973 Central and Eastern Europe 21,686 12,481 4,204 226 847 2,775 4,429 9,205 Georgia 467 287 91 NA 15 120 61 180 Americasd 50,544 31,198 12,015 2,188 1,512 8,738 6,745 19,346 North and Central America 46,475 28,590 10,824 2,095 1,039 8,421 6,211 17,885 – = data unavailable, Agri. = agriculture, Engin. = engineering, PRC = People’s Republic of China, S&E = science and engineering. a Data for doctoral degrees use the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 97), level 6. b S&E data do not include health fields. c Includes physical, biological, earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences. d Includes only those countries for which relatively recent data are available. e Includes thesis doctorates, called ronbun hakase, earned by employees in industry.
Sources: National Science Foundation (NSF). 2004. Science and Engineering Indicators 2004. Arlington, Virginia. Available: http://www. nsf.gov/statistics/seind04/c2/c2s5.htm; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Center for Education Research and Innovation. 2002. Education at a Glance. OECD; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics. Available: http://www.unesco.org/statistics; Iberoamerican Network of Science and Technology Indicators (RICYT). 1999. Principales Indicadores de Ciencia y Tecnología. Buenos Aires; People’s Republic of China: National Research Center for Science and Technology for Development. 2002. Special Tabulations; India: Department of Science and Technology, Research and Development. 1999. Statistics 1996–1997. New Delhi; Japan: Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. 2003. Monbusho Survey of Education (special tabulations). Tokyo; and Division of Higher Education. 2003. Special Tabulations; Taipei,China: Ministry of Education. 2002. Educational Statistics, 2002; France: National Ministry of Education and Research. 2001. Rapport sur les Études Doctorales. Paris; Continued on next page
Appendix 8 | 117 Table A8.6—continued Germany: Federal Statistical Office. 2002. Prüfungen an Hochschulen 2001. Wiesbaden; United Kingdom: Higher Education Statistics Agency. 2003. Special Tabulations. Cheltenham; Russia: Center for Science Research and Statistics. 2001. Unpublished Tabulations; Argentina and Chile: RICYT; Brazil: Ministry of Education and Culture. 2001. Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Unpublished Tabulations); Mexico: National Association of Universites and Institutions of Higher Education. 2002. Anuario Estadistico 2001: Población Escolar de Posgrado; and United States: NSF, Division of Science Resources Statistics. 2002. Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards: 2001. NSF 03-300. Arlington.
Table A8.7: Arguments Supporting and Opposing Alternative Strategies of ADB Support for Higher Education Strategy Arguments in Favor Arguments Against Lending Lending for • Substantial projected growth in number of higher • Capital is widely available through private infrastructure and education institutions markets policy develop- • Well understood procedures within ADB and • Increasing number of DMCs have sufficient ment DMCs resources to expand their higher education • Maximizes DMC control over funds to invest in system without borrowing the manner they determine is most appropriate Lending for ICT • Cost effective means of expanding access to • Already widely used in countries of Asia higher education • Mixed history of success • Marries interest in S&T with lending Capacity Development Developing • Growth of higher education system has been • Increased capacity of personnel is only useful capacity of faster than qualified administrators could be if, once trained, they have the financial institutions trained and recruited resources with which to operate at a higher • Improved managerial skills can increase level efficiency and cost-effectiveness of higher education Developing • Growth of higher education system has been • Improved capacity provides greater career capacity of faster than qualified instructional staff could be mobility; could result in loss of personnel to individuals trained and recruited private sector business and industry Knowledge Sharing Subregional hubs • Focal point for expertise and information • Current communication and transportation • Clear point of contact systems make subregional placement • Sensitive to subregional issues and needs unnecessary • Possibly redundant with other existing hub-like structures now operating in the region • Mixed reviews regarding impact and effectiveness of hub-like structures now operating in the region • Easily dominated by specific points of view or orientations • Decisions regarding multiple requests for services can cause tension with clients • Possible lack of clarity about responsibility for quality control Continued on next page
118 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Table A8.7—continued Strategy Arguments in Favor Arguments Against Central hub • Clear point of contact • Decisions regarding multiple requests for • Less expensive services can cause tension with clients • Large enough to have critical mass and cross- • Staffing commitments may narrow ability to fertilization of expertise across sub-areas of work address new problems International • Can develop and sustain relationships over time • May narrow the range of knowledge and twinning • Can develop deeper knowledge of DMC advice provided university issues Subregional • Partners face similar cultural and educational • May narrow the range of knowledge and twinning circumstances advice provided • Sensitive to local issues • Possible lack of suitable partner institution Brokering of • Can respond to a wide range of specialized • Appropriate expertise may be hard to identify individual requests with top expertise • Often lacks follow-up and quality control consultant • Can secure specialized expertise on an • Multiple consultants’ efforts can be scattered services as-needed basis and disconnected Targeted Support for Science and Technology Direct or indirect • Can help retain top researchers • Success requires long-term continuity and lending for • Salary inequities between science and technology sustained commitment science and faculty and those in other fields • Success largely contingent on factors outside technology • Country lending already allows governments to of higher education allocate money to science and technology if they • Payoff is long term and uncertain choose. • Often weak private sector demand • Commercialization of research can be difficult and uncertain • Weak protection for intellectual property rights ADB = Asian Development Bank, DMC = developing member country, ICT = information and communication technology, S&T = science and technology.
Source: Author.
Appendix 8 | 119 Appendix 9: Summary of Recent ADB Loans for Higher Education
Bangladesh Open University Project Purpose Infrastructure support to main campus and 10 local study centers; provision of equipment, furniture, and vehicles; and provision of instructional materials development, staff development, and international and domestic fellowships. Rationale Prepare teachers for primary and secondary schools; support Government policy of compulsory primary education; and address shortfall of skilled labor, particularly in agriculture, computer technology, and health. Assessment • Overall project considered a success. Judged highly successful in expanding access to education. Successfully met needs of disadvantaged groups (women and rural poor). • Achieved or exceeded planned targets. However, project had low internal efficiency (e.g., low rate of return, low utilization of University Media Center). • Following graduation, two thirds of graduates were employed. Project helped improve living conditions of rural poor. Comments Sustainability will depend on improvements in Open University management.
Cambodia Special Rehabilitation Assistance Project Purpose Infrastructure rebuilding in transport, power, agriculture, and education; included reconstruction of two teacher training colleges, three technical institutes, and rehabilitation of Phnom Penh University. Rationale • Help Cambodia restore essential economic and social infrastructure to forestall further deterioration of basic public services and establish a basis for further reconstruction efforts following the war and civil disturbances spanning the 1970s and 1980s. • Education component focused on postsecondary education since the United Nations Children's Fund and other donors were working at the primary level. Assessment Education assistance was generally implemented as envisioned at appraisal. Internal efficiency was enhanced and productivity of higher education system was improved. Comments Project needed more consultant input than was anticipated.
Indonesia Higher Education Project Purpose Improve academic programs, upgrade staff qualifications, provide better quality teaching, implement appropriate academic policies, improve facilities, provide consultant services, and provide instructional materials. Rationale Improve skills of workforce and diversify production base to less-developed areas of the country. Assessment • On balance, the project was rated as efficacious. Project largely achieved physical output targets envisioned at appraisal—e.i., improved curriculum, facilities, and equipment; staff development; and increased enrollment. The majority of graduates found jobs, and employers were generally satisfied with graduates’ job performance. • The benefits of the education component were found to be enhanced by internal efficiency and higher productivity at rehabilitated schools and colleges. • On balance, the project was rated as efficient. Estimated internal rate of return was 9.4%, less than the ADB benchmark economic opportunity cost of 12%. Continued on next page
120 | Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific Appendix 9 —continued Indonesia Higher Education Project Comments • Consultant services were 56% of appraisal estimate, largely because a large number of local Indonesian consultants were used. Management and academic staff thought this component was one of the most successful of the project. • The fellowship component was successful, but returning fellows were discouraged by lack of university support for new course development and lack of funding for research. • There were problems with ongoing maintenance of facilities after construction, and with updating of curricula. There was a need for university to increase cost recovery.
Lao People’s Democratic Republic Postsecondary Education Rationalization Project Purpose Establish a multi-campus national university, and develop an operational framework (including a management system, academic structure, and supporting mechanisms). Rationale Shortage of higher education graduates poses obstacle to sustain national development gains. Assessment • Project was rated highly relevant. • The project was rated very efficient. The cost of education at National University of Laos (NUOL) was $88/student, while cost of education at the 10 postsecondary institutions before consolidation was $264/student. After cost recovery, NUOL student costs estimated at $57/student. • Overall, the project was rated as highly effective. Comments Project amalgamated 10 postsecondary education institutions to create the NUOL.
Papua New Guinea Higher Education Project Purpose Enable the higher education system to respond to manpower and human resource development needs, improve primary and secondary education through teacher education, and rationalize and consolidate administration and management of higher education to achieve coordinated and cost-effective development of the higher education sector. Rationale The higher education system was unable to produce the required number of trained personnel to exploit the country’s natural resources, and to assist with its social and economic development. It was not producing enough graduates to provide the needed number of primary and secondary school teachers. Assessment Overall performance was judged satisfactory, given the problems encountered. Comments • Difficulties encountered in inadequate attention to implementation issues lead to excessive project duration. Delays in contracting resulted in the loss of good fellowship candidates. A government freeze on staff recruitment in the public sector restricted government capacity to fill vacancies. • The number of short-term consultants was too large for government to effectively manage, and the lack of counterpart staff constrained project work. • Project was rated as relevant. Country and higher education institutions benefited. Capacities of the universities were enlarged and strengthened. Enrollment gains anticipated at appraisal were not achieved. ADB = Asian Development Bank.
Sources: ADB 1992a, 1992b, 1995b, 1997a, 2000a, 2000b, 2001b, 2002a, 2002c, 2004c, 2005d.
Appendix 9 | 121 Appendix 10: Research and Development Performance by Sector in Selected Countries
Sector of Research and Development Performance (% of GERD) Country/Region Business Government Higher Education East Asia 62.2 21.7 14.4 NIEs 63.0 11.7 18.8 People’s Republic of China 62.4 27.1 10.5 Hong Kong, China 33.2 3.1 63.6 Taipei,China 62.2 24.8 12.3 Republic of Korea 76.1 12.6 10.1 Southeast Asia 51.3 22.1 15.7 Indonesia 14.3 81.1 4.6 Malaysia 65.3 20.3 14.4 Philippines 58.6 21.7 17.0 Singapore 63.8 10.9 25.4 Thailand 43.9 22.5 31.0 Developed Countries a 62.9 13.3 27.0 Japan 75.0 9.3 13.7 United States 70.1 12.2 13.6 Latin America b 29.0 27.2 32.7 Emerging Europe c 42.7 29.8 20.1 GERD = gross expenditure on research and development, NIE = newly industrialized economy. Note: Data are for 2002–2005, latest available year. Medians used for regions and subregions. a Twenty-one countries. b Eleven countries. c Nine countries.
Source: LaRocque (2007). Cited in Gill and Kharas 2006, 120.
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Read in this book: • The complete report on ADB’s comprehensive study of education in the Asia and Pacific region • Evidence reaffirming development of education at all levels as essential for sustained and inclusive economic growth and social development • Chapters on basic education, technical and vocational education and training, and higher education— covering current status, significant developments, emerging trends and issues, and a strategic framework for ADB support of accelerated development of human resources • Strategic recommendations and operational implications for ADB
About the Asian Development Bank
ADB’s vision is an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty. Its mission is to help its developing member countries substantially reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people. Despite the region’s many successes, it remains home to two thirds of the world’s poor. Nearly 1.7 billion people in the region live on $2 or less a day. ADB is committed to reducing poverty through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Based in Manila, ADB is owned by 67 members, including 48 from the region. Its main instruments for Education helping its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance. In 2007, it approved $10.1 billion of loans, $673 million of grant projects, and technical assistance amounting to $243 million. andSkills STRATEGIES FOR ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines www.adb.org Publication Stock No. BBK120008 ISBN No. 978-971-561-702-4 Printed in the Philippines