OECD/DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION and SCIENCE, IRELAND

INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON BUSINESS-EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS: Learning from the world of work

Dublin, January 24-25 2005

PROGRAMME

MONDAY, 24 January 2005 Venue: O’Reilly Hall, University College Dublin

12:30-14:30 Registration and welcome buffet

14:30-15:30 Opening session

Welcome and Introductory remarks • Mary Hanafin, T.D. Minister for Education and Science, Ireland • Berglind Ásgeirsdöttir, Deputy Secretary General, OECD

Opening Address • H. E. Mary McAleese, President of Ireland

15:30-19:00 Session 1: What the world of work needs from education

Chair: Mary Hanafin, T.D. Minister of Education and Science, Ireland

15:30-17:00 Questions to be addressed • What are the recent changes in the demand for skills and competencies and their causes (globalisation, knowledge society…)? How does this relate to changing demand for qualifications? • What do we know about how well education produces what is needed? How can potential skill imbalances in industry be identified? Do we get sufficient reliable market signals (shortage of specific skills or qualifications, unemployment rates, relative remunerations…). What sort of additional information/indicators would we need? In particular, to what extent would an international assessment of adult skills help guide education and training policies? What would be the relevance for labour market, education and on-the-job training policies of a new international assessment of the type of skills possessed by adults and those needed by the economy?

Introduction and Discussion • Martin Fronc, Minister of Education, Slovak Republic • Sean Dorgan, CEO, Industrial Development Authority, Ireland

17:00-17:30 Coffee break

17:30-19:00 Session 1: What the world of work needs from education (continued)

Questions to be addressed • How can tertiary education be oriented to the needs of the private sector? Are our educational systems doing enough to enhance entrepreneurship? Are human resources in science and technology a significant bottleneck? • Do different forms of alternation between work and learning represent sound ways of organising education and training in the future, and are there other approaches to give young people better information about career opportunities and working life, and to give employers a better sense of the capacity and interests of young people leaving education today?

Introduction • Sergio Bitar, Minister of Education, Chile • Dr. Hugh Brady, President, University College Dublin, Ireland

20:30 Gala dinner Venue: Farmleigh House

TUESDAY, 25 January 2005 Venue: O’Reilly Hall, University College Dublin

9:00-11:00 Session 2: Role of on-the-job training

• Chair: Mary Hanafin, T.D. Minister of Education and Science, Ireland

Questions to be addressed • How to create a system of recognition and accreditation of skills which can be used as “currency” in the labour market, while keeping track of changing skill requirements? In particular, what is the experience of social partners defining jointly education and training curricula leading to recognised qualifications? • What are the pros and cons of co-financing schemes aimed at specific groups versus enterprise-based co-financing schemes? How to remove obstacles to take-up of training leave? • Would greater competition among training providers help raise quality standards? When evaluating programmes, to what extent should considerations of equity and personal development (in addition to economic efficiency) be included?

Introduction • Mr. Francisco Salazar, Vice-Minister of Labour, Mexico • Anders Vind, Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, Denmark • Brian Geoghegan, Irish Business and Employers Confederation, Ireland

11:00-11:30 Coffee break

11:30-13:30 Session 3: Developing new links between the worlds of education and work

Chair: Micheál Martin, T.D. Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ireland

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Questions to be addressed: • What should the balance be between investment in initial education, on-the-job training and better utilisation of human capital? What should be the division of labour between education institutions and employers, and also between the education sector and other parts of the public sector? • What are the roles of information and communication technologies in fostering new partnerships (communities of learning and work), new institutional arrangements, more flexibility of learning in time and space?) • How can new forms of sustainable partnership between education and the world of work be created? What are the lessons from existing models? How does the market have an impact, and what are its advantages over formal consultative mechanisms? Given the many actors involved, how to ensure policy coherence?

Introduction • Hans Ulrich Stoeckling, Minister, Conféderation suisse des directeurs cantonaux de l’instruction civique, Switzerland • Atillo Oliva, President of the Associazione TreeLLLe, Italy • Patrick Healy, Teachers’ Union of Ireland

13:30-14:00 Adoption of the Final Communiqué and conclusion

Chair: Micheál Martin T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ireland

Concluding remarks: • Mary Hanafin, T.D. Minister for Education and Science, Ireland • Berglind Ásgeirsdöttir, Deputy Secretary General, OECD • Bernard Hugonnier, Deputy Director, Directorate for Education, OECD • John Dennehy, Secretary General, Department of Education and Science, Ireland

14:00-15:00 Buffet Lunch

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