OECD Skills Studies OECD Skills Strategy Flanders Assessment and Recommendations Please leave this page blank. PAC will complete this page. FOREWORD │ 3 Foreword People’s skills are at the heart of Flanders’s vision for the future, which is a society where people learn for and through life, are innovative, trust one another, enjoy a high quality of life, and embrace their unique identity and culture. As globalisation and digitalisation transform jobs, how societies function and how people interact, the impetus for getting skills right is growing. People will need higher levels of skills and a well-rounded set of skills, including cognitive, social and emotional, and job- specific skills, to flourish in life both in and out of work. Flanders performs well compared to most OECD countries on most measures of skills development and use. The skills proficiency of Flemish adults exceeds the OECD average and skills mismatch is low. High-performance work practices that stimulate the use of skills are widely adopted by firms in Flanders. There are many good governance arrangements in place to support co-ordination and collaboration in adult learning across government departments, levels of government and with stakeholders. Financial incentives for adult learning help to reduce the burden for individuals and employers, promote cost-sharing and reduce under-investment. However, some challenges remain. Adult learning could be strengthened, in particular for older workers, immigrants, adults in flexible forms of employment and low-skilled adults. Shortages in professional, technical and scientific occupations persist due to a low number of graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The use of skills at work could be further enhanced, especially as productivity growth has slowed in recent years. A comprehensive vision for adult learning that stimulates collaboration within government and with stakeholders is lacking. Existing financial support for adults who are most in need of adult learning is not sufficiently taken up by those most in need. Recent and planned policy reforms show great promise, but more needs to be done to ensure better skills outcomes. The government and all relevant stakeholders should continue to work in partnerships that involve every level of government, education and training providers, employers, trade unions, the non-profit sector and learners. While no single action is the answer, a clear vision and concrete steps taken together by all stakeholders can ensure that Flanders will bridge the skills gap. Citizens of all ages and backgrounds should be able to develop, activate and use their skills effectively to take up opportunities of a rapidly changing society. After widespread engagement in Flanders and consideration of numerous international examples, the OECD has provided several recommendations in this report to help Flanders along this path. The OECD stands ready to support Flanders as it seeks to implement better skills policies for better lives. OECD SKILLS STRATEGY FLANDERS © OECD 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS │ 5 Acknowledgements This report is part of a series of country projects within the OECD programme of work on “Building Effective National Skills Strategies”. The OECD is grateful to the Flemish National Project Team for its invaluable guidance and input throughout the project, and its help in convening and organising the stakeholder workshops. We are particularly grateful to the National Project Leader, Willem De Klerck, and the National Project Co-ordinator, Raf Boey, both from the Flemish Department for Work and Social Economy, for their strong leadership and co-ordination of the National Project Team, which included: Jeroen Backs and Caroline Gijselinckx (Department of Education and Training); Jort Ory, Isabel Gaisbauer, Anneleen Peeters and Sven De Haeck (VDAB); Mieke Valcke and Sandra Hellings (SERV); Reinhilde Pulinx and Koen Stassen (VLOR); Philippe Nys and Tom Tournicourt (Department of Economy, Science and Innovation); An Katrien Sodermans (Syntra Flanders); Karolien Kaisz (Department of Finance and Budget); Sarah Vansteenkiste (Centre for Expertise on Labour Market Monitoring); and Ann Van den Cruyce and Ariane Rober (Department of Work and Social Economy). The OECD team wishes to thank Minister Hilde Crevits, Vice Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Education, and Minister Philippe Muyters, Flemish Minister for Work, Economy, Innovation and Sports, for their continued commitment to this project. We also thank Dries Willems, Permanent Representative of the Flemish Government to the OECD, for his support during the project. Our warm thanks go to the many representatives of government agencies, education and training institutions, businesses and business associations, unions and community associations, think tanks and other organisations, and adult learners who generously shared their insights during bilateral interviews with the OECD team in Brussels and Ghent and for their written input and good practices. A full list of participating organisations and stakeholders is included in Annex D of this report. We would also like to take the opportunity to thank the staff of the Department of Work and Social Economy for their excellent organisation of the stakeholder workshops and for their hospitality in hosting these events. We are grateful to the Directorate-General for Education and Culture and the Directorate- General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission for contributing both financial support and expertise throughout the project. We are especially grateful to Michael Horgan and Kasia Jurczak. While the report draws upon data and analysis from the OECD, Flemish authorities and other published sources, any errors or misinterpretations remain the responsibility of the OECD team. Samuel Kim was the OECD project leader responsible for co-ordinating this OECD National Skills Strategy project in Flanders. The main authors of this report were: Chapter 1. Summary Assessment (Bart Staats, Directorate for Education and Skills), OECD SKILLS STRATEGY FLANDERS © OECD 2019 6 │ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chapter 2. Developing a Learning Culture (Samuel Kim, Directorate for Education and Skills), Chapter 3. Reducing Skills Imbalances (Katharine Mullock, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs), Chapter 4. Strengthening Skills Use in Workplaces (Jonathan Barr, Anna Choi and Lindsey Ricker, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities), Chapter 5. Strengthening the Governance of Adult Learning (Samuel Kim, Directorate for Education and Skills), and Chapter 6. Improving the Financing of Adult Learning (Katharine Mullock, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs). Bart Staats and Cuauhtémoc Rebolledo-Gómez (Directorate for Education and Skills) provided statistical support and Helena van Langenhove (Directorate for Education and Skills) provided background research. Glenda Quintini (Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs) provided advice and feedback. As team leader for OECD National Skills Strategy projects, Andrew Bell provided analytical guidance and supervision. Montserrat Gomendio (Head of the OECD Skills Centre and Deputy Director of the Directorate for Education and Skills) and Dirk Van Damme (Head of the Skills Beyond School Division) provided thought leadership, while Andreas Schleicher (OECD Director for Education and Skills) and Stefano Scarpetta (OECD Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs) provided strategic oversight for the project. Sarah Zaft, Véronique Quénehen and Sophie Limoges (Directorate for Education and Skills) provided invaluable support for mission organisation, report layout and design and publication planning, while Elizabeth Zachary provided proofreading and editorial support. OECD SKILLS STRATEGY FLANDERS © OECD 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS │ 7 Table of contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ 5 Abbreviations and acronyms .............................................................................................................. 13 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................. 16 OECD-Flanders collaboration on the OECD Skills Strategy project ................................................ 17 Improving adult skills is important for boosting growth and well-being in Flanders ........................ 17 Chapter 1. Key insights and recommendations ................................................................................ 19 Overall assessment ............................................................................................................................. 20 Policy context for Flanders ................................................................................................................ 27 Priority areas and recommendations .................................................................................................. 30 References .......................................................................................................................................... 39 Annex 1.A. OECD Skills Strategy Dashboard Flanders ...................................................................