HUMAN CAPITAL AND EMPLOYABILITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

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1 HUMAN CAPITAL AND EMPLOYABILITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA The role of skill policies to support employability Ummuhan Bardak, European Training Foundation (ETF) Torino, 28 October 2010

2 «Skills», «human capital», «employability» Skills are defined as ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic and sustained effort to smoothly perform complex activities or job functions involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills) and/or people (interpersonal skills). Qualifications or formal education indicators as defined by ISCED 97 classification are often used as a proxy for skills Human capital is knowledge, competences and skills that people have and can mobilise/use to improve their lives (mainly through gainful employment) and contribute to the social and economic development of their countries Employability refers to a person's capability of gaining initial employment, maintaining employment, and obtaining new employment if required Presentation based on the ETF cross-country review of 14 UfM Partners on the employability of human capital: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Syria, Tunisia and Turkey

3 Achievements of the education and training systems Expanding public education systems with average public spending of 5-6% of GDP, increasingly complemented by private expenses Increasing adult literacy rates, close to 100% in some countries Improving educational attainment levels of population (aged 15+), with higher share of tertiary graduates in some countries Gross enrolment rates in primary education reaching almost 100% of the relevant age group - only exception is Palestine Increasing enrolment rates in secondary education (lower+upper), reaching 80% in most countries except in Morocco and Syria Relatively low rates of VET enrolment at upper secondary level in most countries except Egypt Enormous increases in gross enrolment rates in higher education reaching to 30% on average

4 Increasing adult literacy rates, but gender gap not closed yet.. Adult literacy rates for females and males (%) / 2008, UNESCO Albania BiH Croatia Turkey Egypt Jordan Syria Female Male Lebanon OPT Algeria Morocco Tunisia

5 Educational attainment of population (15+ in %) in 2007, MEDA-ETE

6 Gross enrolment rates in primary education almost reached to the whole target population (100%) except OPT Gross enrolment ratio. Primary (ISCED 1) - (last available year, Unesco) Albania BiH Croatia Turkey Egypt Jordan Siria Female Israel Male Lebanon OPT Algeria Morocco Tunisia

7 Increasing gross enrolment rates in secondary education on average 80% of target population, including lower secondary and VET Gross enrolment ratio. Secondary (ISCED 2+3) - (last available year) Albania BiH Croatia Turkey Egypt Jordan Syria Female Israel Male Lebanon OPT Algeria Morocco Tunisia

8 Gross enrolment rates in secondary (lower+upper) and VET enrolment in ISCED 3 ( ), UNESCO Albania BiH Croatia Turkey Egypt Jordan Syria Israel Lebanon Palestine Algeria Morocco Tunisia Total secondary ISCED 2+3 Vocational enrolment in ISCED 3 (% of VET in ISCED 3)

9 Enormous increases in gross enrolment rates in tertiary education reaching to 30% on average Gross enrolment ratio. Tertiary (ISCED 5+6) - (last available year) Albania Croatia Turkey Jordan Israel Female Lebanon Male OPT Algeria Morocco Tunisia

10 Challenges in the education and training systems Unequal access to education: gender, rural/urban, regions, socioeconomic background, selection of study fields Tension between expansion of education and decreasing quality: drop-outs, failure and repetition rates, modest scores on national and international tests (TIMMS, PIRLS, PISA) Females suffering more from early drop-outs, weak career guidance, gender-segregated vocational occupations and/or study fields Relatively weak education infrastructure, traditional model of pedagogy with rote learning and memorising, missing soft skills (core competences) Limited contribution of vocational counselling, career guidance and continuing training activities in a lifelong learning perspective Non-negligible number of youth who are neither in education nor at the labour market (mostly females)

11 Challenges in vocational education and training (VET) High degree of separation between education and training, ascribing low status to the latter Small and second choice VET: few students voluntarily opt for vocational schools as an alternative to general education Weak links between the worlds of education and work, little involvement of enterprises either overly academic curricula or deficiencies in informal apprenticeship Mismatch between knowledge, skills and competences of youth and the requirements of enterprises (supply-driven qualifications) Lack of clear pathways and/or progression routes within the system to avoid dead ends for VET students/ learners

12 Use of human capital in productive work Activity and employment rates increase with the level of education a direct positive correlation visible everywhere University education drastically increases female employability, but not secondary education Average qualification of working females is higher compared to males, despite their very small share in the labour force Unemployment rate mostly increases with education levels, but always higher female unemployment compared to males Most difficult LM entry at medium level, due to low quality secondary education, limited vocational choices, mismatch of skills and LM needs, particularly for females No unemployment problem for the uneducated or primary-educated females as they are rather inactive (except in agriculture as unpaid family workers )

13 Although generally positive, the relation between male education level and employment rate is not always straight-forward Male employment rate by education (%) - MEDA-ETE Turke y Egypt Israe l Le banon O PT Alge ria Morocco Tunisia No edu-isc 2 average ISCED 3-4 ISCED 5-6

14 Positive relation between female education level and employment rate, but significant only in higher education Female employment rate by education (%) - MEDA-ETE Turkey Egypt Israel Lebanon Palestine Algeria Morocco Tunisia No edu-isc 2 average ISCED 3-4 ISCED 5-6

15 Less educated males have higher unemployment risk, although this largely depends on country context Male unemployment rate by education (%) - MEDA-ETE Turkey Egypt Israel Lebanon OPT Algeria Morocco Tunisia No edu-isced 2 ISCED 3-4 ISCED 5-6

16 Female unemployment is mostly a problem of secondary and tertiary graduates as primary graduates are inactive Female unemployment rate by education (%) MEDA-ETE Turkey Egypt Israel Lebanon OPT Algeria Morocco Tunisia No edu-isced 2 ISCED 3-4 ISCED 5-6

17 Paradoxes in the use of human capital More educated youth but higher unemployment rates a long and difficult transition process mostly involving precarity/ informality Massive female presence& success in education, but weak position in labour market inactivity, LM drop-out or high unemployment Low employability due to inadequate education& training, low valuation of skills by employers, lack of work experience, higher expectations of youth Preference of job-seekers for public jobs, and/or lack of enough (decent) job creation in private sector? A tough choice between the job prospects limited to informal sector and finding work abroad (migration with a risk of brain drain ) Limited employment and productivity gains from human capital, possibly due to: low employability of the graduates from formal education systems inefficient allocation of educated labour in limited productive sector deskilling of significant populations involved in low-added-value activities within informal economy

18 Recent skill policies to support employability (1) Higher investment in VET sector modernising curricula and equipment, train-the-trainers, particularly in new emerging sectors (ICT, telecommunication) Involvement of enterprises and employers organisations in the definition of qualifications, occupational standards, training delivery and certification A shift from input-based training to outcome-based training through competency-based approach mainly in the Maghreb region More emphasis on work-based training e.g. apprenticeship, pilot programmes of dual system and alternance (Syria, Egypt, Morocco) Mechanisms to increase flexibility in learning programmes, create new routes to qualifications and promote lifelong learning e.g. National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia

19 Recent skill policies to support employability (2) Governance: promoting partnership and accountability Financing training: enhancing efficiency and promoting diversification of resources Quality: shifting the focus to results by changing curricula and moving to competency-based approaches Qualification systems for legibility, currency and portability: adding a lifelong learning perspective by opening up pathways within E&T system or from school to work Continuing training: promoting adult learning (access, quality, financial incentives), including validation of non-formal and informal learning Acquisition of skills in informal sector how to involve them and address their needs to improve productivity?

20 Donors support in the policy responses of MENA A multitude of policy initiatives and reforms launched by countries, with strong donor involvement, but modest results in translating pilot initiatives into systemic change Enhancing regional cooperation e.g. Euromed agenda with ministerial conferences (employment, VET, higher education..) and regional projects (EU-funded MEDA-ÉTÉ project) etc Benefitting from EU developments and EU-tools in education, training and employment to improve quality, transparency and recognition of qualifications: Voluntary incorporation of the main features of the Bologna (higher education) and Copenhagen (vocational training) Processes? European Qualifications Framework (EQF) as reference point to make qualifications portable through linking national systems to EQF? European Credit Transfer System as example of higher mobility (both for general and vocational education)? New EU Initiatives as sources of inspiration e.g. New Skills for New Jobs, Europe 2020 Strategy for growth and jobs?

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