Expanding vocational education and training requires the OECD

Global

Higher education rates have reached record levels as the labour market drives growing demand for advanced skills, but more needs to be done to expand vocational education and training (VET) and address low degree completion rates, especially among men among students, according to 2022 Education overview Global Survey.

In the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)OECD) When the International Policy Forum took a snapshot of the state of global education early last year, countries were in education or training, but there were still large numbers of young people who were neither employed nor in formal education or training (NEET).

NEET rates are surprisingly high

In some countries, NEET rates are surprisingly high even among tertiary graduates: over 30% of tertiary graduates in Greece and South Africa have no job or education, Report Say.

Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the OECD, said that despite the difficult job market for young people in some countries, there is no doubt that “the dramatic increase in educational attainment has contributed to our country’s economic and social progress. provides a unique opportunity.”

Having a university degree provides young people with a strong job market advantage. In 2021, the average unemployment rate in OECD countries for those with a higher education degree is 4%, compared with 6% for those with a high school degree and 11% for those with less than a high school degree.

Full-time workers with a higher education degree also earn, on average, about 50 percent more than those with a high school degree, and almost twice as much as those without a high school degree.

Men have low completion rates

However, despite the many benefits of earning a higher education degree, many college students do not complete their course of study, with research finding that only 39% of bachelor’s degree students graduate within the expected time of their course.

Completion rates for men are particularly low across all OECD countries. On average, men are 11 percentage points less likely than women to complete a higher education program within the theoretical deadline.

Corinne Heckmann, an analyst at the OECD Education and Skills Bureau, told University World News: “Low completion rates are costly for both individuals and society, because if students don’t complete their degree, they only get a fraction of what they earn from their studies.”

She said there were “multiple reasons” for the gender disparity in completion rates, including mandatory military service disrupting male learning in some countries, and women’s greater incentive to complete higher education for good jobs.

Among the various ways to improve completion rates, the OECD report mentions that institutions’ financing is partly dependent on completion rates, thereby incentivizing institutions to help students complete their courses, and in “what and how they learn” to give students more flexibility. study, where and when they study”.

This can be done by offering certificates that acquire specific skills, rather than having students study for three to four years,” Heckman said.

Make VET the first choice, not the last resort

While the report found that spending on tertiary education per capita is growing faster than the number of students in most OECD countries, “not all students receive tertiary degrees, so more needs to be done to expand careers education and training [VET]”, according to reports.

“Making VET a first choice for students rather than a last resort requires a new link between high school VET and specialist higher education in order to give VET graduates the opportunity to gain additional qualifications at a later stage,” it said.

OECD analyst Viktoria Ki’s customs University World News Their data clearly shows that “young people who benefit from work-based learning while pursuing VET have better employment outcomes” and that “apprenticeships or internships are a powerful way to link VET to labour market needs”.

“Some countries have a long tradition of using apprenticeships extensively, such as Germany and Switzerland,” she said. Norway’s VET system consists primarily of a ‘2+2’ apprenticeship: two years in school, followed by two years in the workplace .

“In Sweden, work-based learning is mandatory for all VET programmes and apprenticeships are introduced. France has also significantly increased its participation in apprenticeship programmes.”

Request more work-based learning

However, eight OECD countries (Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania and Mexico) still face challenges, reporting that students in their on-campus programs receive little or no work-based learning.

“It is more difficult to deliver high-quality VET without high-quality work-based learning,” says Kis.

“Another challenge is that some VET programmes result in limited access to higher level learning: they either do not qualify for entry into higher education, or if a pathway to higher level exists, they are rarely adopted.

“If VET is seen as a dead end, it will be avoided by young people who wish to keep options open or who wish to pursue higher education. Unfortunately, not all countries have established strong pathways from VET to higher levels of education,” Kis Tell University World News.

Elevate the status of VET

“When VET is of low quality, it is difficult to deliver good labour market outcomes and attractive career prospects. This can create a vicious circle in which VET is seen as a low-status option, smart and ambitious Bouncy young people and their families avoid it and lead to poor labor market outcomes.

Professor Graeme Atherton, Director of the National Educational Opportunity Network (NEON) and Head of the Centre for Inequality and Equality at the University of West London, agreed and told University World News: “We need to work on making VET a worthwhile route in itself, rather than making it an option for people who just feel a degree isn’t right for them. To do that requires a clear understanding of what VET is before high school The route and the nature of the VET course – as happens with more academic university courses.”

Kis agrees and tells University World News: “If the quality of VET is improved, it will be a more attractive option for young people. Employers, in turn, see VET as a valuable source of skilled labour and work-based learning as identifying future new A way for employees and train them according to their needs.”

Develop partnerships with industry

“To achieve this, vocational education and training programmes must be developed in partnership with industry and work-based learning, widely used to build strong links between schools and employers. It is also important to build strong pathways from VET to higher levels of education. Important,” Kis said.

This includes establishing suitable routes so that workers trained in technical skills can continue to learn further in their lives and careers, she said, “and we need to make sure VET prepares them for them.”

This Education overview The survey provides comparable country statistics to measure the state of education worldwide and analyzes the education systems of the 38 OECD member countries, as well as Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

The study found that between 2000 and 2021, the share of 25- to 34-year-olds with a higher education increased by 20 percentage points, from 27% to 48%, while the average share of 25- to 34-year-old women with a higher education 53%, 12 percentage points higher than men (41%).

In surveys of these countries, higher education attainment rates for young people ranged from less than 30 percent in Mexico and Italy to nearly 70 percent in South Korea.

Some countries have made significant progress by “developing shorter programmes that provide participants with expertise, skills and competencies and meet labour market needs,” the report said.

For example, in Canada and South Korea, more than one-fifth of young people have a short-cycle tertiary qualification, while in Austria, those with a short-cycle tertiary qualification make up the largest share of 25- to 34-year-olds with a higher education. age.

Nic Mitchell is a freelance journalist and PR consultant based in the UK, specialising in European and international higher education. Follow @DelaCour_Comms on Twitter. Nic is also blogging www.delacourcommunications.com.