Vocational & Technical Skills

When schools shut: Gendered impacts of COVID-19 school closures

This study exposes failure to factor in gender in COVID-19 education responses and widening gaps in access to quality education following school closures. Citing some 90 countries, the study shows that despite governments' and partners’ swift responses to school closures, remote learning strategies in most countries failed to account for gender-based considerations and barriers that children face at home.

The European credit system for vocational education and training

This note seeks to look back at the development and implementation process of the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET). It takes take stock of its main achievements and how they are taken forward in the 2020 Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience and paves the way for future EU initiatives.

Vocational education and training: Skills for today and for the future

As Europe goes through its green and digital transformations, high-quality vocational education and training (VET) is key to ensuring people have the right skills for the jobs of today and tomorrow. The Council Recommendation on VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, adopted in November 2020, sets out the EU’s comprehensive vision and strategic objectives for the future of VET. This brochure outlines this vision and the importance of VET reforms at national level, including key principles and actions to support these reforms.

Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth

This white paper sets out reforms to further education, recognising that the UK economy is changing rapidly. The pandemic, Brexit, climate change, the expected growth of jobs requiring STEM education or training had collectively snowballed into a skills shortage in recent years – young people did not have the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed in the current and future economy.

Helping young people navigate the future of work

In partnership with IBM, the OECD recently conducted a social media poll, asking young people how well prepared they feel about joining the world of work, how confident they are about their future paths, and what concerns them about education and jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, the OECD and IBM discuss insights from the poll and why career guidance and real-world work experiences are more important for young people than ever.

The Fast Track to New Skills : Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean

This report explores the labor market outcomes and returns of SCPs, examines their providers, and identifies the practices adopted by the best programs. Relying on unique data that includes a novel survey of short-cycle programs (SCPs) directors in five LAC countries, it finds that while SCPs generate, on average, good labor market outcomes, they vary greatly in quality. Drawing on these findings, this report discusses how to create an environment where good programs are offered and students have the interest and means to attend them.

TVET for a Green Economy

The report recommends improving the coherence between national sustainability strategies and policies and TVET by developing green vocational training strategies and increasing the private sector's participation within this process. Furthermore, environmental protection, resource efficiency, and renewable energies should be anchored in curricula on the level of vocational training and continuing education, supporting the process with human resource measurements and greening TVET institutions.