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USAID
and Higher Education: Partnering to Meet Development Goals |
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The discussion focused on the nature of workforce development and workforce development challenges in the context of other cultures. John Halder, the facilitator, touched upon community colleges and their role in workforce development. He pointed out that community colleges stand on three pillars: credit transfer, technical and vocational training programs to move to the workforce, and contract training. Participants defined workforce development as skills upgrading, providing needs assessments for employers, retraining and “re-reading” the workforce, attracting local industry, and developing capacity. They also remarked on the differences between workforce development and education. Workforce development focuses on skills transference to help with professional development. Education provides a broader training which helps to enhance job performance but which may not provide skills specific to professional development. The participants noted that workforce development tends to be employer-driven, whereas education is more traditional. They also added that human resources personnel now look for attributes beyond the skills specifically required for a job, such as personality and being a team player. A participant observed that in developing countries, employment often resides with the government. Now that the marketplace is becoming the main employer in these economies, workforce development and education need to reflect this transition. Roundtable participants agreed that workforce development is not age-specific. The HIV/AIDS pandemic, in particular, has created an urgency to train all age groups in the countries hardest hit. While vocational training is not popular in developing countries, it is important to address the needs of the market. The group discussed a case study where the specific skills of a person were no longer needed after a market shift but the general education of the person allowed her to adapt and remain employable. The facilitator questioned whether this experience is common across all cultures. Several participants from Africa described a two-year lag in technology and workforce skills. For instance, Namibia needs to upgrade the skills of people already employed, as some in the workforce are missing entire sets of skills—which has an important negative impact on the economy and has contributed to the lag. Partnerships for workforce development can help address this lag, and it is here where the issue of technology becomes particularly important in terms of communication. Several participants underscored the importance of access to infrastructure and access to knowledge for workforce development to be effective. It also was noted that globalization has had a huge impact on workforce development, as boundaries no longer matter. Where there are jobs, there tends to be migrations of jobseekers. One participant brought up the example of South Africa as a compelling example of effective workforce development. In South Africa, employers are required to pay into skills development funds, or SETAs, administered by the government. SETAs establish priorities in each sector and define relevant needs. Another participant added that, generally speaking, workforce development is the same, country to country. The delivery mechanism, however, often varies. The discussion then focused on whether entrepreneurship training should be considered part of workforce development. If so, how can one ensure people have the proper tools to pull together a solid business plan? According to the participants, there is an unsatisfied demand for entrepreneurship training in developing countries. There are several challenges to workforce development: financial constraints, the location of the target population, difficulties in keeping pace with ever-changing technologies, unwillingness to change, and cultural resistance to change. Namibia, which has a large population and area, faces financial constraints. In South Africa, even though the government tried to implement an outcomes-based education system, teachers would revert back to traditional teaching methods after receiving training. At North Hampton Community College, there had been a program to train single mothers to drive buses. Single mothers did not sign-up for the program, however, because they could not imagine themselves driving a bus. One participant observed that North Hampton took a top-down approach rather than a bottom-up approach, which might have been more effective. Another participant speculated that there is a resistance within Europe and West Africa to changing methods, because they do not know what to do, what the benefits would be, and what the program would look like. Another challenge to workforce development in developing countries is that government agencies tend to partner in education, and workforce development programs are under the department of labor. Participants identified several best practices as consistent across cultural boundaries:
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ALO collaborates with USAID through Cooperative Agreement: HNE-A-00-97-00059-00 This publication was made possible through support provided by USAID. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID. © 2002-2006 Send questions to ALO. |
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