Book Description

One of the committees of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) examined the vocational education and training policies of its member countries. The committee identified a number of significant policy directions that are emerging in OECD countries. Among these are an enhanced political commitment to providing vocational training, a strengthening of the economic and social roles of vocational education, and a raising of the quality of vocational education, training and skills of the labor force. Analysis of the vocational education and training policies of individual OECD-member countries reveals particular emphasis on the contributions vocational education can bring to innovation, to technology, to the supply of labor, and to productivity and economic development. In addition, many OECD-member countries are in the process of reforming their mechanisms for financing initial and further skills training. If these reforms are to succeed, the following key issues must be addressed: the share of costs among firms, and between the state and firms; the costs of combined work and training; and the development of financing arrangements that are flexible enough to respond to changes in work content and in the labor force. (MN)