Vocational education and training - VET

Organizations are increasingly outsourcing their training requirements – both instructor-led classroom and online training programs. Outsourcing training not only makes economic sense but also translates into a better quality – cost proposition. It also allows the L&D; or HR departments to channel their resources into organizational building initiatives.

 #48. 2012.

This issue of NORRAG News looks at the many different meanings of skill in these reports: high, medium, low, foundation, transferable, technical and vocational skills, as well as life-skills. It looks also at the state of skills in both urban and rural areas, and considers skills-for-poverty-reduction as well as skills-for-growth. The reports cover skills in the informal economy, as well as work-based skills and on-the-job training. Some of the reports also consider the emerging meanings and frontiers of TVET.

Canada. Red Seal Program Exam Preparation
The Red Seal exam is a nationally-recognized certification exam in Canada, and is the certification exam for most trades. Red Seal exams are trade-specific theory exams and between 100 and 150 multiple-choice questions, with an average exam containing 125. Each question has four responses, only one of which is correct. A maximum of four hours is provided to complete the exam. The passing grade is 70%.
See also Exam Preparation Summary

http://nsapprenticeship.ca/publications/exam_prep.pdf

Canada. Overall, talent remains a key issue as 63% of Canadian CEOs ranked the availability of key skills the biggest threat to growth prospects. Talent will continue to remain top-of-mind, as more than three quarters of Canadian CEOs plan to increase investment in creating and fostering a skilled workforce.
Overall. CEOs remain as concerned as ever about the availability of the key skills they need – 58% cited this as a problem compared with 54% in last year’s survey. The skills shortage is particularly acute in fast-growing markets such as Africa (where 82% of CEOs say availability is a problem).
For the Canada summary, select The talent challenge: A time for extraordinary leadership at the bottom of the page.
The complete survey. Dealing with disruption Adapting to survive and thrive
http://read.pwc.com/i/104667 ;

Finding opportunities for young people is a critical challenge for Africa, where 62 percent of the population—more than 600 million young people—is below the age of 25. With no signs that population growth will slow in the decades to come, it is imperative that Africa leverage the talent and energy of its youth to create dramatically higher levels of prosperity and equality and avoid the latent risks of unemployment and social instability.

The study was prepared to determine quantitative and qualitative training needs of Palestinian labour force. The main results of the training needs assessment indicate:
- a higher interest in vocational education and training by school students and parents;
- a better status of youth graduated from vocational education and training in employment, especially for young women,
- that half of the surveyed employers' establishments employed vocational education graduates. More than half would prefer to employ vocational education graduates in the future, including female graduates.

South Korea has a 93% high-school graduation rate, versus 77% in the U.S. Can the U.S. learn something from South Korea's education system?
Their top teachers can earn the kind of money that professional athletes make in the U.S. Kim Ki-hoon, pictured, makes $4 million a year.