The position of skills development on the agenda of policy-makers and development agencies improved markedly around the turn of the 21st century. This book tracks the ways skills have gained importance both in the developing and the more industrialized world. It analyses critically the multiple ’drivers' of skills development and the linkages of skills to the knowledge economy, growth, and employment in an increasingly competitive world. It also acknowledges the many modalities and delivery systems for skills development, arguing that this institutional diversity, often spread across several ministries and training authorities, has made it more difficult to give a national account of the skills development sector. The re-emergence of skills has triggered many reform initiatives associated with TVSD, some of which have become almost ’fashions' and are in danger of being adopted without sufficient evidence of their effectiveness. This work provides cautionary advice and fresh insights that planners will find rewarding.

"UNESCO has recently published the third volume of its Education on the Move series, a series dedicated to the analysis of key trends in education with the hope of inspiring dialogue among policy makers, educators and other key stakeholders on the challenges of education for tomorrow. The latest publication, entitled Unleashing the Potential: Transforming Technical and Vocational Education and Training is focused entirely on issues related to technical and vocational education and training (TVET). It takes stock of the steadily increasing demands and expectations on TVET systems around the globe and presents recent policy trends in the field of TVET. In their analysis, the authors provide insights into what it takes to unleash the potential of TVET systems around the world. They propose an integrated analytical approach that takes into consideration such factors as economic growth, social equity and issues related to sustainability so that TVET can contribute more effectively to contemporary policy issues such as youth unemployment, gender disparities and climate change. Overall, the book calls for a transformation of TVET systems to enable them to respond to the demands of their contexts. This transformation should enable TVET systems to acquire agility to stay current and responsive to the rapidly changing demands of the twenty-first century."--Publisher's website.

WITH A FOREWORD BY LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND Did you know that close to half of today's jobs in the U.S. could be done by robots and that proportion is rapidly increasing? It is quite possible that about half of today's high school graduates will not have the knowledge or skills needed to get a decent job when they graduate. Tomorrow's high school graduates will be able to thrive in this environment, but only if school superintendents, central office executives, and principals use the strategies employed by the world's top-performing education systems to build the high-performance education systems today's students will need to succeed tomorrow. In Leading High-Performance School Systems: Lessons from the World's Best, Marc Tucker, a leading expert on top-performing school systems with more than 30 years of experience studying the global economy and education systems worldwide, details how top-performing school systems have met head-on the challenges facing school leaders today. You'll learn why our current system is obsolete, explore the knowledge and skills needed to design and build first-rate education systems, and gain a solid understanding of the key elements of high-performance school systems, including the following: A powerful, coherent instructional system with school-leaving certifications that mean much more than today's high school diploma. Partnerships with first-rate universities to ensure a steady supply of highly capable, well-educated, and well-trained teachers. Schools reorganized around highly qualified professional teachers with a career ladder they can climb. High expectations and personalized support to ensure that children arrive at each grade level ready to learn. An equitable system that closes the gaps in student performance. Vocational education for talented youth seeking an applied, academically rigorous education. Leading High-Performance School Systems is an invaluable resource for school leaders preparing today's students for tomorrow's world. This book is a copublication of ASCD and NCEE.

Across the globe, vocational education and training is characterised by a number of over-arching trends, including the increasing use of technology, the growing importance of information and communications systems, and changes to national demographics. At the interface between the education and training system and the world of work, VET faces the challenge of tackling these changes, of making a constructive contribution to solving the problems posed by the transition from education to employment, and of ensuring that the next generation has the skills it – and the economy – needs. This volume comprises thirty individual contributions that together add up to a comprehensive overview of the current situation in vocational education and training, its strengths and weaknesses, and its prospects. VET experts from Canada, the USA, India, China, Japan and Korea, as well as from a number of European countries, focus on their national context and how it fits in to the bigger picture. The contributions combine theoretical discussions from various strands of VET research with evidence from country case studies and examples from current practice.