[MTC Global] 'Skills Beyond School' campaign - OECD report

Against the backdrop of the less understood world of colleges, diplomas, certificates and professional examinations, the 34 country members of the OECD have embarked on a major educational policy drive to popularise the importance of professional education and vocational skills.

According to Skills Beyond School: Synthesis report, OECD reviews of vocational education and training from the OECD secretariat in Paris, many countries are still encouraging most students to follow the hard-trodden path from school to the university.

But there is an urgent need to evaluate opportunities and skills that are provided by vocational and professional training.

“Countries should step up efforts to improve the quality of post-secondary vocational training in order to meet the needs of the job market,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría.

Based on a series of 20 country studies, the report looks at how OECD countries can respond to the growing demand for skills in the 21st century.

According to the report, the emerging evidence is that in the next few years, about two-thirds of the overall employment growth in the European Union will be in the technician and associate professional category.

Similarly, according to a study, Recovery: Job growth and education requirements through 2020, from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, most of the estimated 55 million job openings in the United States economy in the years to 2020 will require post-secondary education and training.

“By educational attainment, while 35% of those jobs will require at least a bachelor degree and above, 30% will require some college or an associate degree,” said Anthony Carnevale, a research professor at Georgetown University.

Interestingly, whereas 35% of job opportunities in the United States may not fundamentally require advanced tertiary education, the OECD report said that most of those jobs will require more than six months of full-time vocational and professional training.