The OECD Development Centre

Effective Skills Strategies in Emerging

and Developing Countries

Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Human Resource

Development, Skills and Labour Mobility

7 October 2015

Carl DAHLMAN

Head of the Thematic Division

Outline

I. Specific challenges for skills strategy in emerging

and developing economies

II. Implications for effective skills strategy

III.Conclusion

The provision of basic education/training is not ensured

- Still many out-of-school children in developing countries (fueling

already high adult illiteracy)

- Increased enrolment has not entailed enough skills acquisition

The informal sector remains prevalent

- Most labour force is engaged in low productivity and not diversified

activities (agriculture, retailing, service )

- Self-employment is widespread and individuals rely on multiple

activities

- Consequently, a large share of vocational and professional training

is informal

I. Specific Challenges for skills strategies in emerging

and developing economies

The provision of basic education/training is not ensured

- Still many out-of-school children in developing countries (fueling

already high adult illiteracy)

- Increased enrolment has not entailed enough skills acquisition

The informal sector remains prevalent

- Most labour force is engaged in low productivity and not diversified

activities (agriculture, retailing, service )

- Self-employment is widespread and individuals rely on multiple

activities

- Consequently, a large share of vocational and professional training

is informal

I. Specific Challenges for skills strategies in emerging

and developing economies

While enrolment has increased substantially, drop-out rates

are high and students do not complete

education cycles.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

CP1 CP2 CE1 CE2 CM1 CM2 6è 5è 4è 3è 2nde 1ère Tle

2005-06 2006-07 2010-11 2013-14

Cycle primaire Premier cycle du secondaire

Second cycle du secondaire

Figure 1: Enrolment profile in Ivory Coast

(newly enrolled students/population at the age of reference, %)

Source : MDCR Côte d’Ivoire, OECD (2015)

The provision of basic education/training is not ensured

- Still many out-of-school children in developing countries (fueling

already high adult illiteracy)

- Increased enrolment has not entailed sufficient skills acquisition

The informal sector remains prevalent

- Most labour force is engaged in low productivity and not diversified

activities (agriculture, retailing, service )

- Self-employment is widespread and individuals rely on multiple

activities

- Consequently, a large share of vocational and professional training

is informal

I. Specific Challenges for skills strategies in emerging

and developing economies

A large share of pupils do not aquire basic skills at the end of

primary school

45%

34%

34%

30%

30%

22%

17%

15%

15%

9%

30%

23%

24%

27%

28%

25%

21%

21%

19%

21%

25%

42%

42%

44%

43%

53%

62%

64%

66%

70%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Côte d'Ivoire

Tchad

Comores

Congo

Togo

Burkina Faso

Sénégal

RDC

Burundi

Gabon

Faible Moyen Satisfaisant

Source : MDCR Côte d’Ivoire, OECD (2015)

Figure 2: Distribution of students at the end of primary according to their level of

performance in mathematics (%)

The conclusion is similar for 15 year old students in Latin America

compared to OECD countries

-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100

Peru

Colombia

Brazil

Argentina

Costa Rica

Uruguay

Mexico

Chile

Portugal

Spain

OECD average

Level 1Below Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Level 4 Level 5 Level 6

Students at Level 1 or below

Students at Level 2 or above

Source: PISA, OECD 2012 database

Figure 3: Share of students at each proficiency level (%), PISA 2012

The provision of basic education/training is not ensured

- Still many out-of-school children in developing countries (fueling

already high adult illiteracy)

- Increased enrolment has not entailed sufficient skills acquisition

The informal sector remains prevalent

- Most labour force is engaged in low productivity and not very

diverse activities (agriculture, small scale trade or services)

- Self-employment is widespread and individuals rely on multiple

activities

- Consequently, a large share of vocational and professional training

is informal

I. Specific Challenges for skills strategies in emerging

and developing economies

The informal sector is prevalent in many developing countries and

still represents a substantital share of

employment in emerging economies

34.1

43.5

49

52.2

60.2

69.7

72.5

20.2

25

21.7

9.3

12.2

n.a.

11.5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Mexico (2009)

Viet Nam (2009)

Peru (2009)

colombia (2010)

Indonesia (2009)

Cote d'Ivoire (2008)

Philippines (2008)

persons employed in the informal sector

persons in informal employment outside the informal sector

Source: ILO, Statistical Update on employment in the informal economy, Department of Statistics, 2012

Figure 4: Size of informal employment

(% of non-agricultural employment)

1. Labour

Force Status 2. Time Use 3. Employment Status 4. Working? 5. Job Quality 6. Formality

In the labour

force

Full-time

worker

Wage employed

Employed

Wage

employment

Formal

informal

Self-employed

Vulnerable

employment

Contributing family

worker / unpaid

worker

Part-time

worker

Voluntary part-time

employed

Involuntary =

Underemployed

Job seeker Unemployed Broad

Unemploy-

ment NEET

Out of the

labour force

Inactivity or

housework

Discouraged

Inactive

In education Student Student

Figure 5: The Rosetta Stone of labour markets (AEO,2012)

Challenges related to the economic structure:

The provision of basic education/training is not ensured

- Still many out-of-school children in developing countries (fueling

already high adult illiteracy)

- Increased enrolment has not entailed sufficient skills acquisition

The informal sector remains prevalent

- Most labour force is engaged in low productivity and not very

diverse activities (agriculture, small scale trade or services)

- Self-employment is widespread and individuals rely on multiple

activities

- Consequently, a large share of vocational and professional training

is informal

I. Specific Challenges for skills strategies in emerging

and developing economies

The provision of basic education/training is not ensured

- Still many out-of-school children in developing countries (fueling

already high adult illiteracy)

- Increased enrolment has not entailed sufficient skills acquisition

The informal sector remains prevalent

- Most labour force is engaged in low productivity and not very

diverse activities (agriculture, small scale trade or services)

- Self-employment is widespread and individuals rely on multiple

activities

- Consequently, a large share of vocational and professional training

is informal

I. Specific Challenges for skills strategies in emerging

and developing economies

I. Specific Challenges for skills strategies in emerging

and developing economies

The potential of diaspora and the risk of brain drain

Lack of institutional capacity and strong financial

constraints

Demographic pressure (on the education system and the

labour market) and urbanisation

Not only a large share of qualified individuals emigrate,

graduates with scarce skills leave the country

more often.

18%

12% 11%

25%

19% 19% 19%

17%

10%

16%

27%

12%

17%

12%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

Figure 6 : Share of graduates abroad, by diploma/topic

Source : Enquête de suivi professionnel auprès des diplômes de l’enseignement supérieur et de l’enseignement

technique et de la formation professionnelle du Togo, génération 2008, République Togolaise (2013)

I. Specific Challenges for skills strategies in emerging

and developing economies

The potential of diaspora and the risk of brain drain

Lack of institutional capacity and strong financial

constraints

Demographic pressure (on the education system and the

labour market) and urbanisation

II. Implication for effective skills strategies

A. In terms of analytical framework

Specific attention should be given to:

The dynamics of skills provision:

– Provide the right skills at the right time

– Link the skills strategy to the overall development strategy of the country

The mobility of workers across sectors and the transferability of skills

The provision of skills to self-employed workers

Quality provision of technical and vocational training

The universal provision of basic skills and the potential of alternative

provision of skills (informal apprenticeships, community level,

MOOC,… )

II. Implication for effective skills strategies

B. In terms of methodology :

Necessity to pinpoint cost-effective policies

Include a financing strategy in the skills strategy

Elaborate a strategy to overcome the lack of data:

– Rely on secondary sources

– Collect original data

Engage in capacity building

Conclusion

DEV experience on skills in developing and emerging countries :

Multi Dimensional Country Review (Myanmar, Côte d’Ivoire, Peru)

Latin American Economic Outlook 2015 : Education, Skills and Innovation for

Development

Pilot Skills Strategy in Togo

Social Cohesion Policy Review of Vietnam

Potential avenue for future work :

Rural Development and Skills

Long term effect of technical and vocational education

The OECD Development Centre

Effective Skills Strategies in Emerging

and Developing Countries

16th Meeting of the OECD Skills Strategy Advisory Group

21 April 2015

THANK YOU