The geopolitics and meanings of India's massive skills development ambitions

This paper interrogates the drivers and meanings behind the dramatic rise of technical and vocational education and training in the policy and political agenda of India. What are the assumptions about the existing traditions and character of India's culture or cultures of skills development? Is the massive planned expansion of skilled people in India simply more of the same, or is there a new paradigm involved? How central will be the role of the private sector and of public private partnerships in the new skills training environment? And how inevitable was it that India should embrace a national vocational qualification framework?     

Exploring students' experiences of technical and vocational learning in University Technical Colleges during the pandemic

University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are newly established (since 2010–11) technical and vocational secondary schools in England, catering for young people aged 14–19. The schools focus strongly on delivering vocational, alongside Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-focused academic, qualifications. The colleges have been introduced as a new means of improving technical and vocational education and training—a sector which in England has faced problems of low quality and low esteem—and in a wider international context of STEM-trained worker shortages. University Technical Colleges have been advertised as offering state-of-the-art vocational learning, involving access for students to the latest equipment and technologies in key industrial sectors, alongside extensive project-based learning in partnership with employers. However, how have UTC students fared in these respects since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns in 2020? In this paper we report on results from a survey of 252 students across two UTCs in England, exploring the technical and vocational learning experiences of these students during the exceptional 2019–20 academic year. Findings from the survey reveal lost learning and training opportunities during the pandemic, particularly where courses with practical elements relied on specific equipment and facilities that became inaccessible during lockdown. The survey also highlights disruptions to apprenticeship arrangements, work experience plans and other engagement with employers. Students in some instances have been effectively forced to stay on in education owing to reduced apprenticeship and employment opportunities for school-leavers. We find evidence of students adapting their aspirations and career goals to the new economic circumstances.     

Technical and Vocational Education in Kuwait

ABSTRACT

One of the prerequisites for the development and modernisation of a country is technical‐vocational education and training. If carefully planned and appropriately financed, an efficient and effective capability may be produced. Kuwait, despite having vast economic resources, has been suffering from an obvious lack of skilled and semi‐skilled manpower in almost all the sectors of the economy. In order to fulfil this deficiency, technical‐vocational education and training was initiated to meet the urgent needs of the country. However, despite the realisation of the need for such institutions, their role has not lived up to their full potential. In most cases, low student aptitude, lack of managerial and academic facilities, and weak industrial linkages have thwarted the high prior expectations of such institutions. This study assesses the role of Kuwait's technical and vocational institutions in providing the country with skilled scientific and technical manpower. In addition, it examines the effect of the Gulf Crisis on such institutions and the challenge confronting them in providing the country with the manpower required, since many of the country's nationals, who previously occupied managerial scientific positions, have left the country. Finally, the paper argues that, unless such schemes are given serious attention, the country will be heavily dependent on expatriates for years to come.     

基于行业主导、雇主主体的新西兰职业教育与培训模式研究——以行业培训组织(ITOs)为例

全球化背景下各国产业结构转型与升级速度不断加快,为了培养助力新西兰经济高质量发展的技术技能人才,自1992年11月起新西兰各行业自发组建行业培训组织(ITOs)。行业培训组织(ITOs)是政府认可、行业所有的实体组织,在促进学员工作场所学习方面发挥着关键作用,尤其推动了行业主导、雇主深度参与的新西兰职业教育与培训模式的构建。通过分析行业培训组织(ITOs)的定位、特色与支持机制,对我国行业企业深度参与职业教育与培训有一定的启发和借鉴意义,表现在:突出雇主主体地位、行业标准与职业资格建设、法律法规体系完善、组建行业培训联盟、关注受训者基本能力培养等方面。     

Contrasting prospects: the institutionalisation of VET for retail and office work in Norway

This article calls attention to the difficulty of institutionalising vocational education and training (VET) in the service sector in Norway, despite the growing importance of this sector for national economic performance. Drawing on interviews with apprentices, employers, stakeholders, representatives of trade unions and employer organisations, the article investigates the contrasting foundation for institutionalising the Sales trade and the Office and Administration trade. The article advocates an institutional-theoretical framework and a labour market lens in order to understand the differences observed. The findings indicate more promising prospects for the Sales trade, because the skilled sales assistant receives great responsibility among young unskilled co-workers in a rapidly expanding labour market sector, whereas lower level office tasks are being rationalised and transferred to employees with higher academic education. These contrasting features of the institutional environment have profound implications for the learning opportunities provided, and the institutionalisation prospects of VET for retail and office work.     

Promoting resilience in schools: a view from occupational health psychology

This paper considers teacher resilience from the viewpoint of a discipline concerned with the interactions between work design, management style and employee health and well-being: occupational health psychology. It will be suggested that there are strong parallels between interventions designed to promote resilience and those designed to reduce work-related stress. The imperative for the latter type of intervention arises from a significant evidence base, summarised in many research studies and reviews of the scientific literature. In making this argument, this paper draws upon four sources of information: (i) the experience of employers outside the education sector in resilience building, (ii) the influence of work design and line manager behaviour on employee well-being, (iii) current British government advice to employers about reducing stress and (iv) an illustrative case study. It is argued that although robust evidence as to the effectiveness of resilience interventions in the education sector is still lacking, experience from other sectors suggest that schools might nurture resilience by improving work design and by providing appropriate training for employees and their line managers.     

五年制高职财经专业英语课程建设研究

以需求分析为理论框架对无锡某高职校494名五年制高职财经专业学生,两所高职校45名财经英语教师和四家毕业生用人单位进行了英语课程设置的问卷调查和访谈。结果表明：目前五年制财经专业英语课程设置存在着课程的实用性和满意度不高;教学内容未能体现财经专业的特色等问题。根据师生和用人单位对优化英语课程设置的需求,建议制定该专业的英语课程标准,编写实用的财经英语校本教材;加快师资培训,整合教学模式;完善评价体系。     

高职教育实践课程教学改革初探

随着我国经济的不断深入发展,社会对高技能人才的需求日益扩大且要求越来越高。这对高职教学提出了更高的任务和要求。体现在用人单位都希望新招收的员工,既有扎实的专业理论知识,又有娴熟的专业技能。但现阶段高职教育的实践课程不能满足社会的用工要求,存在着各种问题。这就要求对实践课程的教学内容、教学方法、教学手段和人才培养模式进行必要的改革,采取与企业合作、工学一体化的教学模式。     

浅析我国金融从业人员收入现状及其成因

金融是近年来一个高薪热门行业,而且薪资的增长相比于其他行业一直处于高水平,金融从业人员的收入受到社会各界的广泛关注。分析其现状及背后的原因,对金融人才的培养、行业结构的调整及金融企业人才激励机制的创新发展都有着十分重要的意义。     

浅析我国金融从业人员收入现状及其成因

金融是近年来一个高薪热门行业,而且薪资的增长相比于其他行业一直处于高水平,金融从业人员的收入受到社会各界的广泛关注.分析其现状及背后的原因,对金融人才的培养、行业结构的调整及金融企业人才激励机制的创新发展都有着十分重要的意义.     

美国企业参与职业教育的动机与障碍探析

美国企业素有积极参与职业教育的优良传统,其参与职业教育具有多种动机,主要为社会公益服务、建立良好的公共关系、降低成本、招募员工等。阻碍美国企业参与职业教育的因素也是多方面的,主要包括:培训成本的高昂、经济大环境的波动、相关法律规章的制约、企业内部的阻力与信息的不对称等。本文通过对美国政府吸引企业参与职业教育的经验研究,为我国加强职业教育校企合作提出了建议。     

Preparing for educare: student perspectives on early years training in Northern Ireland

Preschool provision in Northern Ireland is government funded and quality assured in all statutory sector settings (nursery schools and units) and in many voluntary/private sector settings (playgroups and daycare facilities). However, three unresolved policy issues continue to divide the sectors: the choices between a teacher or pedagogue role model, graduate or vocational level training, and a competency or reflective model of training. This paper aims to explore the reflections of a sample of students from both graduate and vocational early years training courses on the content and effectiveness of their training in order to inform the broader early years professionalism debate. The design of the research combines quantitative and qualitative approaches, with the data collection methods consisting of questionnaire survey (n = 282) and semi‐structured interviews (n = 22). Findings reveal broad agreement on the part of students, literature and government policy on the essential elements of early years training content; however, weaknesses in all training courses are detected in regard to preparation for significant areas of professional practice.     

大力发展中等职业教育的现实依据与时代契机

中等职业教育是我国职业教育的重要组成。随着我国现代职业教育体系建设、劳动者终生职业培训体系建设的加速推进,以及两种模式的高考制度的即将推行,中等职业教育在整个职业教育体系中的战略地位日益突显。鉴于目前中等职业教育发展中所出现的萎缩情形,以及社会用工中出现的"普工荒"、"技工荒"、地方本科毕业生的就业难等问题,通过文献及政策分析法,全面分析大力发展中等职业教育的现实依据和时代契机,期望引发社会各界对中等职业教育社会价值的广泛关注与理性思索。     

制约高职技能型人才培养的几个突出问题

进入新世纪以来,技能型人才培养是高职人才培养目标所体现出来的基本价值取向。然而,实践中存在的对高职人才培养目标内涵的不同理解,职业资格鉴定制度及校企合作、工学结合的法律法规不完善,实验实训设备的数量、性能不能满足技能型人才培养的需求,教师的思想观念、技能水平、精力投入与技能型人才培养要求有较大的差距等问题,制约了高职技能型人才培养,尤其是高技能人才的培养。     

影响农民工职业培训需求的因素分析——对武汉市的调查

调查表明,农民工有着很强的职业培训需求,但是在接受培训对其提高收入没有显著收益的情况下,参与培训的积极性不高。因子分析显示,影响农民工职业培训需求的主要因素是农民工的人力资本特征。建议政府相关部门应以农民工自主理性选择为基础,为进城农民工重构职业培训方式和体系。     

高职毕业生是地方经济可持续发展的中坚力量——我院毕业生在十堰市部分企业工作情况的调研报告

高职院校完全能够根据当地企业的需要确定其人才培养目标,专业设置贴近实际,培养出大批"下得去、留得住、用得上",能适应生产、建设、管理、服务第一线的高技能人才。高职院校要继续深化改革,加快发展速度,努力创新人才培养模式,壮大办学实力。同时,还要切实做到以人为本,推进学生素质教育向更深层次发展,并且加大社会宣传力度,营造良好的办学环境和氛围。     

Decentralizing and deschooling job training: Implications of selected studies from the USA

Vocational education is assumed to equalize opportunities for low-achieving youngsters by providing them with necessary job training with the expectation it will enhance their employability, productivity, and hence, community and national economic development. Increasing evidence suggests that vocational education, when developed as part of a nation's formal school structure, tends instead to be an expenisve, ‘second-class’ educational track with limited educational and economic benefits. Increasingly, developing nations, pressed by slow-growing modern sector economies and burgeoning youth populations, are as a consequence investigating the potential of non-formal institutions to supply vocational job training.The paper seeks to improve educators' and planners' understanding of non-formal vocational programs by reporting on three recent studies from the United States. Further, the paper draws on organizational theory to explain how non-formal programs' characteristics that account for efficient job training appear to be shaped by market forces that are unimportant to formal programs.The paper suggests that educators and planners distinguish between job training and education, the ends and means of which are considerably different, and give serious attention to shifting job training more to non-formal institutions. Besides apparent efficiencies that appear to characterize non-formal job training, the paper suggests that by removing job training from formal schools and credentialling, greater social equity may result. Formal schools would be thus deprived of an important part of their social selection role. Being freed of the dual function of training and education, schools could be more easily focussed on more fundamental educational reform to provide a common educational experience for all students to improve their literacy and arithmetic abilities and guide their general development to adulthood.     

金融危机与培训契机——高职院校职业培训的应对之策

当下金融危机已经波及全球各个经济领域,所带来的影响正在我国逐渐显现,给以就业为导向的高职教育带来了最为直接的冲击,但也给高职院校开展职业培训带来难得的发展机遇。     

金华市企业人才培训策略研究

当前,金华市企业人力资源素质较差,人力资源管理水平不高,面临着培训内容的需求与培训师资自身知识水平欠缺的矛盾。以及企业人才培训投入成本增加与金融危机影响企业效益下降的矛盾。应发挥行业、企业在人才培训中的主体作用,强化职业院校培养高技能人才的基础作用,建立高技能人才校企合作培养制度,加强高技能人才培训基地和公共实训鉴定基地建设,表彰对人才培训有贡献的社会培训组织。     

Initial Vocational Training from a Company Perspective: a Comparison of British and German In-House Training Cultures

Vocational training and skills are playing an increasingly important role in the developed economies. However, both the vocational education structure and the underlying philosophy and culture of education and training vary from country to country. What is clear, though, is that employers play a crucial role in all cases; this paper explores the reasons why companies in different countries are willing to invest in initial vocational education and how they do so. The paper will focus on Great Britain and Germany as examples of a market-led model and a state-directed model, respectively. Interviews with employers in both countries show that, in Britain, initial vocational education is strongly task-related in most cases or else is seen as the employee’s private, individual concern. In Germany, by contrast, a much broader range of initial vocational education is available and is viewed as an integral part of company culture.