Technical and vocational skills and post-2015: Avoiding another vague skills goal?

Education appears to be receiving quite a lot of attention in post-2015 discussions, but how this will translate into goals and targets remains to be seen. Meanwhile, despite increased global recognition and awareness of the importance of technical and vocational skills development (TVSD) – as evidenced in the bumper year of reports on TVSD in 2012, TVSD does not appear to be getting as much focus in post-2015 discussions. It is known that the EFA ‘skills’ goal never got any traction: no one could even agree on what ‘life-skills’ meant, let alone how it should be measured or tracked. Are we in danger of a re-run? What's the alternative? How will TVSD feature in the post-MDG framework and the post-EFA framework, if at all? This paper will take a look at some lessons from history and then explore the current state of affairs to analyse the latest post-2015 suggestions and the way they cover TVSD.     

科学技术创新与千年发展目标——联合国千年研究项目TF10工作简介及启示

在 2 0 0 0年 9月的联合国千年首脑会议上 ,世界各国领导人提出了千年发展目标 (MDGs)。为了实现MDGs,联合国设立了千年项目 (TheMillenniumProject) ,分析实现MDGs的政策选择 ,提出实施措施的设想。中国正式参加了其中的第十个研究组 (科学技术和创新研究组 ,TF10 )。本文详细介绍TF10的工作 ,并简要说明了其对中国科技政策研究及国际科技交流的意义     

Experiences in the dissemination and utilisation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) research findings from three southern African Universities

Abstract

The dissemination and utilisation of research knowledge produced at universities has been debated in recent times. Recent changes and developments at universities suggest an entrepreneurial model of academic research production in which universities have the responsibility not only to carry out research and teaching but also to disseminate research outputs directly to the users for economic growth of the society. In this paper, we present findings on the nature of ICT research studies conducted, the dissemination and utilisation of the research findings in the past five years at the three universities in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. A major finding of the study was that many ICT studies conducted at these universities did not target particular community groups for dissemination of knowledge generated and consequently, research outputs from these projects were not delivered to their potential end-users. The ICT research knowledge findings remained located mostly in university departments, libraries, and donor or government ministry offices. The main challenge was that of effective dissemination and utilisation of research knowledge outputs by these academic institutions. The main recommendation emerging from the study was on policies and strategies to monitor research outputs and to intensify dissemination and utilisation of academic knowledge produced.     

Education,skills, sustainability and growth: Complex relations

The global education agenda, embedded in the Education for All (EFA) Goals, and the Millennium Development Goals, has emphasised the importance of reaching EFA rather than sustaining this achievement. As a corollary, the emphasis for external aid has also been on increasing aid to secure EFA rather than on the dangers of aid dependency in securing and sustaining EFA. The international architecture in support of education for sustainable development appears to have little interest in analysing these tensions between the pursuit of these rights-based EFA Goals, on the one hand, and the kind of economic growth and macro-economic environment that would be necessary to sustain their achievement.     

Post-2015 agendas: Northern tsunami,southern ripple? The case of education and skills

This paper examines the architecture of post-2015, paying particular attention to the role of the South and the place of education and skills development in this. A battery of different levels of meetings and consultations has sought to influence the outcome. So another dimension analyses the route map itself, and explores the process whereby any post-2015 goals or targets might be established, and what are the milestones on the journey. A particular education challenge in this safari is that there are three processes for proposing an education dimension of post-2015 frameworks: a post-MDG one, a post-EFA, and a SDG process.     

Capabilities and the global challenges of girls’ school enrolment and women’s literacy

The education Millennium Development Goals have been highly influential on the priorities for education and concentrated policy efforts on numbers of girls enrolled in public sector schools offering basic education. This focus has been justified by human capital calculations of the social rates of return to basic schooling. This concern with quantities has met criticism from more qualitative researchers concerned with understanding not only why girls are not enrolled in school, but also why they may be irregular attenders and poor performers in public examinations even if they are enrolled. Alongside the efforts to achieve the education Millennium Development Goals have been initiatives to improve adult women’s literacies, often combined with an empowerment objective. This paper uses Sen’s capability approach to argue that improving deliberative processes is relevant for the well-being of girls and women of all ages.