Education & Training for the Changing World of Work

International Experts Meeting, Hangzhou, China, 7-9 December 2009

UNESCO-UNEVOC and the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, with the support of Zhejiang Technology Institute of Economy (ZJTIE, a UNEVOC Centre), Zhejiang Materials industry Group Corporation (China) and the UNESCO Office Hanoi, organized the International Expert Meeting on Education and Training for the Changing World of Work: Meeting the Demands of the Business Environment, which took place from 7-9 December 2009 and was hosted by the Zhejiang Technology Institute of Economy, Hangzhou, China.

The aim of the meeting was to address the issues of economic and social development within the context of the changing nature of industry and work, the pressures of global financial crisis and the limits and opportunities posed by climate change and other environmental imperatives to create opportunities for TVET to contribute not only to enhanced productivity but also to social development and environmental protection. It spelt out the implications of a broadening of TVET from the narrow task of providing training for industry and occupation-specific skills to the broader task of workforce development and lifelong learning for sustainable development and citizenship.

The meeting provided opportunity for the participants to identify drivers of change in the workplace and the implication of these for policy and innovative practice in TVET, focusing on the following issues:

• TVET curriculum development and delivery;
• Research and innovation on school to work transition; and
• Recognition, certification, accreditation and quality assurance in TVET teacher education.

Twenty participants from China, Germany, Lao PDR, Nepal, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, including representatives of several UNEVOC Centres, participated in the meeting. A visit to ZJTIE campus (a UNEVOC Centre) was arranged, where a seminar was organized with 29 TVET experts including the leaders and staff of ZJTIE.

The outcomes of the meeting were:

• Increased understanding of the important role of TVET in supporting productivity, social development, citizenship and sustainable development, and the opportunities and responsibilities of governments, businesses and educational institutions in supporting the enhancement of TVET;
• A set of lessons of leading practice distilled form the analysis of shared experiences;
• Increased awareness of the UNEVOC Network and Centres as resources for supporting the enhancement of TVET through knowledge sharing; and
• Identification of policy implications and outcomes.

Documents

Meeting report (PDF, 1.6 MB)