THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Vocational skills - the way out of the middle-income trap?

Vocational skills - the way out of the middle-income trap?

Education and training are the backbone of every healthy economy. Policymakers around the world, including the government of Thailand, are very well aware of this fact and are therefore increasingly putting their focus and their resources into the trainin

In the case of Austria, vocational training and a skilled workforce, in particular in mechanical engineering, range high on our national agenda and are – from the perspective of many observers – the main reasons for our country’s prosperity. 
Stories of foreign business representatives abound, who marvel at the level of responsibility in Austria’s industrial production, which is being delegated – successfully - to so-called “blue collar” workers. It is important to note that 80 per cent of Austria’s students at the age of 14 years choose vocational training and education over a general education. This is a unique feature for an OECD country, where the average ratio is 50 per cent. Austria’s high ratio of vocational students is based on the following two pillars: 
1 Dual vocational training: A training system, which has developed since medieval times in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and in which the curriculum is split up between in-house training at a company and education in the classroom. The long tradition has led to a wide acceptance of apprentices by private companies; about 80 per cent of Austria’s small and medium enterprises train apprentices, and more than 90 per cent of the apprentices find employment right after finishing their three-year training; in general at the company, which trained them. 
2. Austria’s model for a higher technical vocational school, which combines schooling with technical training in a laboratory environment. After five years of studies, students graduate from these schools with a solid professional training as well as with the academic qualifications to enter university. While about half of these graduates pursue a higher academic education, the other half of the graduates, who are in high demand on the labour market, join the workforce. This model provides up-to-date technical training, while ensuring that vocational training is not a dead-end street, but opens many perspectives for the future. 
At present Thailand rightly puts a lot of importance on the vocational training sector. 
Experts have started to introduce a number of reforms to make vocational training more attractive for students and more relevant for the employers. Qualifications are being standardised for different professional sectors, mandatory qualifications are being introduced and informally trained workers are given the opportunity to have their skills officially assessed and recognised. 
Thailand’s commitment to further improve its system of vocational training was underlined during the Thai-Austrian Conference on Vocational Education and Training in Bangkok on June 2, when Education Minister Dapong Ratanasuwan and Labour Minister Sirichai Distakul jointly opened the conference with a clear commitment to strengthen vocational training in Thailand. 
The conference, which was co-organised by the Siam Cement Group, the coordinator for the “Public Private Steering Committee on Competitive Workforce” and the Austrian Embassy, aimed at bringing together experts to establish a network, to identify the “big issues” and to kick-start concrete follow-up projects in this field. 
While the conference did not attempt to come up with formal conference conclusions, a common understanding seemed to emerge that a system-wide approach is needed. The following points were stressed:
1) Enhanced role of the business community for providing training, developing curricula and setting professional standards. Only the industry will know, which skills the workforce need and if what is being taught is still relevant for today’s working place; hence switch from a supply-driven to a demand-driven system. In the absence of one single institution representing the business interests it might be of benefit to bring existing business institution under a common platform or an umbrella organisation.
2) Enhanced cooperation between different government institutions. This seems to be the difficult, but also the most rewarding, area for improvement. Undoubtedly, potential seems to exist to reduce duplication and to increase communication. Standards will only have true significance when they are unified. Currently it seems that different standards for professional qualification are existing side-by-side. 
3) Dual vocational training schemes, which already exist, could benefit from the (sector-specific) development of unified countrywide curricula. At present curricula are based on individual arrangements between companies and local schools; however, this arrangement might be an obstacle to countrywide recognition and transferability of acquired skills. 
4) Thailand would benefit from expansion of existing dual vocational training schemes. These schemes could – for a trial purpose – even be expanded to training at government institutions or with the armed forces. The apprentice system creates a win-win partnership between students and companies. Students graduate with a professional qualification and an employment perspective, while employers train future employees, who will contribute to the business operation already during the training period. Key is the trust – gained from experience – in the fact that this partnership actually works. 
5) Increasing the attractiveness of vocational training: Parents very often wish for their children to pursue a general academic education instead of vocational training, which often lacks social-status and is perceived as a “dead-end street”. However, there are two powerful responses: First, the government needs to show a clear commitment to the value of vocational education and training, and second, progression routes between vocational training and the so-called tertiary level of education need to be improved – either by enabling graduates to enter university or by providing opportunities to deepen the vocational knowledge – for example in the form of a “master craftsmanship”. 
6) While socio-economic conditions vary among countries, a number of best practices in the field of vocational training are transferable. The conference highlighted the example of the successful cooperation, Austria launched with the Slovak Republic in 2009, which successfully introduced – from scratch – dual vocational training in the Slovak Republic. Initiated by the automotive industry and with conceptual input from Austrian partners, a pilot project quickly spread to other sectors. The key factors for success were the commitment of the Slovak Republic, the adoption of the dual-training system to prevailing circumstances and most importantly, successful capacity building by employer organisations, as different business representations were brought under one umbrella to organise this new system together with public authorities. During the conference in Bangkok the ambassador of Thailand to Austria was invited to visit this project first-hand. 
Education and training of young people is one of the most vital challenges every society is facing and struggling with. There are no easy answers and no quick-fix solutions. Nobody owns all the right answers. 
RELATED
nationthailand