• April 7-10 2014 Edmonton, AB
• April 7-10 2014 Toronto, ON
• September 8-11 2014 St-John's, NL
• September 15-18 2014 Winnipeg, MB
• November 3-6 2014 Ottawa, ON
• November 17-20 2014 Calgary, AB

 

Canada Gets an "A" in Education, But Needs to Fix Links Between Post-Secondary Schooling and Workforce
Canada ranks second only to Finland among 16 developed countries.  As part of its overall “A” grade, Canada earns “A”s on seven of 20 indicators – including the second-highest rate of high school completion, and the top rate of college completion.
Also. Listen to an interview with Daniel Muzyka on the Education Report Card
Tags : Education - country profiles; Higher - income countries; Comparative analysis; Report card; Source: Conference Board of Canada;

ARTICLES and PAPERS
South Korea. Should the U.S. Follow South Korea's Education System?
South Korea has a 93% high-school graduation rate, versus 77% in the U.S. Can the U.S. learn something from South Korea's education system?
Their top teachers can earn the kind of money that professional athletes make in the U.S. Kim Ki-hoon, pictured, makes $4 million a year.
Tags: South Korea; Education - teachers; Article; Source: Wall Street Journal; 

Africa. Lifting Africa up by empowering its youth
Finding opportunities for young people is a critical challenge for Africa, where 62 percent of the population—more than 600 million young people—is below the age of 25. With no signs that population growth will slow in the decades to come, it is imperative that Africa leverage the talent and energy of its youth to create dramatically higher levels of prosperity and equality and avoid the latent risks of unemployment and social instability.
Tags: Africa; Unemployment; Employment trend; Target group: Youth 15-24; Article; Source: McKinsey; 
 
Southeast Asia. Employment and Skills Strategies in Southeast Asia: Setting the Scene
The Southeast Asian region has experienced some of the highest growth rates in the world, with investments in skills playing a significant role in helping national economies to adjust to changes in working practices, advances in technology, and challenges associated with globalisation. In some countries this process has been more successfully managed and significant advances have been achieved in growth rates and employment levels, but in others it has resulted in stagnation of economic sectors, underemployment, rising unemployment levels and social exclusion for large sections of society.
Tags: Southeast Asia; Skills - development; Strategy - Employment; Employment - strategy; Working paper; Source: OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; 

The youth employment crisis: A call for action
Resolution and conclusions of the 101st Session of the International Labour Conference, Geneva, 2012.
Tags: Youth; Target group: Youth; Call for action; Source: ILO - International Labour Organization;

DOCUMENTS
Canada. Thinkopolis: 2013 Year in Review + A Look Ahead to 2014
This report focuses on where the job growth is, new skills that are appearing in candidate resumes - and some that are fading away. Find out what the fastest growing job titles are right now - and see which previously popular vocations are vanishing from the landscape.
Tags : Canada; Analysis; Employment trend; Annual report 2013; Source: Workopolis; 
 
Canada. 16th Annual Global CEO Survey - Key findings. The Canadian Summary |
Canada. Overall, talent remains a key issue as 63% of Canadian CEOs ranked the availability of key skills the biggest threat to growth prospects. Talent will continue to remain top-of-mind, as more than three quarters of Canadian CEOs plan to increase investment in creating and fostering a skilled workforce.
Overall. CEOs remain as concerned as ever about the availability of the key skills they need – 58% cited this as a problem compared with 54% in last year’s survey. The skills shortage is particularly acute in fast-growing markets such as Africa (where 82% of CEOs say availability is a problem).
For the Canada summary, select The talent challenge: A time for extraordinary leadership at the bottom of the page
The complete survey. Dealing with disruption Adapting to survive and thrive.
Tags: Canada; Target group: CEO; Skills - shortage; Survey; Document; Source: PwC - PricewaterhouseCoopers;
 
Canada/Ontario. Employment Outcomes of 2009 Graduates of Ontario University Undergraduate Programs
Students who complete their undergraduate programs at Ontario universities consistently experience high employment and earnings rates. They also find that the skills they gained in their programs match the skills they need at work.
Tags : Employability; Ontario; Canada; School-to-work transition; Target group: University students; Statistics; Survey; Source: Council of Ontario Universities; 

India. Skills for all: new approaches to skilling India
This report highlights the challenges of skill development in India and presents new approaches that could be adopted to overcome these challenges. The purpose of the report is to encourage discussion that will evolve bigger and better ideas of overcoming the barriers in the skills development sector.
Tags : Trend - analysis; India; VET - development; Skills - development; Report; Source: Manipal City & Guilds; via Twitter @VOCEDplus;
 
Palestine. Qualitative and Quantitative Training Needs Assessment Study for Qualified Workforce within the Basic Work Levels
The study was prepared to determine quantitative and qualitative training needs of Palestinian labour force. The main results of the training needs assessment indicate:
- a higher interest in vocational education and training by school students and parents;
- a better status of youth graduated from vocational education and training in employment, especially for young women,
- that half of the surveyed employers' establishments employed vocational education graduates. More than half would prefer to employ vocational education graduates in the future, including female graduates.
Tags : Training - workplace; Assessment - report; Palestine; Training - needs; Source: TVET in Palestine;

Scotland. Modern Apprenticeship Outcomes report 2012
Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) lead to longer term employment, greater confidence and improved job prospects for young people, according to the report, based upon who had left their apprenticeship around six months previously.
Tags : Scotland; Survey; Apprenticeship; Annual report 2012; Source: Skills Development Scotland;
 
The OECD Skills Strategy
The OECD Skills Strategy provides an integrated, cross-government framework to help countries understand more about how to invest in skills in a way that will transform lives and drive economies. It is designed to provide a basis on which governments can begin converting “better skills policies” into jobs, growth, and “better lives”.
Tags : Target group: OECD countries; Employment - policy; Target group: Governments; Framework - policy; Trend - analysis; Strategy - workforce development; OECD - countries of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; Skills - development; Document; Source: OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development;

Education at a Glance
The 2013 edition of Education at a Glance enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries’ educational performance.
Tags : Education - indicators; Statistics 2013; Annual report 2013; Source: OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development;

Education to Employment: Designing a System That Works
Around the world, governments and businesses face a conundrum: high levels of youth unemployment and a shortage of job seekers with critical skills. How can a country successfully move its young people from education to employment? What are the challenges? Which interventions work? How can these be scaled up? These are the crucial questions.
Tags : Report; School-to-work transition; Employability; Target group: Youth; Youth - employment; Source: McKinsey; Trend - analysis;

OTHER
Canada. Red Seal Program Exam Preparation
The Red Seal exam is a nationally-recognized certification exam in Canada, and is the certification exam for most trades. Red Seal exams are trade-specific theory exams and between 100 and 150 multiple-choice questions, with an average exam containing 125. Each question has four responses, only one of which is correct. A maximum of four hours is provided to complete the exam. The passing grade is 70%.
See also Exam Preparation Summary
Tags : Source: Government of Nova Scotia; Canada; Red Seal Program;

Canada. Essential Skills Virtual Library
The Essential Skills Virtual Library provides resources to strengthen the Essentials Skills (ES) of students and employees.
The Virtual Library is for:
- ES practitioners
- Instructors and HR professionals wishing to integrate ES into their approach
- Employers seeking to improve employee productivity and safety
- Decision-makers wishing to identify the ROI of Essential Skills
Tags : Canada; Essential skills; Database; Source: ACCC - Association of Canadian Community Colleges;

Canada. Working in Canada - Explore Careers by Occupation
The tool lets you check out hundreds of possible jobs and careers in Canada. Knowing what a job is all about is one of the first steps to narrowing down your choices of future careers.
After learning what a job is all about, find out what education you need here
Tags : Canada; Interactive tool; Career - choice; Source: Government of Canada/Working in Canada;
 
Canada/Alberta. Magazine - Trades Alberta
Collection of the best information from the Edmonton Journal's Trades Alberta series.
Tags : Skills; Alberta; Canada; Apprenticeship; Articles;

UK. National Apprenticeship Week 2013 supplement
Thousands of apprentices, from hairdressers to aeronautic engineers, showed off all that apprenticeships have to offer. This supplement is a celebration of apprenticeships.
Tags: United Kingdom; Apprenticeship; Articles - journal; Source: FE Week;
 
NORRAG magazine #48. 2012: The Year of Global Reports on TVET, Skills & Jobs - Consensus or Diversity?
This issue of NORRAG News looks at the many different meanings of skill in these reports: high, medium, low, foundation, transferable, technical and vocational skills, as well as life-skills. It looks also at the state of skills in both urban and rural areas, and considers skills-for-poverty-reduction as well as skills-for-growth. The reports cover skills in the informal economy, as well as work-based skills and on-the-job training. Some of the reports also consider the emerging meanings and frontiers of TVET.
Tags : VET - vocational education and training; Articles - journal; Source: NORRAG - Northern Research Review and Advisory Group;

NEWS in BRIEF
Canada. NEW Criteria for Designation of Red Seal Trades
One of Strategic Priorities for 2013-2016 is to redefine criteria for designating Red Seal trades to ensure that designation contributes to greater pan-Canadian harmonization and buy-in to a truly national standard. It is important that the program continue to meet the needs of industry across Canada in its designation policies.

Canada. Booming demand for civil engineers
Whether you talk to universities, consulting engineering firms or industry associations, the consensus is that Canada, and the world for that matter, are always in dire need of civil engineers.
 
Canada/British Columbia. Worsening labour shortages stifling B.C. manufacturing sector growth and recovery
Labour shortages risk undermining the recovery of B.C.’s manufacturing sector, which posted the strongest job gains in more than two decades in 2012.
 
7 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Training Provider or eLearning Developer
Organizations are increasingly outsourcing their training requirements – both instructor-led classroom and online training programs. Outsourcing training not only makes economic sense but also translates into a better quality – cost proposition. It also allows the L&D; or HR departments to channel their resources into organizational building initiatives.

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