CVA's PICKS OF THE MONTH

 
The CVA is pleased to inform the TVET community that Brazil's National Service for Industrial Apprenticeship (Senai) has recently published a book entitled 'DACUM no Senai de Sao Paulo' (DACUM in the National Service for Industrial Apprenticeship of Sao Paulo). 

This book presents a detailed account of the implementation of two training programs which curricula were based on the DACUM methodology - Toolmaker Specialization and Technical Course in Mechanical and Metallurgical Processes. 

The book aims to disseminate among training educators successes and mishaps that may occur in the implementation of innovative programs.

The book is available in Portuguese and is distributed by http://www.senaispeditora.com.br/

Australia. Targeting multiple health risk behaviours among vocational education students using electronic feedback and online and telephone support: protocol for a cluster randomised trial
Technical and Further Education (TAFE) colleges are the primary provider of vocational education in Australia. Most TAFE students are young adults, a period when health risk behaviours become established. Furthermore, high rates of smoking, risky alcohol consumption, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake and insufficient physical activity have been reported in TAFE students. There have been no intervention studies targeting multiple health risk behaviours simultaneously in this population. The proposed trial will examine the effectiveness of providing TAFE students with electronic feedback regarding health risk behaviours and referral to a suite of existing online and telephone services addressing smoking, risky alcohol consumption, fruit and vegetable intake, and physical activity levels. Proactive enrolment to existing online and telephone services has the potential to address modifiable determinants of disease. This trial will be the first to examine a potentially scalable intervention targeting multiple health risk behaviours among students in the vocational training setting.
Tags : Australia; Health risk behaviours; Paper; Source: BMC Public Health; Study; VET - vocational education and training;

Canada. An Investment of a Lifetime? The Long-term Labour Market Premiums Associated with a Postsecondary Education
This paper examines the long-term labour market premiums associated with completing a college certificate and a bachelor's degree, compared to completing a high school diploma. Several labour market outcomes of individuals are examined with longitudinal data over a 20-year period spanning their mid-30s to their mid-50s. The findings show that individuals who have a bachelor's degree or a college certificate have more favourable labour market outcomes over their working lives than individuals who have only a high school diploma. More specifically, the earnings premium associated with a bachelor's degree over the 20-year period ranges, on average, from $728,000 for men to $442,000 for women. For a college certificate, the premium is $248,000 for men and $180,000 for women, on average. The earnings premium associated with a bachelor's degree is much larger at the top of the distribution for men than it is for women. The study also finds that, for both men and women, a bachelor's degree and a college certificate are associated with more years of coverage in an employer-sponsored pension plan and fewer layoffs than a high school diploma.
Tags : Analysis - comparative; Canada; Comparative analysis; Employability; High Schools; Higher education; Report; Source: Government of Canada/Statistics Canada; Statistics 1991-2010; Wages;

Canada/Québec. An analysis of the adaptability of a professional development program in public health: results from the ALPS Study
This article presents a professional development pilot program, the Health Promotion Laboratory (HPL), and analyzes how it was adapted to three different settings while preserving its core components. An exploratory analysis was also conducted to identify team and contextual factors that might have been at play in the emergence of implementation profiles in each site. This paper shows how a professional development program model can be adapted to different contexts while preserving its core components. Capturing the heterogeneity of the intervention’s exposure, as was done here, will make possible in-depth impact analyses involving, for example, the testing of program–context interactions to identify program outcomes predictors. Such work is essential to advance knowledge on the action mechanisms of professional development programs.
Tags : Canada/Québec; Paper; Program - training; Public Health; Source: BMC Health Services Research; Training - programs;

Jordan. Evaluating a vocational training programme for women refugees at the Zaatari camp in Jordan: women empowerment: a journey and not an output
This study aims at evaluating a vocational training programme entitled ‘Women and Girls Oasis’ at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in the city of Mafraq, Jordan. The research study was undertaken in 2014/2015, and highlights the impact of such vocational training programmes on the well-being of Syrian women refugees. The results show that ‘Women and Girls Oasis’ Programme enhanced women’s confidence and self-esteem, improved their occupational business, and entrepreneurship skills, helped them generate income to build a better life for their shattered families; and gave them hope and opportunities after experiencing war firsthand. The study reveals that in a refugee community, patterns are deconstructed and gender roles may be changed; this gender equality and women empowerment are seen as perquisites for sustainable development and achieving the millennium development goal. The study offers recommendations for UN Women, UNHCR and similar NGO’s concerned with the well-being of refugees in Jordan and neighbouring countries.
Tags : Adult education; Conflict settings; Evaluation - program; Gender - equity; Jordan; Paper; Refugees; Source: International Journal of Adolescence and Youth; Syrian Arab Republic; VET - vocational education and training;

Somalia. Better skills mean boosted profits for Somali women
The project idea is to improve the self-employability of women through entrepreneurship training and skills.
Tags : Article; Employability; Gender - equity; Initiative; Somalia; Source: ILO - International Labour Organization;

Swaziland. Skills and Youth Entrepreneurship in Africa: Analysis with Evidence from Swaziland
The shortages of entrepreneurial skills have lowered search effectiveness of potential young entrepreneurs and the rate of youth start-ups. Our paper contributes to closing a gap in the entrepreneurship and development literature with a model of costly firm creation and skill differences between young and adult entrepreneurs. The model shows that for young entrepreneurs facing high costs of searching for business opportunities, support for training is more effective in stimulating productive start-ups than subsidies. The case for interventions targeted at youth rises in societies with high costs of youth unemployment. We test the role of skills and training for productive youth entrepreneurship on data from a recent survey of entrepreneurs in Swaziland.
Tags : Entrepreneurship; Paper; Source: IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor; Swaziland; Youth;

Sweden. Attending the call of youth unemployment? A case study of the ways a labor market program is legitimated and its organizational consequences
This study aims to identify the underlying reasons for organizations to participate in labor market programs (LMPs) for young adults and can explain the way organizations legitimate such initiatives, as well as to identify and to explore the potential consequences of such an involvement at the organizational level through the Strategy-as-Practice approach.
Tags : Apprenticeship - programs; Case study; Employment - youth; Paper; Source: Gothenburg University; Sweden; Youth - employment;

USA. Mapping the market for higher education
For the first time, the U.S. Department of Education has made institution level earnings information available to the public. Students shopping for a college can now log on to the College Scorecard and see earnings information alongside other important factors, such as cost and graduation rate. The availability of this data makes it possible for consumers of higher education to use a cost-benefit framework to make savvier decisions about college. Simply put, they can compare the upfront cost of tuition to the benefits that they are likely to receive in the form of heightened future wages.  This has the potential to create both individual and systemic 
Tags : Article; Colleges and Universities; Comparative analysis; Higher education; Source: Brookings Institution; United States of America;

Europe. Work-based learning in continuing vocational education and training: policies and practices in Europe
Work-based continuing vocational education and training (CVET) requires more attention and strategic action. Work-based learning (WBL) is a powerful way to support adult learning and human resource development in enterprises, but the potential it has to offer has not yet been fully exploited in Europe.
Tags : Document; Europe; Source: Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training; VET - policy; Workplace - learning;

Do Interventions Targeted at Micro-Entrepreneurs and Small and Medium-Sized Firms Create Jobs? A Systematic Review of the Evidence for Low and Middle Income Countries
Worldwide 600 million jobs are needed over the next 15 years to keep employment rates at their current level. Governments, non-governmental organizations and donors spend on targeted programs and broader policies to enhance employment creation and the creation of new firms. Because most employment in low and middle income countries is in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, these firms are especially targeted by such interventions. Despite these efforts, not much is known about which of these interventions are really effective and under which conditions particular interventions work. This systematic review synthesizes the existing evidence on the impact of these programs. Overall the review shows that creating employment is a very complex challenge. Many conditions have to be met before interventions in favor of individual enterprises do not only improve business practices and performance but also lead to additional jobs. A striking finding is that the study design matters for the impacts found; randomized controlled trials find systematically smaller effects than quasi-experimental studies. A significant shortcoming of the literature is that almost nothing is known about long term effects and cost effectiveness.
Tags : Employment - policy; Lower/medium income countries; Paper; SME - Small and medium entreprises; Source: IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor; Systematic review;

Australia. Learning, Work and Livelihood in Australia
This document is the final report documenting the Australian Case for UNESCO Bangkok’s Research Project on Lifelong Learning and Employment Prospects/Employability. This project analyses the relationships between lifelong learning (LLL) and employment prospects in policy and practice in the Asia-Pacific region. It is guided by the headline question, “In what ways can LLL continually enhance employment prospects?” This report offers a response to this question from an Australian perspective.
Tags : Australia; Learning - lifelong; Lifelong learning; Report; Source: UNESCO;

Australia. Total VET students and courses 2014
This publication gives a summary of vocational education and training (VET) delivered in 2014 by Australian training providers. This picture of training activity is otherwise known as 'total VET activity', to reflect that the information is now collected from all types of providers and not merely the providers receiving Commonwealth and state funding. In this publication, information is provided on the number of training providers, students, enrolments in programs, enrolments in subjects, hours of delivery and program completions.
Tags : Annual report 2014; Australia; Source: NCVER - National Centre for Vocational Education Research; VET - vocational education and training;

Canada. Education Indicators, October 2015
This report presents education indicators for all of Canada, the provinces, the territories, as well as selected international comparisons and comparisons over time. The Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program draws from a wide variety of data sources to provide information on the school-age population; financing education systems; elementary and secondary education; postsecondary education; and transitions and outcomes.
En français. Canada, Indicateurs de l'éducation, octobre 2015
Tags : Canada; Education - indicators 2015; Report; Source: Government of Canada/Statistics Canada;

Canada. Registered apprenticeship training programs, 2013
The provinces and territories reported 469,680 registrations in apprenticeship programs in Canada in 2013. Of these, more than three-quarters were apprentices continuing their programs from the previous year (already registered), about one-fifth were new registrations in 2013, and the remainder were people reinstated in a specific trade over that year. The majority of registrations (77.3%) were in apprenticeship programs where the associated trade had a Red Seal designation at the Canada level. Already registered apprentices in trades with the Red Seal designation accounted for 6 in 10 registrations. About 15% were new registrations in Red Seal designated trades, and 1.5% were reinstatements (apprentices who had left an apprenticeship program in a previous year and had returned to the same program during the current reporting period). By comparison, 22.7% of all registrations were in trades without Red Seal designation. Of these, 17.2% were apprentices who were already registered in the apprenticeship program the previous year, while 5.4% were new registrations in 2013.
En français. Canada. Programmes de formation des apprentis inscrits, 2013
Tags : Apprenticeship; Canada; Report; Statistics 2013;

Canada. Labour Market Outcomes of Young Postsecondary Graduates, 2005 to 2012
This article documents the evolution of real annual wages and salaries and employment patterns of young postsecondary graduates by field of study from 2005 to 2012. Results are shown for Canadian-born individuals aged 25 to 34 who are college graduates or hold a bachelor's degree. The data are drawn from the linked 2006 Census–2011 National Household Survey–T1 Personal Master File. Fields of study are defined according to the Classification of Instructional Programs.
En français. Canada. Les résultats des jeunes diplômés postsecondaires sur le marché du travail, 2005 à 2012
Tags : Article; Canada; Employability - youth; Labour market; Report 2005-2012; Source: Government of Canada/Statistics Canada; Youth - employability;

Africa. Millions of graduates quit Sub-Saharan Africa
In total, 13 per cent of all degree holders from Sub-Saharan Africa emigrated over this period, the highest proportion of any region around the world. But the situation in some countries is critical. In Zimbabwe, 44 per cent of people with a degree emigrated between 2000 and 2011. For Mauritius, the figure over this period is 43 per cent and for Sierra Leone 33 per cent.
Related report. Connecting with Emigrants: A Global Profile of Diasporas 2015
2015 November Newsletter; Africa/South of the Sahara; Article; Brain drain; Report 2015; Source: OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; Source: SciDev;

European Union. Keeping young people in (vocational) education: what works?
In countries where vocational pathways account for a large share of education and training, rates of early school leaving are below the EU target for 2020 (10%). Conversely, in countries where VET lags behind, the dropout rate is higher than 10%; in some cases, significantly so. Briefing note available in Spanish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish and Portuguese.
Tags : Briefing note; European Union; Source: Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training; Trend - VET 2020; VET - trend 2020; VET - vocational education and training; Youth;

Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM) 2015
The KILM consists of country-level data on 17 key indicators of the labour market from 1980 to the latest available year. The new edition includes an analysis of the link between education and access to the labour market.
Tags : Annual report 2015; Labour market; Source: ILO - International Labour Organization; Statistics;

“Start Here”: Instructional Design Models for Online Courses
An instructional design model is the place to start—it is a framework, a tool that guides the structure of a course, that leads the learner to a topic, that removes distractions, provides focus, but still allows a learner to take control. Effective instructional design also helps an instructor to teach, to guide and support learners, and to promote meaningful and active learning. When an online course is not well-designed, often the student doesn’t know where to start, is not sure where to find resources, how to interact, or how to learn. Furthermore, if a student is preoccupied about technical aspects of the course due to ambiguous instructions, glitches, or cumbersome applications, the focus becomes not on learning, but on the technology—more barriers. There are numerous models for instructional design, yet few exist that are specific to online course design.
Tags : Course - online course design; Instructional design; Source: Online Learning Insights; Tools;

Glossary of Curriculum Terminology
The main purpose of the UNESCO Glossary of curriculum-related terminology is not to establish standard universally applicable definitions. Rather, it is intended to be a working reference tool that can be used in a range of activities and help to stimulate reflection among all those involved in curriculum development initiatives. Given the strong connection between concepts and practice, such a Glossary may contribute to productive reflection within national education systems, as well as regional and international contexts, on the role of curriculum terminology in promoting meaningful improvements.
Tags : Curriculum; Glossary; Source: UNESCO;