Access to higher education remains a significant obstacle to Commonwealth nations with more applicants than places in many countries leading to an insufficient number of skilled graduates entering the workforce. Digital transformation initiatives have the potential to significantly increase access to higher education, however, if Commonwealth…

The Labour Party's manifesto aims to reform further and higher education by integrating business, training providers and unions within a governmental effort to ensure a highly trained workforce. Skills England will align training with labour market needs, empower local leaders and enhance support for job seekers. However, the focus on young people…

With the continuous innovation of market demands and the increasing complexity of the employment environment, cultivating modern talent capable of adapting to future technological advancements and new economic dynamics has become a global mission that transcends borders. This book explores key topics such as internships, apprenticeship programs,…

Apprenticeships for adults are one of the policy solutions to the need for supporting adults willing to train, while broadening the skills base of the working population across Europe. According to Cedefop estimates, there are around 128 million adults with potential for upskilling or reskilling in the European Union (EU). EU Member States have…

This study identified informal economic activities in Hausa community in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. It examined how people acquire knowledge and skills about the identified informal economic activities and provided explanation on why people prefer informal economic activities to other types of economic activities to making a living in Hausa community in…

The world of work is changing. Digitalisation, deepening globalisation and population ageing are having a profound impact on the type and quality of jobs that are available and the skills required to perform them. To what extent individuals, firms and economies can harness the benefits of these changes critically depends on the readiness of adult…

The collapse of the global economy in 2008 had a devastating impact on manufacturing and other sectors across Canada. Displaced workers were unprepared for the demands of the new knowledge-based economy and found that they required retraining to secure employment in modern, highly technical workplaces. In Ontario, the introduction of the Second…

This article explores the efficacy and cost effectiveness of New Labour's skills-based policies to help low paid workers adjust to the pressures generated by globalisation, of which the leading example was Train to Gain (T2G). It also analyses the more general issue of how, why and under what circumstances education, training and skills can help…

This article analyses policy and practice in social and cultural education for adults in England in the post Second World War era, beginning with the flowering of municipal adult education and the expansion of university extra-mural provision. It tracks the emerging policy focus on extending participation to under-represented groups, and on…

Lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important in today's societies. Individuals need to develop their skills through training in order to be successfully integrated in the labor market. We use data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies to investigate gender differences in training across 12 countries. We…

In Germany and Denmark, the systems of further education and career guidance are well developed, offering a wide range of services and learning opportunities for targeted, specific and also general skills development. Based on an empirical study with mid-career individuals in both countries, the article investigates how the different systems…

This report specifically looks at young people and their school-to-work transition patterns in Moldova. The European Training Foundation (ETF) initiated a mapping of the youth employment situation and policies in the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries in 2017. The aim is to support the countries' institutions and stakeholders in developing…

This article argues that the current social settlement underpinning vocational education and training (VET) in Australia is fractured. The current settlement is low trust and consists of qualifications based on competency-based training models of curriculum and competitive markets. The result is narrow qualifications that do not prepare people for…

Education providers and employers working together to prepare young people and adults for employment is internationally accepted as a key factor in effective technical and vocational education. In the English context, however, we argue that two related orthodoxies have prevailed -- 'employer engagement' and 'skills supply' -- in which education…

The world is undergoing a major transformation that requires new skills and qualifications, new ways for people to know about skills and qualifications, and new ways to acquire skills and qualifications. This toolkit is about skills and qualifications, and the benefits they provide for people in a changing environment. It focuses specifically on…