Government spending is declining, yet the need for jobs and training is higher than ever. The current supply of quality apprenticeships is clearly not sufficient to meet demand and that was highlighted this year when British Telecom received 24,000 applications for only 221 places on its apprenticeship programme. The main obstacle to increasing…

Low-qualified adults have experienced a greater rise in unemployment than any other group in Europe. What particular barriers are they facing in (re-)entering the labour market? How can VET be used in active labour market policies to help overcome these barriers? How can training programmes be designed to address the particular needs of this…

This is a unique and groundbreaking collection of questions and answers coming from higher education institutions on diverse fields and across a wide spectrum of countries and cultures. It creates routes for further innovation, collaboration amidst the Sciences (both Natural and Social), the Humanities, and the private and public sectors of…

Written by a 2000 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, this paper explores the assumptions and foundations of current policies toward skill formation. The paper examines the conventional wisdom articulated by political leaders and draws on a body of recent scholarship that challenges many of the premises that govern popular policy…

There is a gap in the current research literature regarding evaluation of TAFE outcomes and it stems from a predominant human capital focus. The existing paradigm of human capital, which values the acquisition of knowledge and skills for their economic value, has been of primary interest and significance, particularly in terms of government policy…

This working paper, part of a project on the applicability of the French training system in the United States, argues that a systematic national commitment to midcareer worker retraining is necessary for American prosperity and international economic competitiveness. Although findings of the early human capital theorists demonstrated that an…

The aim of the article is to critically consider the implications of the African Renaissance project for skills formation policies and priorities with a focus on the education and training systems of sub-Saharan Africa. The article commences with an account of the origins of the African Renaissance idea and its latest incarnation in the New…

This document provides European social partners' responses to the Commission's memorandum on lifelong learning. Part 1, Opinion of the European Center of Enterprises, makes comments and proposals related to the memorandum's six key messages, which are new basic skills for all; more investment in human resources; innovation in teaching and…

This document contains 11 reports from a 2-day meeting on how to report on investments in vocational education and training in enterprises and whether such reporting is worthwhile. The document begins with a brief overview of the meeting and the meeting agenda. The remainder of the report is devoted to the meeting papers, which are titled as…

Strategies for overcoming exclusion through adult learning were identified through case studies of 19 initiatives in the following countries: Belgium; Mexico; the Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; and the United Kingdom. The study programs involved a diverse array of formal, nonformal, and informal public sector, community, and enterprise-based…