Education and international labour market

Education makes people efficient in action and progressive in thought. There is a link between education and success in life. Contemporary work-based education is a highly effective and positive concept for today’s world, especially when we think of the demands of the international labour market. And we have to build the future generation by prioritising this demand. Education and work-related learning are essential to preparing young people for adult life, helping them to see the relevance of education to their future lives and developing their employability. Many of the skills valued in both higher education and future employment can be developed through career planning and work-related activities. Improved knowledge of the labour market and employers needs will help young people to make informed decisions about choices in learning and work. Whatever a school’s approach to meeting its statutory duties for education and work related learning, it is likely that all its teachers and some of its non-teaching staff will be involved in planning and delivering that provision at some time in each school year/academic year.

Rapid changes are taking place in the labour market in all the countries of the world, driven by technological change, global economic activity and other factors. 11-19 year olds do not need to know about changing employment patterns in detail, but they do need to understand general labour market trends and how to access sources of labour market information. Young people need to appreciate the employer’s ever-increasing demands in terms of skills as well as the likelihood that they will have to adapt and retrain for new jobs throughout their working lives.

A labour market is a mechanism that matches potential employers of people (the demand for labour) with people who are available for work (the labour supply). Labour markets operate at local, regional, national and, increasingly, at international levels, reflecting how economies operate. The specific and transferable skills being sought by employers are:

Personal qualities

(a) Intelligence - the ability to analyse situations and solve problems, think things through and use common sense

(b) Knowledge - an understanding of basic principles rather than a lot of specialist knowledge (c) Willingness to learn – the ability and desire to learn, and to keep learning new things and new ways of doing things,

(d) Flexibility and adaptability – the ability to respond to change, to try new things, and to manage change.

(e) Self-regulatory skills – the ability to be self disciplined about time-keeping, appearance and managing yourself and your work

(f) Self-motivation – being a self-starter, resilient, tenacious and determined,

(g) Self-assurance – being confident and self directed,

(h) Commercial awareness - an appreciation of the business environment and what individuals need to do to survive and thrive.

Skills

(a) Communication skills – the ability to communicate, formally and informally, verbally and in writing, using ICT and other media, with a wide range of people both inside and outside the organization

(b) Interpersonal skills – the ability to relate to and feel comfortable with people at all levels and to be able to make and maintain relationships as circumstances change

(c) Ability to work in a team – the ability to work effectively in teams, often more than one team at once, and to switch roles from one project’s situation to another in an ever-changing work situation.

Rapid technological advances have improved communications and work processes. Workers have to train and retrain to keep up with the pace of change. Low skilled jobs are being automated, phased out or moved overseas where labour is cheaper. Industry is constantly changing, as are working practices. There are very few jobs for life and many people will have to consider re-training, learning new skills and gaining higher qualifications to compete in the labour market. Companies have to compete in a worldwide market. Technology has revolutionised how they work with each other: e-mail, Internet, video-conferencing. Globalisation also means global working – international companies may expect some employees to work anywhere in the world. Individuals could apply and compete for jobs on a local, national or international basis. The structures of industries and the occupations within them are changing. Many are becoming leaner, less hierarchical or organised around more freelance and contract work. These changes affect job opportunities and the working conditions and work/lifestyles that go with them. Busy lives mean that people are looking for more flexible work patterns. There is continued growth of part-time working, self-employment and temporary work, contract work (project based/programme based) and home working. Working hours are also changing, particularly with the growth of retail outlets that open throughout the night. The number of part-time jobs is expected to continue to grow, with a significant increase in the number of part-time jobs for men. Unemployment levels are expected to remain stable. The number of jobs demanding high skill levels continues to rise and the number of jobs demanding low skill levels continues to fall. This trend will continue for the foreseeable future.

Clearly, if young people are to make well informed and realistic decisions about their future career choices they need access to information about the jobs and courses that they are considering. In addition to knowing about the duties involved, the personal qualities and qualifications required and the entry routes into those opportunities they also need to know about job forecasts, possible working conditions and arrangements, and their longer term prospects. Otherwise they could invest a lot of time and money in pursuing an option that ultimately will not be available to them. Students preparing for work experience will need to use relevant job sites to inform their choice of placement. Students working towards an accredited work-related qualification, such as a several need based diploma courses, need an understanding of the labour market and its trends/absolute requirements.

The relationship between education and the international labour market is very close, especially for developing countries like ours. We need to make our education system more modern and more technology dependent as our workers have been working with great reputation in different countries of the world. The curriculum needs to be refined by prioritizing the relationship between education and the international labour market, taking into account the labour-intensive model of the developed world, and designing curricula based on some of the skills that are so prevalent in today’s world and essential for livelihood. To keep pace with today’s changing world, we must prioritize education, transform our workforce into manpower for the labour market, and prepare for it from now on. As real skill-based education enriches people’s lives, so we need to focus on creating a modern, progressive and technologically skilled manpower, away from the traditional education system.

The writer is Research Officer District Education Office (Secondary), Munshiganj.

He can be contacted at gazirashidro@gmail.com