CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
The Red Seal Award of Excellence
May 1, 2013 to June 12, 2013
The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) is pleased to launch the call for nominations for the second biennial Red Seal Award of Excellence. This award honours the contributions of provincial/territorial/federal apprenticeship and trade certification staff to the Red Seal Program.
The award will be presented to an individual working within the apprenticeship system as a staff member/technical training provider who has demonstrated inspirational leadership in the development and promotion of apprenticeship and trade certification.
http://www.red-seal.ca/c.4nt.2nt@-eng.jsp?cid=33
CVA / English Web Watch
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IN FOCUS
Skills shortages in Canada
| >> | Canada.
Flaherty to make skills training a budget focus The federal budget will take a new look at how provinces handle the $2.5-billion a year Ottawa spends for job skills training programs. Tags: Canada; Skills - development; Target group: Governments; Economics - taxes and investment; Article; Source: The Globe and Mail; |
| >> | Canada.
Does Canada have a labour shortage or a skills shortage? A recent report highlighted evidence of a growing mismatch in the Canadian job market. Many people remain without jobs, even as many employers complain that they cannot fill available job vacancies. With the national unemployment rate at 7.4 per cent – well above the pre-recession level of about 6 per cent – and with 5.2 unemployed workers for every available job opening reported by employers, it would seem that Canada is not suffering generalized labour shortages. And Upgrading your skills? Better read this first Tags: Mismatch training/workforce - skills; Skills - shortage; Canada; Analysis - trends; Article; |
| >> |
Canada's labour pain: 1.3 million jobless, but not enough skills Some companies may be having a tough time finding suitable new hires – but Canada's problem, at least right now, is not a labour shortage. Tags: Employment trend; Canada; Mismatch training/workforce - skills; Article; Unemployment; Skills - shortage; Source: The Globe and Mail; |
| >> | Canada.
Mind the gap: No 'people skills,' no job Work-force shortage is already here, especially in Western Canada. There are three components to the problem of labour shortages. The first two – an aging and shrinking work force, and a knowledge-skills shortage – have been well documented. But the third is a shortage of the essential skills required in any job. Tags: Article; Skills - shortage; Workforce - shortage; Canada; Source: The Globe and Mail; |
| >> | Canada.
Tackling the Top 10 Barriers to Competitiveness Governments and businesses across regions and sectors will need to work cooperatively and aggressively to address the skill issue, particularly in four key areas: upskilling, immigration policies, education-employment alignment and Aboriginal education and workforce development. Tags: Canada; Trend - analysis; Skills - shortage; Document; Source: Canadian Chamber of Commerce; |
| >> | Canada.
Collaboration essential to overcome skills shortage Canada's level of productivity has slipped among OECD nations, from third in 1960, to 17th in 2010. One of the key reasons for this declining productivity is the skills shortage. It's not that there are no skilled workers; it's that there are no workers with the right blend of skills required in the 21st-century labour market. Tags: Skills - shortage; Canada; Analysis; Article; Source: Financial Post; |
| >> | Canada.
Manufacturing sector needs to attract Gen Y The manufacturing sector has taken a hit in the past few years - especially Ontario - but there are pockets of stronger hiring activity and the most pressing issue is how employers are failing to address the generation gap between Millennials and generation X workers. Tags: Skills - shortage; Trend - employment; Target group: Youth; Field: Manufacturing industry; Canada; Article; Source: Working.com; |
| >> | Canada.
Understanding the Value, Challenges, and Opportunities of Engaging Métis, Inuit, and First Nations Workers Canadian businesses face current and future challenges finding enough qualified workers to meet their needs. The Aboriginal population of Canada–including Métis, Inuit, and First Nation–as an underutilized source of labour, can help businesses fill skills and labour gaps. * Need a one-time free registration to access the document http://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=4886 Tags: Target group: Employers; Skills - shortage; Target group: Aboriginals; Canada; Employment trend; Document; Source: Conference Board of Canada; |
| >> | Canada.
Skilled trades talent shortage is next crisis for Canadian businesses Ask any entrepreneur about the biggest challenges facing his business, and they'll likely say it's hiring good people. Seasoned executives and sales people are always scarce, but the shortage of traditional skilled trades – cooks, electricians, mechanics and carpenters – is a national problem that shows no sign of easing. Of the 10 jobs business owners found hardest to fill, the most serious gap was in trades – ranking ahead of engineers, teachers and nurses. Tags: Trend - analysis; Canada; Employment trend; Skills - shortage; Article; Source: Financial Post; |
| >> |
Canada/British Columbia Labour Market Profile: B.C. Skills Deficit Looming in 2016 Skills shortage will strike BC in 2016 and continue to grow, unless immediate action is taken to improve access to all types of higher education. The report observes that in 2016, the number of jobs requiring university, college, or trades credentials will exceed the supply of BC graduates – a skills shortage that will expand through to 2020. Tags: British Columbia; Canada; Trend - analysis; School-to-work transition; Employment trend 2016-2020; Skills - shortage; Document; Source: RUCBC - Research Universities' Council of BC via ContactPoint; |
| >> | Canada/Ontario.
Paths to Prosperity: Higher Learning for Better Jobs Ontario has strong colleges and universities, but too many graduates can't find work in the areas for which they've prepared. At the same time, we face a shortage of skilled workers in the coming decades. Tags: Ontario; Canada; Skills - shortage; Skills - mismatch training/workplace; School-to-work transition; Document; Source: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario; |
| ARTICLES and PAPERS | |
| >> | Germany.
Trends in German VET 2011/2012 This compilation of articles offers an overview of current trends and developments within the German system of vocational education and training, with a particular focus on questions of skills shortage, permeability and monitoring VET. Tags: 2013 April bulletin School-to-work transition; Apprenticeship; Skills - standards; VET - vocational education and training; Trend - analysis; Germany; Article; Source: BIBB - Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training; |
| >> | India.
Job Preparation and International Collaboration Are Themes of Indian Higher-Education Conference Even as India struggles to educate its burgeoning population, it faces a second pressing challenge: better preparing its college graduates for a competitive global work force. Tags: India; Trends; Workforce - development strategy; Article; Source: The Chronicle; |
| >> | Malawi.
Professional skills development in a resource-poor setting: the case of pharmacy in Malawi Called 'task shifting', this strategy involves re-delegating professional tasks to nonprofessional cadres according to a skills-based toolkit. This paper suggests redefining this toolkit by bridging health research into dialogue with non-health disciplinary concerns such as post colonialism and aid dependence. In conclusion, it argues that professional skills development is context-laden; and in need of a human-centered approach that involves true indigenous participation-challenges not unlike those faced by the vocational skills discourse. Tags: Lower-income countries; Skills - development; Field: Pharmacy; Malawi; Task shifting; Paper; Source: University of Nottingham; |
| >> | UK.
Making apprenticeships more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises The review makes recommendations around raising awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships, empowering SMEs to get the best from their training providers, and simplifying ownership and responsibility for the apprenticeships program and removing barriers. Tags: United Kingdom; Target group: SME- Small to medium-sized enterprises; Apprenticeship - programs; Review; Source: Government of UK/Department for Business Innovation and Skills; |
| >> | USA.
'Efficiency' and 'Vocationalism' as Structuring Principles of Industrial Education in the USA The aim of this paper is to present a brief historical reconstruction of the pedagogical and educational political discussion about education for the industrial sector in America. Unlike in Germany, a dual model of vocational education and training characterised by an interlocking of school-based instruction and workplace training has not managed to establish itself as a discrete educational sector in America. Currently, education for industry is provided mainly in schools and tends to be oriented towards the criteria of efficiency and vocationalism. Tags: Comparative analysis; VET - history; Field: Industry; Germany; VET - vocational education and training; United States of America; Article; Source: Vocations and Learning; |
| >> |
Students' Learning Processes during School-Based Learning and Workplace Learning in Vocational Education: A Review Learning in vocational schools and workplaces are the two main components of vocational education. There are, however, some major concerns about the combination of learning in these two learning environments, since vocational schools are primarily based on the rationales of learning and theory, while workplaces are based on the rationales of working and practice. This study therefore aims to structure empirical insights into students' learning processes during the combination of school-based learning and workplace learning in vocational education. Tags: Learning - process; VET - development; School-based learning; Workplace - learning; Review; Article; Source: Vocations and Learning; |
| >> |
7 E-Learning Best Practices for Maximum Global Workforce Training ROI The rapid development of technology means employee training is more critical than ever to ensure that employees have the right technology skills to keep businesses operating at peak performance. If employees are behind the times when it comes to technology, a business risks losing its competitive edge. And while technology is developing more rapidly, it also is becoming more complex. Organizations are investing in complex, enterprise-wide software platforms, such as SharePoint, but often do not receive the expected return on investment (ROI) due, in part, to a lack of employee training. Tags: Return on investment; Training - workplace; eLearning; Article; Source: Training magazine; |
| >> |
Generation "U": The Plight of 75 Million Unemployed Youth The problem of youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb scenario, making one wonder if being young is really an advantage and whether such a large group of disgruntled youth will hold the key to the future of nations. The solutions to the youth unemployment problem are oft-repeated in many a forum: prioritizing youth-centric policies, structuring continuous skill development programs, developing curricula in touch with the latest needs of the industry, bringing out nationally and internationally accepted skill certification systems, matching skill sets of individuals with the relevant jobs, granting fiscal incentives to the industry for skilling and employing the youth, and promoting entrepreneurial skills amongst youth. Related ILO report. Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012 Tags: Economic crisis; Trend - analysis; Unemployment; Target group: NEET - not in employment - education or training; Target group: Youth 16-24; Source: Diplomatic Courrier; Source: ILO - International Labour Organization; |
| >> |
Developing Global Workforce: An Integrative Intercultural Effectiveness Model for International Human Resource Development Globalization has a significant impact on the field of human resource development (HRD), especially on international HRD. The challenge of developing global workforce with intercultural competencies has received extensive attention. It is necessary to reexamine the structure and content of IHRD programs that facilitate individual to be interculturally competent. This paper attempts to propose an integrative intercultural effectiveness (ICE) model as the guidelines for IHRD to identify the process and content in developing intercultural competencies. Tags: Development - workforce; Paper; Cross-cultural learning; Conference proceeding 2012; Source: AERC - Adult Education Research Conference; |
| >> |
The Unbearable Lightness of Evidence-Based VET Practice The move towards evidence-based policy and practice is problematic in multiple ways. It is based on a simplistic view of how straightforward evidence is and ignores a wide range of valid research approaches. In the case of vocational education and training (VET), there is neither definitional clarity nor data that would permit confidence in such an approach. Moreover, there is clear evidence that such approaches are routinely forgotten about when there is political or financial interest in promoting a particular policy position. Tags: Article; VET - vocational education and training; VET - assessment; Evidence; Source: NORRAG - Northern Research Review and Advisory Group; |
| DOCUMENTS | |
| >> | Australia/Queensland state.
The Government response to the Queensland Skills and Training Taskforce final report The report sets out the reforms needed to focus training on job outcomes, transform skills investment, renew Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Queensland and strengthen trade skill pathways in order to revamp and modernise Queensland's vocational education and training sector. Tags: Australia/Queensland; Reform - VET; VET - reform; Report; Source: Government of Australia/Queensland state/Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations; |
| >> | Bangladesh.
TVET reform: design an inclusive skills development program The TVET Reform Project will strengthen economic development by ensuring that technical and vocational education and training in Bangladesh is of a consistently high quality, accessible to students, internationally recognized and relevant to the needs of industry. By introducing new approaches such as competency-based training and assessment, structured apprenticeships and recognition of prior learning, quality vocational training will create pathways to decent work for all. Tags: Bangladesh; Skills - development; VET - reform; Document; Source: ILO - International Labour Organization via UNESCO/UNEVOC; |
| >> | Pakistan/Punjab.
Baseline survey: labor market outcomes of Punjab TEVTA graduates This study examines the labor market outcomes of graduates from training institutes run by Punjab Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA), the largest technical and vocational education and training provider in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Tags: Pakistan/Punjab; SMS-based survey; Best practice; VET - competence-based vocational education; Employability; Working paper; Survey; Source: World Bank; |
| >> | Asia.
Graduate employability in Asia The study aimed to analyze the factors that have an impact on graduate employability, and to identify policies and strategies that have been put in place by universities to prepare and train their graduates to meet the demands of the workplace. The study also attempted to highlight the plight of graduates with degrees in information and communication technologies (ICT). Given the prevalence of technology in all aspects of our lives and the rapid development in the field, the capacity of universities to adapt and update their programmes and curriculum accordingly is of particular concern. Tags: Field: ICT;Asia; Philippines; Malaysia; Indonesia; Case study; Target group: Youth; School-to-work transition; Employability; Document; Source: UNESCO |
| >> |
Preliminary study on the technical and legal aspects relating to the desirability of a global standard-setting instrument on the recognition of higher education qualifications Item 42 of the provisional agenda for the upcoming UNESCO Executive Board meeting, 10 - 25 April 2013. Tags: Equivalence - diplomas; Study; Higher - education; Source: UNESCO |
| >> |
Technical and vocational education and training (TVET): report on the full mid-term review of the implementation of the strategy for TVET Item 7 of the provisional agenda for the upcoming UNESCO Executive Board meeting, 10 - 25 April 2013. Tags: Target group: UNESCO. Mid-term review; VET - review; Source: UNESCO; |
| >> | European Union.
Guide for training in SMEs The guide gives interested stakeholders information on how training and skills development can be pursued in the context of an SME. The guide details some of the key challenges SMEs face and information on how to deal with them and find innovate solutions. It also provides various examples from across Europe that stakeholders can benefit from. Tags: Continuing education; European Union; Best practice; Target group: SME- Small to medium-sized enterprises; Training - workplace; Guide; Source: European Commission; |
| >> |
Women and TVET: report of the UNESCO-UNEVOC online conference The online discussion touched upon the various political, economic and social barriers that prevent girls and women from successfully entering the world of work. Lessons learnt from this debate illustrates the need for building a strong knowledge base on good practices and success stories, which can serve to guide TVET experts on the policy-making level, as well as and perhaps even more so, support the successful implementation of such policies in improving women's active participation in TVET globally. Tags: Education - access; Workforce - development; Target group: Women; Analysis; Gender - equity; VET - vocational education and training; Document; Source: UNESCO-UNEVOC; |
| >> |
Vocational education and training: policy and practice in the field of special needs education: literature review This report contains a critical review of the literature on field studies of vocational education and training (VET) related issues for learners with special educational needs, covering two priority areas: (1) the key factors that facilitate VET for learners with special education needs; and (2) the relationship with the labour market and key challenges. Tags: Review; Document; Target group: Students with special needs: Special education; Educational policy; VET - review; Source: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education; |
| >> |
Transforming TVET: Building skills for work and life Documents of the Third International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training Shanghai, People's Republic of China, 13-16 May 2012. This study examines evidence of TVET policies and programmes from a range of countries in all world regions. It takes stock of the current situation and asks what policy measures might be taken, in times of economic uncertainty, to facilitate TVET learning and skills progression by more young people, women and men. It promotes the use of more integrated and development sensitive approaches that consider country specific challenges. See also Third International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training One important outcome congress was "Shanghai Consensus": 1) deiterates the understanding of challenges confronting TVET 2) suggestions on actions to deal with the current challenges 3) emphasizes the significance of the active involvement of the international community including multi and bilateral participants, private institutes and NGOs to participate in TVET policy making 4) defines the direction of actions taken by UNESCO in advancing TVET reform and transformation. And Transforming technical and vocational education and training: building skills for work and life: Shanghai consensus Shanghai Consensus - Recommendations of the Third International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training 'Transforming TVET: Building skills for work and life'. Tags: Congress documents; Skills - development; Trend - analysis; VET - vocational education and training; Shanghai Consensus; Source: UNESCO; Source: Research Center for Vocational Education of Jilin Province; |
| OTHER | |
| >> |
New OECD page on skills Skills.oecd is an OECD web portal that presents all the most recent OECD reports, data and videos related to skills. Central to this site is the OECD Skills Strategy, the underlying data visualisations and country-specific data, findings and recommendations. |
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