| Skills acquisition is vital for an economy to compete and grow, particularly in an era of economic integration and technological change. Skill needs are widespread in most developing countries - they are not only demanded by the modern wage sector but also by the agricultural and informal sectors. Vocational Education and Training (VET) is a direct means of providing workers with skills more relevant to the evolving needs of employers and the economy. The World Bank works closely with governments to develop efficient, cost-effective, and equitable training systems, and provides policy advice and support for VET reform in the training sub-sector. Related Employment Policy Primer Papers  Effectiveness of Lending for Vocational Education and Training: Lessons from World Bank Experience (194KB PDF)
Social Protection Discussion Paper No. 0222
Canagarajah, S., A. Dar, R. Nording and D. Raju
September 2002
This paper reviews the Bank involvement in the vocational education and training sub-sector in the 1990s. This paper aims to do just that by mainly seeking answers to the following questions:
- How has the Bank performed in its lending services to its clients in VET?
- How have VET projects performed in terms of meeting stated objectives?
- What factors led to the success or failure of Bank operations?
Based on what has been learned, this paper provides suggestions about how the performance of future VET interventions can be improved. This review concerns itself primarily with implementation performance and proposes measures to improve project outcomes.
Training Levies: Rationale and Evidence From Evaluations (88kb pdf)
by Dar, Amit, Sudharshan Canagarajah, and Paud Murphy, World Bank
June 2001
Skills for Productivity: Vocational Education and Training in Developing Countries
Middleton, John, Adrian Ziderman, and Arvil Van Adams, World Bank
June 1993
Vocational and Technical Education and Training
Middleton, John, Adrian Ziderman, and Arvil Van Adams, World Bank
May 1991
Vocational Education and Training: A Review of World Bank Investment
Middleton, John, and Terri Demsky, World Bank
July 1988
Related Employment Policy Primer Note Training Levies: Evidence from Evaluations (91KB PDF)
Employment Policy Primer Note No. 6, April 2004
Special Feature: Vocational Skills Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
This series of studies reviews the state of skills development in Sub-Saharan Africa, 10 years after the publication of the seminal World Bank research on the subject, "Vocational and Technical Education and Training: A World Bank Policy Paper".
Multinational Enterprises & Training
The goal of this set of studies is to identify policy instruments to leverage foreign direct investment (FDI) for greater contribution to the knowledge economy. Specifically, the relative importance of skill level in attracting FDI and the evaluation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) potential to contribute to MNEs training will be explored. Top |
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