The OECD’s Regional Policy Network on Education and Skills aims to foster knowledge exchange in support of national growth and regional integration. The Network encourages a whole-of-government approach to formulating and implementing sound skills policies. It draws on the growing participation by Southeast Asian countries in the OECD’s education surveys and local job creation policy reviews, which provide valuable comparative data and analysis that can help countries in the region build more efficient and effective employment and skills systems.

1. OECD REGIONAL NETWORK ON
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Ways Forward
Presentation by Jonathan Barr, Policy Analyst, OECD

2. OECD Southeast Asia Programme
• The programme aims to
bring the relationship of
the OECD and Southeast
Asian countries to a new,
more strategic level,
support domestic reform
processes and contribute
to regional integration
initiatives.
• Partnership and
enhanced regional
integration are key to
supporting long-term
growth prospects

3. • aims to foster knowledge-exchange in support of
national growth and regional integration.
• encourages a whole-of-government approach to
formulating and implementing sound skills policies. It
draws together two streams of the OECD’s work in the
region:
1. growing participation by Southeast Asian countries in
the OECD’s education surveys and policy reviews
2. The Employment and Skills Strategies Initiative in
Southeast Asia (ESSSA), which since 2008 has been
helping countries in the region to design holistic policies
that tackle employment, training and skills issues in an
integrated manner.
OECD’s Regional Network on
Education and Skills

4. • Network comprising representatives from Ministries of Employment,
Vocational Training, Skills and Education in all ASEAN countries, together
with senior officials from OECD countries as well as relevant international
organizations such as ILO, UNESCO, and the ADB.
• Key outcomes of the work include:
– the identification of best policies and practices at national and local level that
contribute to better skills for better jobs in more productive economies,
– enabling evidence-based peer learning across Southeast Asia and OECD countries.
• Each year, an expert meeting is organised, co-chaired by an ASEAN and
OECD country delegate, to build the capacity of practitioners in
implementing effective strategies.
• Opportunity for more specific thematic workshops to build capacities and
mutual learning.
Annual network meetings

5. • New partnership with GIZ in the context of their
Regional Cooperation Programme to Improve the
Training of TVET Personnel.
• Plan is to jointly organise annual policy dialogues
based on topics of regional importance
• Possible research collaboration which could provide
more evidence-based information to support network
activities
Partnership with GIZ RECOTVET
Programme

6. Building stronger
information systems
on skills levels and
labour market use
This stream of work would seek to improve skills data and
evidence in the region through and support countries in using
such information to design better policies:
1) Collecting and using data on education and skills through
PISA and PIAAC: Solid data are essential for developing
effective skills policies. Policy makers need to have timely
information of the skills individuals have in order to
design appropriate education and training programmes
in school and beyond.
2) Mapping of skilled workers and the employers who seek
them: Matching skills to jobs is a particular challenge in
areas where a significant proportion of jobs are not of a
sufficient quality to attract local people. The OECD will
work with Southeast Asian economies to map the balance
between skills supply and demand within regions and
local areas.
Programme of Work 2015-16

7. Strengthening the
quality and
relevance of work-
based learning
through effective
employer
partnership and
engagement
This stream of work would explore what approaches
and financing mechanisms have been effective in
encouraging partnerships between employers and
education and training providers, and in particular
what government incentives work best in promoting
quality work-based learning opportunities in the
Southeast Asia Region.
Programme of Work 2015-16 (cont’d)

8. Programme of Work 2015-16 (cont’d)
Boosting local
capacity in the
implementation of
employment and
skills policies
To close the implementation gap, this stream of work
would seek to identify differences in capacities
across local areas and regions within Southeast Asia.
Working with participating countries, the OECD
would develop benchmarks to assess strengths and
weaknesses of regional and local governance
structures to produce better results and outcomes in
the implementation of skills policies.

9. • Comparative paper identifying policy
principles for employer engagement in
skills development and case studies of best
practices for mutual learning
• Skills outlook
• In-depth country reviews
2015-16 Outputs

10. Thank you
Jonathan.barr@oecd.org