This document summarizes the key topics discussed in Break-Out Session 3 of the Southeast Asia Regional Policy Network on Education and Skills regarding governance of skills systems. The session addressed how effective governance systems can help countries improve skills delivery and labor market outcomes through: 1) enhanced coordination across ministries and levels of government; 2) engagement of labor market and civil society actors; 3) use of high-quality data for inclusive policymaking; and 4) diversified and effective funding. Speakers from the Philippines, Australia, and Indonesia shared their country experiences on these governance challenges and strategies.

1. BREAK-OUT SESSION 3:
GOVERNANCE OF SKILLS SYSTEMS
Southeast Asia Regional Policy Network on Education and Skills

2. A well-established governance system helps countries improve the delivery of skills,
fitting supply and demand and narrowing skills gaps

3. Co-ordination among all relevant ministries is important to ensure their ownership and
effective implementation of skills policies
Levels of policy co-ordination VS efficiency of policy implementation
Notes: Data from SEA countries: Policy coordination refers to the extent to what the government coordinates conflicting objectives into a coherent policy assuring that the trade-offs between policy goals are well balanced and
introducing horizontal co-ordination; Efficiency of policy implementation refers to the extent to what the government makes efficient use of the available human, financial and organizational resources towards achieving
its objectives. Data from baseline countries and OECD average: Policy co-ordination refers to how governmental decision-making is coordinated across institutional lines; Efficiency of policy implementation refers to the
effectiveness with which the government implements policies.
Source: Data from SEA countries: Levels of policy co-ordination - BTI Transformation Index (2020). Data from baseline countries and OECD average: Sustainable Governance Indicators, Bertelsmann Stiftung 2021
Cambodia
Indonesia
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Viet Nam
ASEAN average
Australia
Germany
Japan
Korea
USA
OECD average
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Efficiency
of
policy
implementation
Policy co-ordination

4. Giving greater autonomy to subnational governments and establishing effective vertical
co-ordination mechanisms are essential to improve responsiveness to subnational needs
and ensure policy coherence
Regional Authority Index, 2016
Note: The regional authority index measures the extent to which different levels of government in 81 countries can exert their authority in decision-making processes (Hooghe et al., 2016). The range of the index is
between 0 and 38 with the higher numbers indicating a country being more decentralized.
Source: Hooghe, L. et al. (2016), Measuring regional authority: a post-functionalist theory of governance
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Index score

5. Co-ordination mechanisms with labour market actors, such as employers and employees,
enables the skills system to be responsive to changing labour market needs
Firms identifying an inadequate educated workforce as a major constraint
and offering formal training, 2016 or latest year
Notes: Formal training refers to the extent to which permanent, full time individuals working on a given establishment were provided formal training by their employer. Union density refers to the share of employees who are
union members.
Source: Panel A - World Bank Enterprise Survey (2020). Panel B – ILOSTAT (2016)
0
5
10
15
20
25
%
Trade Union Density Rate, 2016 or
latest year
Myanmar
Indonesia
Thailand
Malaysia
Cambodia
Viet Nam
ASEAN average
Lao PDR
Philippines
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Percent
of
firms
offering
formal
training
Percent of firms identifying an inadequately educated workforce
as a major constraint

6. Co-ordination mechanisms with civil society actors ensure that the skills system is
inclusive and attends the needs of specific vulnerable groups
Civil society consultation and participation, 2020
Notes: Data from SEA countries: The extent to which governments enable the participation of civil society actors in agenda setting, policy formulation, deliberation and decision-making, policy implementation and
performance monitoring. Data from baseline countries and OECD average: civil society consultation and participation refers to the extent to which the government consults with economic and social actors in the
course of policy implementation.
Source: Data from SEA countries: Levels of policy co-ordination - BTI Transformation Index (2020). Data from baseline countries and OECD average: Sustainable Governance Indicators, Bertelsmann Stiftung 2021
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Index
points

7. Effective skills systems rely on high quality data for inclusive policy design, implementation
and evaluation
Right to information as well as availability of
publicised laws and government data, 2020
Note: The availability indicator measures whether basic laws and information on legal rights are publicly available, presented in plain language, and made accessible in all languages. It also measures the quality
and accessibility of information published by the government in print or online, and whether administrative regulations, drafts of legislation, and high court decisions are made accessible to the public in a timely
manner.
Source: World Justice Project (2020)
Cambodia
Lao PDR
Myanmar Malaysia
Thailand
Viet Nam Indonesia
Japan
ASEAN average
Philippines
Korea
Australia
OECD average
Singapore
Germany
USA
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Availability
of
publicised
laws
and
government
data
Right to information

8. It is essential to diversify sources of funding for skills policies and governance and
to allocate the funding effectively
Government expenditure on education, 2019
or latest year
Note: Panel A uses data from the latest available year to represent the percentage of GDP invested in education for selected countries. Panel B shows the percentage of GDP for initial household funding per
education level.
Source: Panel A - Government expenditure on education - World Bank World Development Indicators (2020); Panel B - Initial household funding of education - UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2016)
Initial household funding of education as a
percentage of GDP by education sector, 2016
0
5
10
15
20
25
% of
GDP
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
USA Indonesia Australia Japan Viet Nam Cambodia
% of
GDP
Primary Secondary Tertiary

9. Discussion questions
• How can co-operation and collaboration across ministries be strengthened?
• How can co-operation and collaboration across levels of government be fostered?
• How can labour market actors (employers and employees) be engaged in skills
policies?
• How can civil society actors be engaged in skills policies?
• How can high quality and relevant skills data be collected, processed, managed and
used for skills policies?
• How can financial resources be diversified, financial needs be assessed, and priorities
for financial allocation be determined?

10. 10
Speakers for the session
Ms. Dominique Rubia-TUTAY
Assistant Secretary, Employment and General
Administration Cluster, Department of Labor
and Employment, Philippines
Ms. Katerina LAWLER
Assistant Secretary, Department of
Education, Skills and Employment,
Australia
Mr. Muchtar AZIS
Director of Competency Standards and
Training Programs – Ministry of
Manpower, Indonesia