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“Policy learning for Youth Skills

development”

Sören Nielsen (ex ETF)

GMR conference, Copenhagen

27. November 2012

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WHAT IS THE ETF?

Agency of the European Union

VisionTo make vocational education and training in the partner countries a driver for lifelong learning and sustainable development, with a special focus on competitiveness and social cohesion

ETF has both an analytical and developmental role and works within the EU policy framework

European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument countriesENP South:Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Tunisia and IsraelENP East:Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Russia

Potential candidate countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/1999),

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THE TORINO PROCESS

The Torino Process is

a participatory process

leading to an evidence-based analysis of VET policies in a given country.

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FOUR PRINCIPLES

ownership of both process and results by partner country stakeholders

broad participation in the process as basis for reflections and consensus-building/ policy learning

holistic approach, using a broad concept of VET for both young people & adults and using a system approach with links to economic & social demands

evidence or knowledge-based assessment

DEMAND

SUPPLY

economic demand

companiesemploymentjobs

social demand

individual learnersdisadvantaged groups

impact / monitoring

assessment & certification

teachers’/ instructors’ training

training sites / school workshops & enterpriseslearning

materials

training providers

competence-based standard / qualifications

classification of occupations

curricula

THE VETDELIVERY

CYCLEsector skill needs analysis

EQF

Action-oriented learning

Section B

Section D

Section C

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Policy learning approach - WHY

Policy learning approach instead of

Policy taking or Policy copying or ‘quick fix’ approach

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WHY Policy learning?

• ETF approach since 2003

• Helping countries to help themselves

• Working method:

Facilitation of policy advice by using lessons from new learning paradigm

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Policy learning - WHY?

Policy ‘logic’ - sustainability

against

Project ‘logic’ - short-term - run by foreign experts - fixed output demands - pilot type of activities

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Policy learning – WHAT?

Systemic reforms of VET only successful if policy development and implementation are firmly based on:

• broad OWNERSHIP • fit into context/EMBEDDEDNESS • ensuring SUSTAINABILITY

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From ‘best practice’ to ‘next practice’

Effective policy learning should aim for a deeper understanding of policy problems and processes than is provided by simple research for and implementation of ‘best practice’

Policy learning includes:• Ability to learn from past experience• Ability to learn appropriately from other countries• Ability to learn from local innovation

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The three Dos and the two Don’ts

Three Dos:

• Starting from Present Institutions• Seeing the World through the Eyes of the Client• Respect Autonomy of the Doers

Two Don’ts:

• Don’t Override Self-Help Capacity with Social Engineering• Don’t Undercut Self-Help Capacity with Benevolent Aid

David Ellermann (2005) «Helping People Help Themselves. From the World Bank to an

Alternative Philosophy of Development Assistance  

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Lessons learned so far

Facilitation of policy learning must train local diagnostic skills

• Avoid the risk of massive ‘policy epidemics’• Train the capacity to analyse realities on the ground• Ensure fit into contexts

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Lessons learned so far

Shift to a broader paradigm:

• Catalyzing domestic collective stakeholder capacity for sustainable institutional change

• Capacity develop is fundamentally a country-owned process of change

• Imperative to shift to country-led participatory diagnostics with local stakeholders – they know their problems and understand best their political economy constraints

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South-South exchange and Innovation Platforms?

• Connect practitioners to other practitioners who have addressed similar development problems?

• Learning from peers rather than ETF staff or recycled expatriate technical assistance?

• See our role as connectors to the best sources of knowledge, finance, donor partners and agents of change – as facilitators, brokers of knowledge and learning process organisers? (the good teacher!)

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Conclusion

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploringWill be to arrive where we startedAnd know the place for the first time.

T.S. Elliot, “Little Gidding, V.”