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GREENING OF SKILLS IN ASIA: AGENDA FOR GREEN GROWTH AND CHALLENGES OF SKILL GAPS
M. Pavlova
The report present some results of the research, carried out in Sri Lanka. The research investigated what skill gaps are present in the sphere of green sustainable development and what threats may appear in future.
Green growth and skills development. To support growth in Asia and the Pacific it is important for the region to rebalance towards better-quality growth by redirecting growth drivers from extra-regional demand to intra-regional and domestic demand and reorientation of policies towards ‘propagating the green economy’ (UN, 2012, p.491). “These policies would improve the quality of growth by making it more inclusive and sustainable while also boosting drivers of domestic and regional demand and thus reducing vulnerability to external shocks (UN, 2012, p.49).” Knowledge-intensive “green revolution” in agriculture and support for the development of the “green economy” that recognises the “important interlinkages between the environmental resource base, economic systems and social development” (UN, 2012, p.50) are suggested as key directions for
policies/development. Greening of economies through investment in such areas as renewable energy resources, green manufacturing sectors, urbanisation, food security, and biodiversity will have an impact on skill development needs. A holistic integration of environment and development into national economic and social policymaking is an important consideration for governments in the region. However, hardly any skills development policies were written with green growth in mind. As a result in many developing countries governments and formal TVET have not yet responded to skills challenges associated with environmental issues and climate change. “Training responses are often isolated and sporadic, and their impact on the greening of industries and the economy as a whole remains limited (ILO, 2011, p.142)1 2.”
The importance of education and training for green growth strategies has been highlighted by research on green growth (e.g., OECD, 2011 )3. However, the reality is that there is a lack of demand and a slow pace of new qualification development which prevent learning providers from developing new learning content. Also it is difficult for TVET providers to meet “the needs of employers with diverse occupational profiles and to understand the skills needs of organisations” (CEDEFOP, 2012, p.94). This paper reports on some results of research conducted in Sri Lanka where managers from 11 TVET institutions were interviewed and 49
1 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) (2012). Pursuing Shared Prosperity in an era of turbulence and high commodity prices. UN: UN publication. Accessed from: http://www.unescap.org/pdd/publications/survey2012/download/Survey_2012.pdf
2 ILO (2011). Skills for green jobs. A global view: synthesis report based on 21 country studies (by Strietska-Ilina, O., Hofmann, C., Duran Haro, M. and Jeon, S.). Geneva: ILO
3 OECD (2011). Towards Green Growth, OECD Publishing: Paris.
4 CEDEFOP (2012).Green skills an environmental awareness in vocational education and training. Research paper #24. Publication Office of the European Union: Luxemburg.
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TVET institutions responded to the survey. The paper will analyse current and future skill gaps associated with formulation and implementation of government policies in the areas of environmental protection and sustainable development.
Sri Lanka: Current gaps. The analysis of practices in skill development based on the interviews and survey results revealed the TVET providers’ belief that currently there is no ‘green’ demand from the employers’ side. All greening initiatives have been introduced by the government or individual people working in TVET. Vocational Training Providers (VTPs) receive in-formal on-going feedback from industry and formal industry contributions to courses development and review, and to skill-based competencies development. VTPs are trying to adjust their programs to the existing needs of industries as well as local communities. Therefore, currently the green skills gap between TVET provision and LM requirements is nominal. This is mainly due to the fact that industry in general is not becoming green.
Environmental regulations set up by the government are not always observed (however, an obvious exception is cars’ emission control and refrigerant recovery). When analysis is based on comparison of TVET curriculum to environmental laws and regulations specific to such sectors as the hospitality, energy, transport, apparel and construction, the skill gaps are evident. These gaps are mainly at high skills levels with the exception of the construction sector where gaps are at low and middle skills levels. However, the main reasons for skill gaps are not based on TVET non-compliance to industry needs but to the fact that currently companies do not fully implement environmental regulations and TVET providers are not oriented towards future industry needs. In addition, when the analysis is focused on new environmental-related occupations, the ones that require specialised green skills, then the gaps are also recognisable.
In terms of current practices, at the level of low and middle skills, focused green training is almost absent at VTPs. There are no obvious approaches towards greening, however, the introduction of some specific technical knowledge related to particular occupation area were revealed during this study. The Ministry of Environment plays an active role in staff training for these areas. These green elements need to be built upon as a number of international studies demonstrate that greening of existing occupations will have the most impact on the greening of economies. All VTPs need to include green skills training, however, only some of the vocational training institutes analysed are focusing on the introduction of new green technologies in their training programs. Some institutions identify new areas for training such as eco-tourism (SLITHM).
At the level of high skills there are a number of institutions that are planning to offer new programs specifically designed for training in greening practices relevant to sustainable development (e.g., Institute of Engineering Technology, IET, recently developed training course for costal engineering, and renewed course on irrigation engineering, and started training engineers for disaster management). However, the number of proposed courses at the level of specific high skills is still limited; many traditional civil engineering programs do not have green elements. Therefore, at the level of specific high skills, there will be a supply but the volume might not meet the demand, and the quality needs to be monitored.
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Organisations such as Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, CSRs industry programs (e.g. Brandix) offer training in energy efficiency, pollution prevention and control and waste management to build awareness across communities. The Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority runs training programs for energy mangers and auditors1 to meet the gaps in these areas.
Skills gaps that are not specific to green skills exist at all levels, although TVET providers are trying to establish links with industry and review courses based on industry feedback. The reasons for these skills gaps at the low and middle-skills level, identified by TVET providers in this study, include:
Training programs: (a) content of the courses do to allow students to learn how to solve problems in non-standard work situations; (b) separation of theory from practices has been identified as an issue and efforts are in place to develop ‘a new’ pedagogy; (c) not enough flexibility in curriculum, so it is difficult for VTPs to keep curriculum up to date; (d) insufficient places for workplace training and internships (due to a small formal sector); (e) difficulties in finding skilled trainers with required knowledge in turn leads to gaps in the knowledge of new technologies; (f) difficulties in keeping knowledge and skills of existing trainers up to date; and (g) lack of funding to invest in infrastructure and on-going cost to include environment-friendly technologies in training.
Development of labour market actors in TVET development (employers’ involvement): (a) Lack of practical skills in manipulation of required equipment, due to lack of adequate workshop facilities at some TVET institutions; (b) Workplace instructors need to be trained in pedagogy; (c) Unwillingness of companies to release workers for training in formal TVET for new skills development or improvement (may be due to the low quality of training facilities or cost of training; the situation is different for different providers); (d) Some difficulties in involving employers in activities beyond workplace training, including curriculum development (due to current institutional arrangements); (e) Many employers do not provide formal feedback on students’ skills and they are not sure what training is needed; they do not conduct training needs analysis to provide guidelines to VTP1 2s.
These reasons provide a powerful account of the causes that lead to skill gaps and need to be addressed when strategies for greening TVET are formulated.
In addition, TVET institutions are adjusting courses (to some extend) to the current needs of companies, however, those needs are constantly evolving. It is difficult for VTPs to catch up with limited funding and without proper mechanisms that allows a quick response to changing needs.
Sri Lanka: Future gaps. Directions for meeting the needs of the emerging green economy is sketched in several government documents 3 demonstrating the government’s commitment and awareness of the issues relevant to green growth. Implementation of the National Action Plan for Haritha Lanka Programme, for example, will have a significant impact on TVET in the country. Strategies
1 http://www.energy.gov.lk/sub_pgs/energy_managment_regulatory_1_2.html#4
2 Some of these reasons are similar to the ones identified by the CEDEFOP report (2012).
3 Particularly in National Council for Sustainable Development (2009). National Action Plan for Haritha Lanka Programme, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Colombo.
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proposed in the document include incorporation of sustainable development aspects in the curricular of Universities and Technical Colleges. The plan also includes a number of strategies for Greening Industries: (1) Consolidate Cleaner Production in Industries. (2) Establish Eco-industrial parks. (3) Certification of Industries. (4) Greening the Supply Chain. (5) Closing the Loop and Industrial Ecology. (6) Incentives for environmental friendly investments. Other parts of the document propose measures for Clean Air; Saving the Fauna, Flora and Ecosystems; Meeting the Challenges of Climate Change; Wise Use of the Coastal Belt and the Sea Around; Responsible Use of the Land Resources; Doing Away with Dumps; Water for All and Always; Green Cities for Health and Prosperity.
Action plan for universities and technical colleges includes: (a) [For universities] Review the existing curriculum and identify appropriate subject areas that need to be revised incorporating sustainable development practices and take measures for incorporation. Identify subject areas which need separate modules to complete Life cycle integration and develop separate modules to ensure adequate coverage. (p. 118). (b) [For technical colleges] Identify key subject areas in the curricula of all technical education courses which need integration of sustainable production and consumption practices. Revise the curricular by integration of sustainable production and consumption practices. Develop a system to measure performance of the integration and take actions to revise the curricula as appropriate where necessary. (p. 119) However these measures will affect only a part of VTPs. An action plan that covers the whole TVET sector is required. The quality, adequacy and availability of green training provided at all levels should be ensured by this plan.
Many strategies relevant to green growth that are adopted in Sri Lanka are designed to meet the dual challenge of rapid economic growth, environmental issues, including climate change, and social issues. Collectively, they suggest a national strategy to, first adapt to climate change, secondly, to further enhance ecological sustainability; third, to invest in science and modern technologies. These initiatives present long-term strategies for achieving key goals in the context of green inclusive growth. Bearing in mind government intentions in terms of a greening economy (e.g. National Action Plan for Haritha Lanka Programme , Cleaner Production Policy, 2004), gaps in the training for green collar occupations, in the short term, will be apparent. Targets such as improvement of productivity of raw materials, water and energy; minimisation of waste and emissions; increase of recycling and re-use, and the use of renewable energy should be accompanied by skills development. Considering there is a small number of institutions able to start addressing these issues and that there are no specific plans in place, TVET in Sri Lanka is ill-prepared to address the needs of industry in the emerging green economy.
Gradually all occupations should go green (not only green sectors1 ), so a coherent approach that involves all TVET providers is required to stimulate green growth. Both workplace learning and institution-based education and training are required. For the high skills level, specialised degrees and training courses
1 Recognised green sectors include such sectors as renewable energy, green construction and retrofitting, water resources management, biomaterials.
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(organised by both universities and industry associations) and company-based induction training are the most appropriate ways of learning about green practices and concepts. For the medium and low skills levels, on-the-job training and workplace learning are suggested as the most appropriate ways to learn green skills. Training at VTPs, informal training and entry-level training are also suggested. This proposal is based on the assumption that industry is going green.
In summary, as this paper suggests, current and future gaps in the green sectors (e.g. clean energy and green transport) are visible in Sri Lanka. Many initiatives by the government and aid organisations have produced a number of examples and approaches that needs to be analysed and implemented through formal TVET training. Current skill gaps in the non-green sectors (the ones that have the most impact on greening economies) are not obvious, as these industry sectors are not going green yet. Future skill gaps in the non-green sectors such as hospitality, construction, energy, apparel, and transport are identified in this research based on government development plans and environmental regulations.
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