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Do Diplomas In Armenia Guarantee Skills To Obtain Jobs?

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  • Do Diplomas In Armenia Guarantee Skills To Obtain Jobs?

    DO DIPLOMAS IN ARMENIA GUARANTEE SKILLS TO OBTAIN JOBS?

    http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:23042630~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~the SitePK:4607,00.html

    References

    Armenia-Education Reforms Quality and Relevance (Karine Harutyunyan)
    (ppt) Skills, Not Just Diplomas (Lars Sondergaard) (ppt)

    The World Bank regional report on education titled "Skills, Not Just
    Diplomas" addresses this question by discussing the bottlenecks of
    the education systems in the countries of Europe and Central Asia
    (ECA), all of which face skills gap as a result of declined education
    quality and relevance over the past twenty years. To close this gap,
    the report recommends, inter alia:

    To focus more on measuring education outputs-whether students learn
    and graduates find jobs, and use this information to improve teaching
    and learning, rather than on measuring inputs into learning-such
    as the number schools and teachers; To use incentives and grant
    greater autonomy to institutions on curriculum and teaching methods
    and increase accountability, instead of following detailed norms to
    manage the education system; Increase efficiency in expenditures to
    enhance learning outcomes.

    The "Skills, Not Just Diplomas" report was launched in Yerevan on
    October 21, 2011. The event was chaired by Sachiko Kataoka, World Bank
    Education Economist. Over 60 participants from Armenia's universities,
    colleges, schools, government, donor community and NGOs attended. In
    her keynote speech, Karine Harutyunyan, Deputy Minister of Education
    and Science, spoke of Armenia's reform achievements in the education
    sector from independence to date, and the lingering challenges ahead.

    Lars Sondergaard, World Bank Senior Economist and lead author of the
    report presented the key findings. "One reason we know that the skill
    gaps exist in Armenia is that firms report not being able to find
    skilled workers. Specifically, when surveyed in 2008, 54% of Armenia's
    firms reported that "skills" is a constraint to their growth, and 23%
    of the firms reported that it was a major or severe constraint," said
    Sondergaard speaking to journalists on the day of the report launch.

    "This is based on the results of a 2008 survey conducted for more
    than 10,000 firms in the countries in Eastern Europe and Central
    Asia in which almost 400 firms in Armenia were surveyed about the
    constraints they face."

    Like many countries in the region, Armenia faces the challenges of
    shrinking workforce and student population due to demographic factors,
    and firms increasingly complain about not finding workers with the
    skills they need. With fewer workers, each worker needs better -
    and different - skills and knowledge than what was needed in the past.

    "Throughout the world, there has been an increase in the demand
    for skilled labor for the global knowledge economy. The traditional
    concept of "manpower" made a transition to "mind-power." The world's
    economy has also moved from industrial to knowledge economy where
    productivity gains are driven by innovation and information and
    communication technology," said Jean-Michel Happi, World Bank Armenia
    Country Manager, in his opening remarks.

    Questions and comments from the audience included the following: the
    need to establish a sustainable and effective system of internship
    and on-the-job training for beginner teachers at schools; how the
    World Bank can help Armenia participate in the OECD's Program for
    International Students Assessment (PISA); whether emerging economies
    need to perform and score as highly in international tests as
    developed countries, given that the requirements of their job markets
    and expectations of firms are different; and the acknowledgement of
    the difficulty in addressing the efficiency dilemma of the country's
    small schools in remote areas.

    Twenty years ago, countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet
    Union, including Armenia, prided themselves on providing high quality
    and universal education. But most countries in the region have seen a
    decline in quality ever since. International test results show that
    many students - outside of a handful of countries - fail to acquire
    more than the most basic literacy and numeracy skills. Evidence also
    suggests that the rapid expansion in higher education has led to a
    decline in the quality and relevance of education provided. Armenia
    is one of the countries where visible quality improvement at the
    general education level has been observed in recent years, but little
    is known about Armenian students' skills beyond the 8th grade.

    The "Skills, Not Just Diplomas" report is ECA's new beat on the
    education system reforms in the region. It is the major regional
    publication on education for the last several years, and gives us
    insights about how to improve education based on the recent experience
    of the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

    To download the "Skills, Not Just Diplomas" report, please visit the
    World Bank Armenia website at www.worldbank.org.am.

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