2015年-世界发展银行全球_Workforce_Development___Middle_East_and_North_Africa_Regional_Synthesis_Report_46页_727kb

Middle East and North Africa Regional Synthesis Report on Workforce Development

Core Content

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of workforce development (WfD) systems in seven Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, and Yemen. It evaluates the systems using the World Bank's Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) WfD diagnostic tool, highlighting the need for policy and institutional reforms to better align skills supply with labor market demand.

Main Findings and Policy Implications

The WfD systems across the seven countries show more variation in strategic frameworks than in system oversight and service delivery. On average, they score better in the strategic framework dimension, but lower in the other two. The report emphasizes the importance of a regional approach to WfD development, as certain reforms can be benchmarked against international good practices.

Key Challenges

• Skills Mismatch: There is a significant mismatch between the skills provided by education systems and those required by the labor market, especially in technical and soft skills.
• Low Quality of Education: The quality of education in the region, as measured by international standardized tests, remains below expected levels, despite high literacy rates and enrollment.
• Limited Private Sector Engagement: The private sector is not sufficiently involved in shaping and delivering WfD programs, leading to a lack of responsiveness to labor market needs.
• Weak TVET Systems: Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is often viewed as a second-rate option, with declining enrollment and limited relevance to the labor market.

Recommendations

The report outlines three main dimensions of WfD systems and corresponding policy goals:

1. Strategic Framework

• Policy Goal 1: Establish a national apex-level WfD body with a clear mandate to lead reform initiatives and coordinate strategic policies.
• Policy Goal 2: Implement a demand-led approach by involving industry and other stakeholders in planning, oversight, and delivery of workforce training.
• Policy Goal 3: Strengthen coordination among all stakeholders in pursuit of education for employment, ensuring alignment of mandates and incentives.

2. System Oversight

• Policy Goal 4: Reform WfD financing to diversify funding sources and experiment with innovative mechanisms to incentivize performance.
• Policy Goal 5: Develop and implement competency-based standards, including a National or Regional Qualifications Framework, to improve the responsiveness of training providers to labor market needs.
• Policy Goal 6: Diversify pathways for skills acquisition to allow for greater flexibility and access to training programs.

3. Service Delivery

• Policy Goal 7: Enhance diversity and excellence in training provision by experimenting with new governance arrangements for public sector training providers.
• Policy Goal 8: Foster relevance in public training programs by ensuring they align with labor market demands and by strengthening the delivery of private sector training.
• Policy Goal 9: Promote a culture of monitoring and evaluation, along with information dissemination, to enhance accountability in WfD systems.

Regional Context

• Educational Coverage: Most MENA countries have achieved universal primary education, with high gross and net enrollment ratios.
• Literacy: Adult literacy rates have improved significantly, from 58% in 1990 to 80% in 2012.
• Educational Quality: Despite high enrollment, the quality of education remains below international standards, as evidenced by poor performance in standardized tests.
• Inequity: Educational outcomes are unequal across genders, urban/rural divides, and socioeconomic status.
• Financing: Educational spending is among the highest globally, but the results are modest, indicating inefficiency.
• TVET Systems: TVET is often seen as a second-choice option, with declining enrollment and limited relevance to the labor market.

Policy Goals and Scores

The following table summarizes the scores for each policy goal across the seven countries:

Conclusion

The report concludes that the WfD systems in the MENA region require significant reform to better meet labor market needs. A clear strategic vision, demand-led approaches, and effective coordination among stakeholders are essential. The SABER tool provides a valuable diagnostic framework for identifying areas of improvement and benchmarking progress. The World Bank is encouraged to play a role in supporting these reforms by identifying and building the capacity of in-country champions.