How can we work towards more inclusive VET systems?

The pandemic has reversed years of progress in gender equality, health, education, skills, and productivity. Current World Bank projections suggest up to 150 million people will be pushed back into extreme poverty by the end of 2021. The impact has been particularly devastating for marginalized groups as well as for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), where much of the workforce is engaged in the informal sector and have no financial resources to curb the effects of the crisis.

Often excluded from emergency response measures, large flows of seasonal, migrant workers were forced to return home from urban areas or richer countries or were left stranded. It has become harder than ever to realize the goal of reducing extreme poverty to less than three per cent by 2030.

Quality education and skills development could help to create more resilient households, countries, and societies that would be better prepared to face future emergencies.

Vocational education is a proven gateway to decent work, rewarding occupations, self-employment, and entrepreneurship. However, the pandemic has disrupted delivery over the past 18 months. While it may have triggered innovative approaches to distance learning, the crisis has accentuated pre-existing gaps and barriers.

WorldSkills Conference 2021 - The Road Ahead: Skills for a Resilient Future will look at how vocational education and training can address poverty and become more inclusive so that no one is left behind.

The ‘Poverty reduction through skills’ track will explore:

• how specific vulnerable groups can be equipped with skills,
• what are the necessary policies at a national and regional level, and
• how certain populations can be prevented from falling into the technology and skill gaps.

With a panel composed of policymakers representing several regions and experts from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and UNESCO, the launch session for this track - ‘Building skills for resilient societies’ - will look at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on jobs and the future of work from a global perspective. It will explore the effects of the disruption of VET on future global poverty levels.

The session will take place online on Monday, 25 October 2021 at 5:15 pm CST.

Join the WorldSkills Conference to learn how nations can leverage skills training to come out of the economic crisis.

See all sessions