International collaboration in vocational education and training   

This session will launch the publication of a new British Council report on international collaboration models and best practice. The report will provide the basis for a wide-ranging debate and analysis by an experienced panel.

International collaboration in vocational education and training can encourage experimentation and innovation through the sharing of expertise. This is all very well, but do time-bound international partnerships and collaboration initiatives focused on short-term objectives have a real impact? Is it possible for such international collaboration to exist after funding has ended? Can international partnerships bring about systemic change and influence national education and training policy? How do we determine whether international partnerships have been successful? Can broader international partnerships which bring together education and industry achieve greater impact?

The panel of organisations, with significant experience of participating in international partnerships and collaboration, will debate these questions. They will discuss the key features of successful international partnerships and how to build in sustainability from the start.

The role of education and training in ensuring that China continues to move up the global economic value   

China is experiencing a cultural shift from "Made in China", which consumers around the world have linked to low value mass produced toys to "Created in China" which better captures China’s technological reputation as the producers of iPads, jetliners and high speed trains.

However there are challenges, in particularly around the safety and quality of Chinese products, so how long will "Made in China" be synonymous with world class provision?

This session will debate the role of education and training in ensuring that China continues to move up the global economic value chain through a panel of Chinese experts and employers.

Developing Skills for Prosperity in the Arab Spring Countries   

Of all the drivers of the recent revolutions across the Arab world, arguably the single most significant was the lack of opportunity for young people. A primary test for incoming administrations in Arab countries will be how they unlock the considerable potential of their young populations through the nurturing and harnessing of the kind of industry-relevant skills needed to deliver individual fulfilment and national prosperity. Through tailored presentations from key Arab countries, followed by an interactive discussion, this session will explore how different Arab countries might best respond to this critical challenge.   

What makes industry invest in education?    

How can educationalists balance increasing employer demands for sophisticated technical skills and young peoples’ need for relevant and engaging education opportunities that will provide them with career options, employment and access to higher education?

This session will explore existing innovative UK and European models of collaboration between schools, colleges, universities and employers aimed at developing the capabilities of young people necessary for economic growth and recovery of Europe. The session will also launch original research looking at the potential of internationalising this new collaborative model in order to support global employers’ needs.

The session will share challenges, lessons learnt and good practice models through short presentations from each of the speakers followed by a panel discussion with questions from the floor.

Chair - Geoff Russell, Chief Executive Skills Funding Agency

Speakers:

• Peter Mitchell, CEO of Baker Dearing Educational Trust and Trustee of Edge Foundation
• Alison Halsted, Director of University Partnerships

India’s global skills race – review of India’s approach fostering private sector initiatives in skills development   

According to the World Bank and IMF, India is the world’s 9th largest economy by GDP and one of the fastest growing. At the same time, India is slipping down the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Rankings, with the gap widening with China. Despite its recent economic success and increasing population, companies are scrambling to find, and keep, skilled Indian workers. This is because, with employers in many sectors already reporting skills gaps, India needs to move more of its working population to a higher skills base. India’s largest IT firm (TCS) has complained that only 1 in 15 Indian graduates are employable. With 138 million young people expected to hit the Indian job market by 2020, India could be facing a (skills) race against time.

In response, the Indian Government has set a target of creating 500 million skilled workers by 2020 and set out a vision for reform of the education and skills system to meet future demand and the needs of industry.

With the current focus seemingly on numbers, this session will explore the reality behind the rhetoric and debate a number of issues including:

- what skills will the 500 million workers need?

- what is being done to ensure that the future workforce has the right skills?

- how has the Indian economy been seen as a success story when there is a perception that the workforce does not have the skills needed for the 21st century?

- what potential impact will the increased number of skilled workers in India have on other economies?

- how is the voice of employers in the informal sector being heard?

Chair - Sally Goggin, British Council Education Director for India.

Provisional speakers:

• Simon Perryman – UK Commission for Employment and Skills   
• S. Ramadorai – Vice Chairman, Tata Consultancy Services, and Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Skills
• Dilip Chenoy – CEO & MD, National Skills Development Corporation
• Sharda Prasad – Director General, Ministry of Labour & Employment

And the winner is…? Do competitions play an important role in developing innovation, excellence and driving economic growth?   

This session will explore whether competitions play an important role in developing innovation, excellence, informing policy and driving economic growth.

The session will share original research from the Modelling Vocational Excellence (MoVE) project and examples of how Universities use enterprise competitions to foster economic growth.  

The session will also share how WorldSkills Competitions, which were hosted in London in October 2011, allow for a unique opportunity to accurately research, benchmark and identify how excellence in skills is achieved in an international context.  

Chair - Simon Bartley, President WorldSkills International

Speakers:

• Richard Marsh, National Apprenticeship Service
• Andrew Ferguson, Business, Community and Enterprise Manager University of York

What is the point of post-compulsory education? The Higher education and technical education debate   

Across the world, governments have progressively invested in post-compulsory education in pursuit of a knowledge economy and to promote innovation and growth. However, with a global recession and high graduate unemployment in many countries, expansion of higher education has not necessarily been the catalyst for economic growth or delivered the skills demanded by employers. Conversely, if specialised vocational and technical programmes are to be a good alternative for learners, such programmes will need to provide individuals with a wider set of employability skills and knowledge.  

Within this framework, the debate will ask the panel to provide their responses to the following questions:

• What knowledge and skills should universities and vocational institutions cultivate?
• Should we be educating more specialists?
• Who is responsible for providing employability and enterprise skills?
• Is there a new role for industry and employer engagement in education?
• Should there be a greater focus on providing opportunities to learn throughout life?
• Can post-compulsory education effect long-term transformation within and between societies?

Chair - Professor Rupert Mclean, Director, Centre for Lifelong Learning Research and Development and Chair Professor of International Education, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Speakers:

• Professor Alison Wolf, Sir Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Sector Management, King's College London
• Tom Bewick, co-founder and Chairman, International Network of Sector Skills Organisation, UK
• Dr Kevin Downing, Director Knowledge, Enterprise and Analysis, City University of Hong Kong

How to register?

Through this conference, we aim to raise awareness on the critical issues around youth and employment and facilitate discussions which will lead shaping the future of technical, vocational education and employability skills.  

To book your place at Going Global 2012, visit http://ihe.britishcouncil.org/going-global

For more information about the conference and TVET sessions, contact Gail Campbell, UK Regional Programme Manager, Skills for Employability at gail.campbell@britishcouncil.org.