Academic literature on the topic '930501 Education and Training Systems Policies and Development'

The article seeks to draw the attention of government institutions, schools, universities and the tourism business so as to link educational policies in such a way that young people would be motivated in the profession they choose and would have a guaranteed job in tourism. The aim is to innovate educational systems in order to improve the quality of knowledge and skills and increase competencies and competency models. The possibility for validation of knowledge and skills in the work environment has been considered and a constructive differentiated system, star class qualification for a specific position has been proposed. Education is focused on market demand and the possibility of establishing a link between secondary and higher education, credit recognition in certain disciplines, and creating opportunities for upgrading in the profession and certification of knowledge and skills. We are looking for an opportunity for freedom in education, duality and class in business training, which will materialize in adequate financial remuneration for the work invested.

The development of a continuing education system is a strategic task of reforming all education systems that consistently define their national-specific characteristics, while at the same time focusing on basic educational principles. The rapid changes in current development of society, related to the humanization of education, the high demands on each member of society, both individual and professional, and make the relevance of adult education as an integral part of continuing education and expanding research in this field. Particularly valuable are studies on the lifelong learning of social workers who are mediators between the state and society, agents of change and improvement of social and educational policies. Recognizing the competence approach in education and training of social workers, which should be reflected in updating the content of education in response to social transformations, engages the creation of conditions for the development of lifelong education in the field of professional activity of a social worker as a generalized condition for the ability to act effectively in a particular professional situation. The article deals with the problem of professionals training in the social field in continuing education system, which provides the professional development of adults, in particular social workers. The development of a continuing education system is a strategic task of reforming all education systems that consistently define their national-specific characteristics, while at the same time focusing on basic educational principles.

This study was designed to explore and describe the relationships between preference for online training and traditional face-to-face training. Included were variables of race, gender, age, education, experience of library employees, training providers, training locations, and institutional professional development policies, etc. in the library context. The author used a bivariate test, KruskalWallis test and Mann-Whitney U test to examine the relationship between preference for online training and related variables.

The literature on the political economy of development argues that many middle-income countries could not develop strong vocational education and training systems because of the lack of political coalitions that would support such systems. However, these researchers have overlooked the role of partisan politics, domain of political competition and the links of insiders and outsiders with political parties. This article addresses this gap by studying the case of Turkey in the 2000s, when the country was governed by the Justice and Development Party and experienced important changes in its vocational education and training system. It investigates the political shifts in these years and the impact of these shifts on vocational education and training policies. The article argues that the governing Justice and Development Party played a key role in the changes in the Turkish vocational education and training system. Small and medium enterprises and labour market outsiders, which were the outsiders of the political and economic system, formed Justice and Development Party’s main constituents. Different from the previous parties, Justice and Development Party focused on the economic interests of outsiders and vocational education and training became an important tool to address such interests of both groups. The Justice and Development Party governments integrated the interests of both small and medium enterprises and workers into the vocational education and training policies in the 2000s, which has led to a vocational education and training system with high state commitment, higher firm involvement and higher permeability between vocational and general education. This research is based on process-tracing of the political dynamics and vocational education and training system developments in Turkey in 2002–2011. The data comprise primary and secondary documents, as well as interviews with several stakeholders.

The Incheon Declaration 2015- “Towards 2030: a new vision for education,” recognizes the important role of education as the main driver of development, and therefore commits to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all(p. i).” The declaration further commits to “ensuring that all youth and adults, especially girls and women, achieve relevant and recognized functional literacy and numeracy levels and acquire life skills and that they are provided with adult learning and training opportunities (p. 7).”” This commitment is a clear recognition of the role of adult education in development. Sadly, although adult education and lifelong learning are key for achieving social change and reducing poverty levels, the sector receives minimal attention in development matters in many African countries. According to UNESCO the adult education sub-sector of state education systems remains relatively underfunded and marginal despite the improved living conditions in many African countries since the 1990s. Few countries have specific, ratified national adult education policies while in some others adult education is seen as a human right but only practically enforceable subject to availability of resources. This paper outlines evidence of positive changes accrued from literacy and skills training project in one region in Somaliland. In addition to literacy and numeracy, the participants in the project were trained in tailoring or cookery as well as on health, nutrition, hygiene and entrepreneurship. More so, the project offered micro-credit to those wishing to start small businesses. Major developmental changes including employment, healthier families, businesses and better civic participation were realized by the individual participants, their families and the community. From this evidence the paper argues that it is important for countries in Africa to seriously harness the adult education sub-sector for development as one way of translating the Incheon commitment to tangible achievements

This article explores the challenges facing the South African National Department of Education in its commitment to provide equal educational opportunities for all. The Story of Nothemba is central to the theme of this paper. It describes the story of a South African girl born in eQebe, whose physical disability and systematic disregard for her constitutional rights dashed her life time dream and passion to become a lawyer in a democratic South Africa. The paper argues for a critical interrogation of the following dynamics that have the potential to complicate both the implementation and optimization of the Inclusive Education Policy: (i) Understanding the social stereotypes about disability, (ii) Teacher empowerment, (iii) Systemic imbalance between support and expectations, (iv) Adopting relevant curriculum policy and assessment strategies and practices, and (v) Utilizing the research logic to inform policy implementation. The paper further calls for a robust interrogation at conceptual level about ‘disability' to inform the current policies on education and training, teacher training and development, curriculum and assessment strategies.

Modern global education is characterized by an active transition to the use of new geographic information technologies. The new educational policy orients teachers and university professors towards the introduction of modern teaching methods based on the use of geoinformation and communication technologies. Modern educational technologies provide an opportunity for maximum solution of the problems for the development of education and its individualization. The system for retraining and in-service training of teachers (and teachers in pedagogical universities) also does not sufficiently take into account the vital need to master information technology by working teachers. So far, the processes of self-education predominate in the development of such technologies. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are evolving rapidly on a daily basis. Geographic information technologies, such as geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing (RS) or global positioning systems (GPS) are important parts of ICT. They are used especially in geography education, but are not limited to this. Geographic information technologies provide such new methods and means of information processing that provide high visibility for displaying diverse information and an accessible set of tools for reality analysis. GIS has great potential for information analysis in order to make management decisions in the socio-economic sphere. The publication reveals the problems of higher and secondary education related to modern geoinformation technologies for searching, interpreting and demonstrating various geographical data. Basic guidelines for the development of the implementation of geoinformation technologies in the learning environment are presented.

'Social distance', which is the most important health precaution taken to minimize the transmission risk of Covid-19 pandemic, whose impact on our social life and institutional structures is expected to continue unpredictably, has completely disrupted the dynamics of social life. In this context, many sectors, especially education and training services, which can only be delivered in an organic social context, have had to undergo a rapid formation process through new building dynamics apart from their traditional structural elements. Leading to a crisis in education systems, the pandemic required the urgent development of new education policies, and the prevention of disruption in education through the use of the most widely available technological opportunities available locally. Our study aims to analyze the transformative effect of the 'artificial techno-social network' as the new education and training method during the pandemic period on the education paradigm. In addition, the possibilities and problems presented by the new technological equipment (some AI-based) some of which were already in use to supplement education before the pandemic will be discussed in terms of the right to education. The 'distance education' or 'online education' practices, which can be described as the digital presentation of education and training services, are the main focus of the discussion.

Today, after several decades of international recognition and support, adult education continues to be a subject of special relevance and topicality for Spanish society. The concept of Lifelong Learning appears in the education laws; however, its implementation is not developed in the same way. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the normative development, since it will help us to develop policies that improve the coverage of this educational sector. The article reviews Spanish education laws since 1970 with the aim of studying the evolution of adult education, especially objectives laws. The analysis included some conclusions that demonstrate the need to develop further studies on adult education in Spain. On the one hand, it is important to highlight the lack of national legislation regulating adult education in a global manner. On the other hand, there is also a need for teacher training in this area. The laws developed in recent years have begun to include adult education within the education system, but they have not considered the development of specialized educators in the area. Therefore, we can see the need to propose policies that recognize the teaching profession of adult educators, due to currently it is an informal profile and it is not necessarily require pedagogical training, what is an aspect that reduces the quality of this education. In short, adult education is being developed in parallel with the official education systems, which leads to a loss of quality and of the normative officiality of the initiatives carried out in this area. From an educational point of view, it is crucial to address this need for improvement and to provide educational processes that are adapted to the demand of individuals and groups within a society in which continuous training is increasingly in demand. Key words: Adult Education; Lifelong Learning; educational legislation; Ministry of Education; Spain; teaching objective.

Teachers’ teaching level and teaching philosophy have an important impact on students. As the country pays more and more attention to education, the relevant level of teachers also needs to be continuously improved. Training for teachers is one of the important ways to improve teachers’ level. Although the strategy of training teachers in vocational colleges has a long history, there is no analysis of its implementation. With the popularity of the Internet of Things, lives are full of data information and data, and the field of education and training is no exception. Network big data refers to a collection of data that cannot be captured by conventional software tools within a certain time frame. It is an information asset that requires new processing modes to have stronger decision-making, insight, and process optimization capabilities. This paper aims to study the analysis of network big data on the implementation of teacher training policies in vocational colleges. It is expected that with the support of network big data, the implementation of vocational teachers’ training policies will be analyzed, and the implementation effects of relevant policies will be explored, so as to help teachers improve their professional abilities and promote the development of the education industry. In a broad sense, the implementation of educational strategy refers to the identification, construction, and termination of educational policies. Educational strategy in a narrow sense refers specifically to the educational strategy, educational setting plan, educational budget, and educational plan formulated by the competent educational authority. From the perspective of career management, this paper briefly analyzes the situation of teachers participating in training in vocational colleges and reexamines the connotation of current higher vocational teacher training. It takes the teacher training of vocational colleges as the content and makes a brief analysis of the relevant situations, attitudes, and achievements in the process of teacher training by means of a questionnaire survey. The results showed that the largest number of teachers who participated in the training received scores between 80 and 100 points, indicating that the implementation of training policies is in place; the proportion of schools that attach importance to teacher training is as high as 80%, indicating that the environment for strategy implementation is better.

This book is about holistic innovation policy: its theoretical foundations, its problem-oriented approach, and its instrument choices. We start with the observation that most of the current innovation policies are not holistic because they only focus on a few determinants of innovation processes. This book provides a theoretically anchored foundation for the design of holistic innovation policy by identifying the core policy problems that tend to afflict the activities of innovation systems, including the unintended consequences of policy itself. This is a necessary stepping stone for the identification of viable, relevant, and down-to-earth policy solutions. The book also offers a critical analysis of policy instruments and their choice in innovation policy design. It is not a ‘recipe’ nor a ‘how-to’ guide. Instead, it provides analytical depth and substantial considerations about the ways in which policy might be providing solutions to problems in systems of innovation. After introducing its conceptual framework about innovation and innovation policy, the book delves into the following areas of innovation policy-making: knowledge production and research and development; education, training, and skills development; functional procurement as demand-side; change of organizations through entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship; interaction and innovation networks; changing institutions and regulations; and the public financing of early stage innovations. Its critical and novel perspective serves policy-makers, scholars, and anyone interested in the design of innovation policy. The summary chapter (Chapter 12) can be read independently of the rest of the book.

AbstractThis chapter presents a study on the identification and recognition of knowledge, skills and competencies required to convert and maintain green enterprises in a Philippine context and in the light of Philippine policies, legislation and investments to stimulate the development of new green markets. It examines the use of ‘green’ practices in enterprises, the benefits and challenges in the application of such practices, the extent to which respondent micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have identified the green skills requirements and whether skills recognition mechanisms such as job cards or other portfolio systems have been put in place as part of recognition processes and workplace training programmes. This chapter begins by giving an overview of the Philippine economy and society and the role of MSMEs in four dynamically developing industry sectors namely, automotive, catering, PVC manufacturing and waste management. Given the environmental challenges and problems faced by enterprises in these sectors, the study looks at the extent to which the government’s green job policies, laws, qualifications framework, training regulations and standards address environmental challenges and problems faced by enterprises. The study thus examines connections between macro policies, rules, laws and regulations and micro-level application through practices and green skills and their recognition through recognition mechanisms.

2019/2020 The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) analyzes the status of early entrepreneurship in various countries. Taiwan is higher than other countries’ averages in the national entrepreneurial environment index, such as cultural and social norms, physical infrastructure, market entry control, and internal market vitality, business and legal infrastructure, transformation of research and development results, school-leaving entrepreneurship education and training, on-campus entrepreneurship education and training, government entrepreneurship plans, taxation and administrative systems, government policies and entrepreneurial financing, etc. Starting from 2020, the Ministry of Education has divided the innovation and entrepreneurship courses into two models, namely fundraising practical learning and training course modules and entrepreneurial management and action learning course modules. The themes and implementations of the courses include “Concepts and Practices in Entrepreneurship and Practice Simulation Learning Platform”, “Concept Development and Practice-Business Operation-Company Establishment-Company Closure” and “Concept Proposal-Maker Practice-Business Model Briefing” and other aspects. This article will discuss, in the context of the development and current situation of entrepreneurship education in Taiwan, trends in entrepreneurship education for the next generation of Taiwan, and use examples from Taiwan’s higher education system to promote entrepreneurship education to serve as a reference by education circles in other countries.

Children's learning and development is shaped by their early experiences and environments. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is a set of programs and services provided to children from birth to school years that supports their learning and development. Availability of quality ECCE programs is vital for the development of not only children and families but also communities and countries. High quality ECCE programs have certain structural and process characteristics. One of the most important determinants of quality in ECCE programs is the quality of professional workforce serving children and families. In order to increase quality, there should be systems and supports for the training and development of high quality ECCE professionals. This chapter takes a look into Turkey, outlines its preservice education for ECCE teachers, presents a national in-service training project, and offers implications for practice. There need to be effective policies and strategies to cultivate a high-quality workforce in early childhood education and development across the world.

Attrition is a major problem in many Indian IT firms. On an average, attrition stands at around 14.5% in many major IT firms, making it a major problem. Attrition is not only a result of poor HR policies; it is also because of the many aspirations and need for career development for many young professionals. This gap between fulfilling the aspirations of the new entrants and the scope of development at any organization is the result of attrition. From the study, it has also been concluded that recognition, valuing one's individual opinion, and also the aspect of broadening and the scope of an organization to provide enough career development prospects in terms of training, executive education, and salary, etc. are also factors because of which many young professionals leave their respective organizations. Therefore, there is a need to amend the existing employee practices in order to meet the ever-changing momentum across the organizations and reduce the cost that happens due to attrition.

It is currently determining programmes of teaching of foreign language especially in Latin American countries, to go in line with quality policies demanded by international agencies. In Mexico the Second Language Study Development Program (English), represents a new model for the teaching of English as a second language. The present paper aims to propose indicators that allow to evaluate the academic governance of this program at the secondary level, based on the general theory of systems and above all in the pursuit of a quality education; the criteria are: teachers; Teaching-learning processes; Infrastructure support and training materials; certification; Accreditation of the subject index; Learning products; Planning; Students and address. The above demonstrates the need to develop indicators that can serve as a guide for the constant improvement of the management of the programme, and to ensure the students English learning.

Gender equality and information and communication technology are important in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in policy, planning, and practice. The 2000 Millennium Declaration of the United Nations (UN) formed an international agreement among member states to work toward the reduction of poverty and its effects by 2015 through eight Millennium Development Goals: 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2. Achieve universal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and the empowerment of women 4. Reduce child and maternal mortality 5. Improve maternal health care 6. Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria, and other major diseases 7. Ensure environmental sustainability 8. Develop global partnership for development Progress toward gender equality and the empowerment of women is one goal that is important to achieving the others. Poverty, hunger, illiteracy, environmental threats, HIV and AIDS, and other health threats disproportionately affect the lives of women and their dependent children. Gender-sensitive ICT applications to education, health care, and local economies have helped communities progress toward the MDGs. ICT applications facilitate rural health-care workers’ access to medical expertise through phones and the Internet. Teachers expand learning resources through the Internet and satellite services, providing a greater knowledge base for learners. Small entrepreneurs with ICT access and training move their local business into world markets. ICT diffusion into world communication systems has been pervasive. Even some of the poorest economies in Africa show the fastest cell-phone growth, though Internet access and landline numbers are still low (International Telecommunications Union [ITU], 2003b). ICT access or a lack of it impacts participation, voice, and decision making in local, regional, and international communities. ICTs impact the systems that move or inhibit MDG progress. UN secretary general Kofi Annan explained the role of the MDGs in global affairs: Millennium Development Goals are too important to fail. For the international political system, they are the fulcrum on which development policy is based. For the billion-plus people living in extreme poverty, they represent the means to a productive life. For everyone on Earth, they are a linchpin to the quest for a more secure and peaceful world. (UN, 2005, p. 28) Annan also stressed the critical need for partnerships to facilitate technology training to enable information exchange and analysis (UN, 2005). ICT facilitates sharing lessons of success and failure, and progress evaluation of work in all the MDG target areas. Targets and indicators measuring progress were selected for all the MDGs. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are critical to the achievement of each other goal. Inadequate access to the basic human needs of clean water, food, education, health services, and environmental sustainability and the support of global partnership impacts great numbers of women. Therefore, the targets and indicators for Goal 3 address females in education, employment, and political participation. Progress toward the Goal 3 target to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015, will be measured by the following indicators. • Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary, and tertiary education • Ratio of literate females to males who are 15- to 24-year-olds • Share of women in wage employment in the nonagricultural sector • Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (World Bank, 2003) Education is positively related to improved maternal and infant health, economic empowerment, and political participation (United Nations Development Program [UNDP], 2004; World Bank, 2003). Education systems in developing countries are beginning to offer or seek ways to provide ICT training as a basic skill and knowledge base. Proactive policy for gender equality in ICT access has not always accompanied the unprecedented ICT growth trend. Many civil-society representatives to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) argue for ICT access to be considered a basic human right (Girard & Ó Soichrú, 2004; UN, 1948). ICT capability is considered a basic skill for education curriculum at tertiary, secondary, and even primary levels in developed regions. In developing regions, ICT access and capability are more limited but are still tightly woven into economic communication systems. ICTs minimize time and geography barriers. Two thirds of the world’s poor and illiterate are women (World Bank, 2003). Infant and maternal health are in chronic crisis for poor women. Where poverty is highest, HIV and AIDS are the largest and fastest growing health threat. Ninety-five percent of people living with HIV and AIDS are in developing countries, partly because of poor dissemination of information and medical treatment. Women are more vulnerable to infection than men. Culturally reinforced sexual practices have led to higher rates of HIV infection for women. Gender equality and the empowerment of women, starting with education, can help fight the spread of HIV, AIDS, and other major diseases. ICT can enhance health education through schools (World Bank). Some ICT developers, practitioners, and distributors have identified ways to incorporate gender inclusiveness into their policies and practice for problem-solving ICT applications toward each MDG target area. Yet ICT research, development, education, training, applications, and businesses remain male-dominated fields, with only the lesser skilled and salaried ICT labor force approaching gender equality. Successful integration of gender equality and ICT development policy has contributed to MDG progress through several projects in the developing regions. Notable examples are the South-African-based SchoolNet Africa and Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank Village Pay Phone. Both projects benefit from international public-private partnerships. These and similar models suggest the value and importance of linking gender equality and empowerment with global partnership for development, particularly in ICT. This article reports on developing efforts to coordinate the achievement of the MDGs with policy, plans, and practice for gender equality beyond the universal educational target, and with the expansion of ICT access and participation for women and men. The article examines the background and trends of MDG 3, to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women, with particular consideration of MDG 8, to develop global partnership for development, in ICT access and participation.

During the past several years, career pathway systems have expanded to prepare adults for the workforce. Although career pathways are not new, numerous states, the federal government, and philanthropic foundations continue to advance the idea to offer more postsecondary education and workforce training opportunities for adults. Coordinated policies, programs, and services involving adult basic education, community colleges, and workforce development are viewed as vital to creating highly functioning career pathways systems. This chapter describes three core functions of career pathways systems—pathway entry, integrated training, and career progression—and advances the notion that evaluations should be aligned to these functions to inform future policy and practice. Recognizing the value that these functions play independently and collectively in implementation and evaluation is key to supporting continuing efforts to scale career pathways systems nationwide.

This chapter summarizes the successes and challenges of catfish farming in the small-scale industry in Southern Africa. Given that capture fisheries have been declining steadily over the years in many countries, aquaculture is generally expected to grow to meet demand. However, catfish production in most Southern African countries is low. This is despite the region having the most suitable temperature for the culture of freshwater fish species. In Southern Africa, catfish farming is one of the most important components of inland aquaculture, and it is mainly dominated by the small-scale sector. Production in the small-scale sector is affected by several constraints, which affect the profitability of the sector. These challenges include, among others, quality of production systems, supply of quality fingerlings, feeds, management of diseases, education and training of farmers, marketing and development of products, access to finance, research capacity, extension services, and, to some extent, regulatory frameworks and policies. The chapter proposes interventions that are needed to improve the production of catfish in Southern Africa. For instance, there is a need for the small-scale sector to move from intensive to advanced culture systems, such as recirculating aquaculture systems and integrated aquaculture systems, such as aquaponics, in order to boost catfish production.

Information assurance is a continuous crisis in the digital world. The attackers are winning and efforts to create and maintain a secure environment are proving not very effective. Information assurance is challenged by the application of information security management which is the framework for ensuring the effectiveness of information security controls over information resources. Information security management should “begin with the creation and validation of a security framework, followed by the development of an information security blueprint” (Whitman & Mattord, 2004, p. 210). The framework is the result of the design and validation of a working security plan which is then implemented and maintained using a management model. The framework serves as the basis for the design, selection, and implementation of all subsequent security controls, including information security policies, security education and training programs, and technological controls. A blueprint can be designed using established security models and practices. The model could be proprietary or based on open standards. The most popular security management model is based on the British Standard 7999 which addresses areas of security management practice. The recent standards, called ISO/IEC 27000 family, include documents such as 27001 IMS Requirements (replaces BS7799:2); 27002, Code of Practice for Information Security Management (new standard number for ISO 17799); and 27006, Guidelines for the accreditation of organizations offering ISMS certification, and several more in development. Similar security models are supported by organizations such as NIST, IETF, and VISA. From one point of view, information security management evolved on an application of published standards, using various security technologies promoted by the security industry. Quite often, these guidelines conflict with each other or they target only a specific type of organization (e.g., NIST standards are better suited to government organizations). However, building a security control framework focused only on compliance to standards does not allow an organization “to achieve the appropriate security controls to manage risk” (ISM-Community, 2007, p. 27). Besides technical security controls (firewalls, passwords, intrusion detection systems, disaster recovery plans, encryption, virtual private networks, etc.), security of an organization includes other issues that are typically process and people issues such as policies, training, habits, awareness, procedures, and a variety of other less technical and nontechnical issues (Heimerl & Voight, 2005; Tassabehji, 2005). All these factors make security a complex system (Volonino & Robinson, 2004) and a process which is based on interdisciplinary techniques (Maiwald, 2004; Mena, 2004). While some aspects of information security management changed since the first edition of the chapter (Hentea, 2005), the emerging trends became more prevalent. Therefore, the content of this chapter is organized on providing an update of the security threats and impacts on users and organizations, followed by a discussion on global challenges and standardization impacts, continued with information security management infrastructure needs in another section, followed with a discussion of emerging trends and future research needs for the information security management in the 21st century. The conclusion section is a perspective on the future of the information security management.

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and Infection prevention and control (IPC) are essential for preventing and containing outbreaks of disease. Nowadays, infection prevention is getting more attention due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The assessment of WASH/IPC indicators in the health sector is a major step in the preparation and management of such a pandemic. A facility-wide WASH and IPC assessment is the cornerstone for designing, developing, and implementing specific WASH and IPC activities at healthcare facilities. This type of assessment helps to identify and prioritize surveillance and prevention activities at the facility and provide healthcare policy makers at all levels with the evidence to strengthen WASH services and infection control policies, practices, and resources in health facilities. Moreover, this helps to motivate facilities to intensify efforts where needed to prevent, respond to, and control the spread of COVID-19. An assessment was conducted in primary healthcare facilities in Jordan to identify the strengths and gaps in the WASH and IPC practices, activities, and resources and to identify areas for quality improvement. This report demonstrates the results of a nationwide assessment of 33 healthcare centres. The assessment included eight domains (areas) pertaining to WASH/IPC with more than 150 indicators. The assessment tools were developed and adapted from the Water and Sanitation for Health Facility Improvement Tool (WASH FIT), the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Assessment Framework (IPCAF), Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care, the Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) tool, and COVID-19 Technical Guidance by WHO. The assessment revealed some deficiencies in basic WASH/IPC indicators such as lack of clear guidelines that support the management of health centres in planning and leadership, shortfalls in the budget needed to strengthen the infrastructure of WASH/IPC, inconsistent or under-provisioned training and education programmes for the development of staff skills to lead, plan, manage, and improve WASH/IPC at their facilities. Moreover, the report identified the unmet WASH/IPC needs at centres that should be addressed by policy makers and stakeholders as soon as possible for further steps of consideration in policy development. The report ends with specific recommendations to improve WASH/IPC services and practices.

[This paper is published in the Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, Volume 15.] This paper explores and analyses similarities and differences in ICT curricula, policies, and assessment between the Vietnamese and Australian educational systems for the final years of secondary educational level. It was found that while having a common core set of tendencies, the Australian ICT curricula, policies, and assessments differ markedly from the Vietnamese counterparts. These differences can be explained by economic and cultural factors, national-wide educational trends, ICT strategies, and their degrees of implementation in schools. We found that limited constructivist implementations are used in ICT curricula in both countries, as Australian education has high expectations in national evaluations with an emphasis on standardized tests and Vietnamese education is still entrapped in prescriptive lessons of traditional pedagogy, emphasizing transmission model of information. We found that lack of opportunities in teacher professional development in ICT training is common for both countries. While the Australian educational system still struggles, especially in providing opportunities for learning theoretical and programming aspects, multiple challenging aspects were found in the ICT content and policies of the Vietnamese educational system that call for immediate change and improvement. In this sense, Vietnamese administrators are recommended to extensively follow up their educational strategies and policies, in order to make sure that their reforms are adequately implemented in schools. In order to bridge the gap and implement adequate ICT curricula, rigorous professional training in ICT teaching is essential for both Australian and Vietnamese teachers.

Education for sustainable development is an essential component of every human being. This means that education should be available and accessible to all learners on the basis of equal opportunity and equity. However, the persons with disabilities are often marginalized and consequently, they may not access technical training as they should. The Corona virus has revealed emerging vulnerabilities in education systems around the world. It is now clear that Kenya needs flexible and resilient education systems as we face erratic futures. Technology could be leveraged to ensure that learning takes place even as the country faces the Covid-19 uncertainties. It is true that government agencies have focused more on providing access to the learners in TVET institutions through Open, Distance and eLearning (ODeL) systems but overlooked the aspect of equity. Therefore, there is necessity for special commitment to enhance necessary technology to allow access to training and transition to work for learners with disabilities in TVET institutions. This paper achieves this through (1) defining the key concepts of ODeL, and (2) Presenting a model for optimizing assistive technologies in TVET institutions. A descriptive research design was adopted for this study and pertinent literature was visited to capture the essence of continued learning during these unprecedented times. The paper concludes that the optimisation of assistive technologies as a tool for promoting equity and inclusion in TVET education is viable through proactive educational leadership and policies that ensure availability of the appropriate human capacity and infrastructural resources.

The worst effect that continuous bullying can cause is dropping out of school. And these children are turning into young NEETs: young people outside the education, employment or training systems. Based on suffering, self-distrust reaches adults who find it difficult to find a job and integrate socially without frustration. Both in the European Union and individually in the countries of the European Union, the largest subcategory in the NEETs group is unfortunately made up of young unemployed.; also, in Romania, among the young people integrated on the labor market (NEETs), there are young people, children, adolescents, who dropped out of school too early, young people who are part of the category of people with disabilities, respectively young people who come from vulnerable backgrounds; of the young NEETs, some are those who do not choose to be in this category (those mentioned above, chronic diseases, poverty, etc.), but in the category of NEETs there are also young people who choose not to work, do not want to integrate on the labor market; In conclusion, it can be said that young NEETs are an inhomogeneous category, which makes it difficult to intervene at the stratum of public policies in the absence of specific profiles, related to each sectary. For this grouping, a series of actions must be considered, both at the level of Romania and at the level of the European Union. Thus, there is a comparative advantage in order to find solutions in terms of integrating young people who fail to pursue or complete a form of education, those who do not work or those who are not in personal and professional development programs. The paper is made up of three chapters and presents both approaches to the literature and the analysis of the evolution of NEETs in the European Union and in Romania. The first chapter focuses on theoretical concepts about what "NEETs" mean, as well as the literature. The second chapter captures the analysis of the situation of young NEETS in the European Union, and the third part focuses on young NEETs in Romania, measures implemented so far, but also a series of proposals. At the same time, the paper will end with the area of proposals for the strategy to reduce the NEETs rate in Romania and conclusions.

A great deal of policy attention is paid to the role that education plays in driving employment outcomes. Most of this attention has focused on post-primary education— particularly Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). This paper sets out the less-discussed role that foundational skills, typically built through basic primary education, play in driving employability; how foundational skills affect TVET provision; and what implications this body of evidence has for education policy. We acknowledge the need to consider how education systems build skills which will contribute to countries’ economic aspirations. However, we suggest that the dominant discourse which focuses specifically on TVET and how it can be linked to employer demands is unlikely to be successful for several reasons. Firstly, we show that foundational skills are themselves associated with economic gains for individuals and societies. This, together with the evidence showing extremely low levels of foundational skills in many countries, suggests that focusing on improving foundational skills may be a more cost-effective approach to driving employability than has been previously acknowledged. Furthermore, we show that TVET (and other later forms of education) may struggle to add value where foundational skills are not in place. Focusing large amounts of energy and resources on reforming TVET may not achieve hoped-for impacts if TVET entrants don’t have the necessary foundations to learn. We discuss the popular policy prescription of linking TVET provision to employer needs. As well as noting our concern that this focus fails to acknowledge the binding constraint of low foundational skills, we also set out why employer demand for skills may not be a good indication of actual future skills needs. We therefore suggest a more nuanced discussion on skills for employability which acknowledges economic development goals; the skills that will be needed to achieve them; and, crucially, a country’s starting point. We end the paper by highlighting the fact that unemployment and underemployment are generally caused by a lack of jobs, not a lack of skills. We therefore urge policymakers to be realistic about the extent to which any education policy—whether focusing on foundations, technical, and vocation skills or any other type of skills—can affect employment outcomes. Considering the evidence presented in this paper, we suggest that policymakers in many low- and lower-middle income countries may want to consider a stronger focus on foundational skills. The major reason for focusing on foundational skills is that a quality education is a fundamental right for all children which will allow them to experience lifelong learning. This paper sets out that foundational skills will also be the first step towards achieving a more employable workforce—but also that policymakers should consider the full range of policies that need to be in place to deliver productive employment and economic growth.