'EDUCATION TO EMPLOYMENT: DESIGNING A SYSTEM THAT WORKS'!

"We face two related global crises: high levels of youth unemployment and

a shortage of people with critical job skills. Leaders everywhere are aware of the possible consequences, in the form of social and economic distress, when too many young people believe that their future is compromised. Still, governments have struggled to develop effective responses—or even to define what they need to know."

The McKinsey report 'Education to Employment: Designing a System that Works' stresses that employers need to work with schools and colleges so that students learn the skills they need to succeed at work. Interestingly they found that there is little clarity on which practices and interventions work and which can be scaled up. Most skills initiatives today serve a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand young people while if this is a fundamental entitlement for all, we must be thinking in terms of millions.  There is no comprehensive data on the skills required for employment and the journey from education to employment is a complicated one, and it is natural that there will be different routes. But the report stresses that too many young people are getting lost along the way.

The report’s findings include the following six highlights: 

1. Employers, education providers, and young people live in parallel universes. 
2. The education-to-employment journey is fraught with obstacles. 
3. The education-to-employment system fails for most employers and young people. 
4. Innovative and effective programs around the world have important elements in common.
5. Creating a successful education-to-employment system requires new incentives and structures. 
6. Education-to-employment solutions need to scale up. 

AND FINALLY...

The final section of the report identifies how we can improve our chances of success. The most active and imaginative educators and employers are creating solutions despite systemic weaknesses. We expect them to continue to do so, but that will not be enough. Three interventions are required to get more and better innovation:

1. collect and disseminate data to educate stakeholders, build transparency, and manage performance; 
2. initiate more sector-wide collaborations to build industry consensus and share costs of improving education and training; 
3. create an education-to-employment “system” that coordinates, catalyzes, and monitors activity.