In response to the global coronavirus pandemic, the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), are co-hosting a series of public forums – ‘ASEAN on Point’ - to address issues of importance to the advancement of ASEAN.  The forums will provide a platform to bring together representatives of diverse stakeholders to share knowledge on the latest research and insights on relevant topics on post-pandemic recovery for the policy discourse. The insights and recommendations from the forums are intended to contribute to different sectoral work in ASEAN towards recovery. The vision of these Forums is to ‘Build Back Better in ensuring the region’s recovery policies result into a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable region. 

The digital and technological transformation and Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) bring implications to the economies, industries, and employment across ASEAN. Job creation or transformation, innovations, evolving job categories/ descriptions, intensified productivity, skills gap, adaptability of human resources and education to the changing labour market demands, life-long learning culture through up-skilling and re-skilling, and new forms of employment relations are some of the emerging issues that need to be addressed. Especially in light of the impact of COVID-19 on the ASEAN socio-economic spheres, ASEAN needs to manage the transition by preparing its human resources for the future of work. Skills development through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and life-long learning are key to building back better. With the capacity of TVET to rapidly respond to changing labour markets, it has the potential to (i) support employment opportunities, (ii) increase competency and productivity, (iii) improve the income of workers, (iv) promote enterprise competitiveness, (v) heighten job security, and (vi) support digital skills to advance in line with Industry 4.0.

In this view, ASEC and ERIA, in coordination with the Department of Education (Dep-Ed) of the Philippines who is also the Chair of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Education (SOM-ED) will be jointly organising a special episode on TVET titled ‘Preparing ASEAN Workforce for Post-COVID-19’. This forum will also serve as the 3rd episode of the 2021 ASEAN and SEAMEO Month Webinar Series, the initiative spearheaded by the Dep-Ed Philippines, aimed at providing a platform for sharing regional policy responses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the topics to be featured in this episode include TVET governance, quality, and financing, particularly with respect to participation rates, access to formal and non-formal TVET especially in rural areas, public spending for TVET, quality of TVET, and its relevance to the needs of businesses and industries in the ASEAN region.

The Forum will focus on the opportunity to accelerate the transition to an ASEAN workforce that is ready to take on the jobs that will come with Industry 4.0, highlighting the challenges faced by the TVET sector as well as discussing policy options to overcome the adverse impacts of COVID-19.  

Moderator:

• Dr. Rashesh Shresta, ERIA Economist

Speakers:

• Rosanna A. Urdaneta, Deputy Director-General for Policies  and Planning of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Philippines
• Ingo Imhoff, Programme Director, Regional Cooperation in TVET (RECOTVET)
• Eugene Ho, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, East Asia & Pacific, SAP
• Huynh Thanh Tam, Product Measurement Consultant, Product Quality Department, Bosch Vietnam Co., Ltd

Date and Time:

 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM (UTC+7; Jakarta time) or 3:30 to 5:00 PM (UTC+8; Manila Time)

Location:

Online (link to the meeting room to be provided after registration)

PROGRAMME AGENDA 

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