The dailouge of Technical Education
Answers
Traditionally, Latin America has had very low secondary education graduation rates when compared to more developed countries, and the region’s workforce has also had low levels of educational achievement. Table 1 shows the share of adults in each country in the region with low, medium, and high levels of education. The data shows that in all countries (except Argentina, Chile and Panama) individuals with the lowest levels of education comprise the largest share of the adult population.

In this context, both Latin American workers and employers wonder how they can maximize their professional growth and increase their productivity. At the same time, governments are exploring how to invest efficiently in human capital development. What are examples of models that make secondary education effective, providing the necessary skills to land a job? What are current technical and professional post-secondary programs missing? What potential do apprenticeships have for their participants to develop skills and competencies? How important are socio-emotional skills and to what extent are they being developed? How can we take advantage of online instruction and other new technologies? These are only some of the questions raised by the discussion around supply and demand of skills and competencies in the region.
The current state of Latin America’s labor market presents opportunities for innovation in skills development systems. For example, many workers with college degrees are underemployed as a result of an oversupply of graduates with non-technical degrees and a shortage of graduates with advanced technical training. This, together with the strong presence of informal employment[ii], offers opportunities for redesigning technical education and professional training in the region. The development of workers’ skills and competencies through formal qualification programs, aligned with employers’ needs, is a key element in the sustainable development of Latin America.
This project aims to build a network of experts and stakeholders in Latin America interested in sharing their ideas and experiences on this topic, with the goal of advancing an agenda of knowledge-sharing and innovation that can be effectively implemented according to each country’s needs. Specifically, the initiative will include a series of publications (reports, policy briefs, and blog posts), events, and online seminars that will facilitate the discussion of best practices and policy recommendations.
Technical and vocational education (TVE) at the secondary level is defined by its orientation to the labor market, in contrast to general secondary education, whose academic training lays the foundation for higher education (Werner Eichhorst, 2015; W. Eichhorst, Rodriguez- Planas, Schmidl, & Zimmermann, 2015). Technical and vocational education trains young people to acquire the skills and knowledge to participate in the labor market, although the degree of specificity of secondary TVE skills depends on each particular system. In some cases, TVE skills are oriented to specific occupations (OECD, 2010) while in others students are provided with general knowledge to be able to work in several occupations (W. Eichhorst et al., 2015).
Most TVE programs are carried out during the school day, and both theoretical and practical training takes place in school (as in the case of Spain for example, see section II). Meanwhile, some secondary TVE systems incorporate practical training in the workplace in addition to the theoretical training provided by schools (as in Germany). These are known as dual systems, and they seek to promote the connection between the school system and the labor market.
Belén Cumsille is a Program Associate with the Inter-American Dialogue’s Education Program.
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