RAWALPINDI, June 18: Developing countries in Asia need to improve quality of their education systems because many graduates lack the skills needed in today’s rapidly changing workplace.

The call was made by Asian Development Bank in a study titled “Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific”.

“Many developing countries in Asia have had tremendous success in expanding access to primary and secondary schooling; however, this is now fuelling a spike in demand for post- secondary opportunities,” says the study.

Demand for higher education is booming and is expected to double in five years and triple in ten years in many developing member countries, the ADB report projects.

Low quality is the biggest problem and greatest challenge facing many developing Asian countries higher education systems. Among the areas needing greatest attention are: aligning knowledge and skills of secondary school graduates with higher education entrance requirements: linking higher education preparation with labour market demand; diversifying financial resources in public higher education institutions; financing private higher education; increasing emphasis on cost-sharing by students and families; and dealing with faculty compensation issues, says the report.

Assistance is required to consolidate the expansion of basic education to include secondary education — even upper secondary — in Asian countries where economic and social development requires a strengthened foundation of basic education.

Due to institutional and societal factors, Asian region presents the greatest challenges in reaching both gender equity and universal primary education. Although improvement has been marked, much remains to be done. Rapid rates of population growth in several countries in South Asia have far outdistanced capacity to keep pace with increasing demand for basic education.

The number of children in school increased over the past decade by 20 million, to 132 million. However, the number of children out of school also rose by 7 million to 53 million, despite increase in education budget over the same period.

Repetition is up to 30 per cent in primary education in some countries in South Asia, and dropouts and frequent absenteeism result in high inefficiency and low completion rates.

Disturbingly, as national averages in these countries slowly improve, sub-national data show that underserved areas and minority populations are more poorly served than ever, with a growing disparity of access in the same countries. Significant efforts have been made to narrow the wide disparity in gender enrolment, but gaps will likely remain well beyond the 2015 target date for millennium development goals. to be emphasized, with special attention to disadvantaged and underserved groups, to promote equitable access to the fruits of growth. It will be important to help governments realise that the excluded will not easily adapt to mainstream education systems, and to help governments adjust these systems to better accommodate disadvantaged groups.

The potential benefits of the other important dimensions of basic education, such as early childhood education, literacy, and adult education programmes, should be realized in developing Asian countries where this has not yet occurred.

The report says science and technology as a focus of investment in higher education should be approached with caution. The development of science and technology is based on the convergence of inputs from multiple sectors. The principal factors that promote development of science and technology are not the activities of universities. Higher education can support development of science and technology when comprehensive policies and cross-sectoral national development frameworks exist in this field in developing Asian countries.

Innovative modalities and partnerships, such as use of ICT and links with private, corporate, and community sectors will be increasingly important in support of all of the above priority areas.

For training and vocational educational training (TVET), the focus of attention should be on system reform to better align skills formation with requirements in the labour market. Organization and management of TVET systems should be improved.

Getting the organisational structure right is one of the first steps toward establishing a successful TVET system. This means forging close links with the labour market based on employer involvement in the system.

Where possible, apex training organisations and national training authorities should be created or strengthened to analyse trends, set policy direction, and allocate resources. Quality standards need to be created, based on development of occupational standards through the design of efficient vocational qualification frameworks and the setting of minimum training standards.