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Countries in the Asia-Pacific region are very different in size, economic growth and resource endowment. Differences in the levels of economic development impact on every aspect of life, including employment, labour force considerations, education and training. The growing prominence of Asian economies and corporations, together with globalisation and technological innovation, is leading to long-term changes in trade, business and labour markets. Therefore, technical and vocational skills shall be the key focus for these countries to align skills development strategies with socioeconomic goals. This chapter mainly defined the meaning and importance of skills development for employability (TVET). Successful stories in TVET in different regions were introduced. Key issues for TVET in the Asia-Pacific region were raised, including public–private partnership, national qualification framework, green growth and skills development for employability, vocationalisation of education and soft skills development. This chapter calls for an improved framework for skills development in the region.

In the foreseeable future, Asia will face some daunting demographic, economic and environmental challenges, all of which will necessitate the acquisition of new knowledge and skills if development in the region is to be sustainable and to cope with the impact of climate change and advances in science and technology. In this chapter, it is argued that skills development throughout life is crucial for all, for the entire workforce ranging from ‘knowledge workers’ to those living in poverty and refugees (political, economic and environmental). The research suggests that VET, industry-based training and adult and continuing education play a pivotal vital role in providing the ‘additionality’ needed for sustainable development and that skills development must be an integral part of education at all levels and in all of its form.

This chapter analyses social and economic debates and the ways economic competitiveness is viewed in relation to human resource development including some implications for vocationalisation. It argues that change from an education-driven to a functional-driven model of skills development within secondary schooling is observed in the Asia-Pacific region. It has been argued that such trends as expansion of the basis for vocationalisation, merging of TVET and general education, quality and delivery of vocationalisation and moves from specific job-skills training to flexible training are typical for the region and need to be taken into account when developing policies and implementation practices for vocationalisation. The degree to which vocationalisation occurs and its nature depends on the level of economic development and on cultural traditions. Social, economic and technology rationales are used by governments to decide on particular vocationalisation policy. The vocationalisation of postsecondary and higher education is analysed through the different levels of debate, and the issue of whether tertiary education is becoming too focused on preparing individual for employment is also discussed.

This chapter makes the case that the primary causes of poverty lie in the education, employment and employability (3E) ecosystem because sustainable poverty reduction comes from access. And access comes from a radical reform of the 3Es that not only delivers outcomes but creates the enabling environment for the fourth E of entrepreneurship. India, like many other Asian countries, is going through five labour market transitions: farm to nonfarm, rural to urban, unorganised to organised, subsistence self-employment to decent wage employment and school to work. These are journeys to a better life for most Indians, but they are being sabotaged by three problems: matching (employment reform), mismatch (employability reform) and pipeline (education reform). These problems require creating a fertile habitat for public-private partnerships or direct private participation in the provision of the 3Es because many regulations or dogmas currently sabotage this participation.

Ever since the Chinese society has taken a prominent reform strategy, the market economy has rapidly developed, and the scale of economic activity continues to grow such that China is now recognised as the world’s second largest economy. Industrialisation has led to a significant urbanisation of China and strengthens its position as the world’s manufacturer. As vocational opportunities in rural areas have decreased, demand for labour in urban and industrialised areas has increased which led to a massive rural labour migration. It is reported in this chapter that the government policy has gradually reflected greater appreciation of the contribution that rural migrant labourers make to the economy and the need to address inequities in the labour market and in social justice. Sunshine Project as the world’s largest project for rural labour transfer training was reported in this chapter as the implementation of a key and proactive policy shift undertaken by the Chinese Government.

The major change in approaching the ICT skills acquisition process today is that instead of having a separate institutional and curriculum-based ICT training, it can now be incorporated in work and lifelong learning. As learning and work environments constantly change, the need for ICT support personnel becomes vital. Vocational education plays a crucial role in the social and economic development of a nation. The emphasis on specific objectives and tasks, however, varies among countries. ICT literacy and numeracy are necessary for TVET; the health and safety of workers, as an example, would depend on their ability to read instructions. The broader skills of scientific literacy is important for equipment maintenance and repair, while social literacy is for building harmonious relations in the workplace. Applying such skills to the world of work and active citizenship should become core dimensions of vocational education if it is to respond to the imperatives of social sustainability.

Robin Shreeve, the CEO of the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency, provides a critical analysis of how the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) system has evolved to meet the challenges relating to skills and workforce development. A historical analysis of the policies and strategies that had been used in Australia to increase skills development is provided as well as the recent shift in policy direction towards what has been termed as a ‘workforce development’ approach. This shift presents some challenges and the author provides insight into what policy makers in Australia are doing to facilitate better workforce development planning, better skills utilisation and better skills development to support industries. The analysis will be relevant for Asia’s developing member countries that are facing similar problems of enhancing productivity growth, meeting the demands of demographic transitions and improving workforce participation of youth, women and older people.

The OECD Survey of Adult Skills combines a direct assessment of key cognitive skills with the collection of information on the use of cognitive skills and other generic skills in the workplace (and other contexts) and information concerning the factors associated with the development, maintenance and loss of skills as well as the information on the outcomes of these skills. Results from the first round of the assessment which involved 24 countries will be released in October 2013. This chapter provides an overview of the main features of survey and describes how the data from the survey is relevant to education and training and labour market policy in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

Asian countries are among the most dynamic economies in the world. As a result of their rapid growth, several countries are experiencing skill shortages in higher-technology manufacturing. As a response, they have ambitious plans for increasing vocational education and training as part of their national development plans. However, it remains to be seen how these plans will be implemented at the local level. This chapter is divided into three sections: (1) skills challenges faced by Asian countries, (2) strategic approaches to skills development in Asian countries and (3) emerging policy themes. It draws on data and analysis from 15 countries: Australia; Cambodia; China; Hong Kong, China; India; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Mongolia; Nepal; Pakistan; Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; and Vietnam.

India has one of the youngest populations globally. Statistically, 47.8% of India’s population is below 29 years, increasing to 49.9% in 2021. It is expected that over the next 15 years, 365 million people will be eligible to join the workforce. Skill development initiatives were traditionally led by the government, starting establishment of Industrial Training Institutes and Centres. In 2008, the Prime Minister outlined his vision for skill development of 500 million people by 2022. National Skill Development Corporation, incepted in 2009, is mandated to skill 150 million people by 2022 in 20 focus sectors identified by the government and the informal segment through a three-pronged approach revolving around creating, funding and enabling sustainable skills training initiatives in the private space. Till May 2012, NSDC has approved 49 private sector training providers which between would skill 67 million people in 21 high growth by 2022.