Initial findings of the Training Need Assessment: Employable Capacity Development for Women project in Punjab

This article presents initial findings from the Training Need Assessment: Employable Capacity Development for Women project in Punjab. It outlines the overall results concerning cognitive skills and personality traits among participants, identifies gaps in the perceived importance of these skills, and examines stakeholders' perceptions of women's employment.

Summary Report of the Training Needs Assessment: Employable Capacity Development for Women project in Punjab, Pakistan

In this paper, we highlight the outcomes of the training needs assessment and suggest some factors which enable or impede women to learn new skills and achieve higher productivity. First, we describe the characteristics of skills of workers depending on their workplace, comparing among firms and between those working in the formal sector and at home. Then, we will shed light on people with higher skills and their characteristics. Lastly, based on these findings, we provide suggestions for improving the TVET curriculum and sensitizing employers.

Grasping and Training the Skills of Garment-sector Workers in Ethiopia: Findings from Assessments and Innovative Soft Skills Training

The report will present strongly positive outcomes of our developed game-based training in five domains of soft skills, namely, (1) occupational health and safety, (2) tidiness and cleanliness, (3) workplace efficiency, (4) product quality control, and (5) teamwork. The effects of the game-based soft skills training were evaluated in two ways: (1) the skills of participants were evaluated before and after the training intervention, and (2) the skills of participants were compared with those of nonparticipant groups. The report discusses the implications of the outcomes from our package of assessments and game-based training for developing manufacturing workers' skills, particularly soft skills, in developing countries.

Private Sector-Led Cooperation in Industrial Human Resource Development: The Case of the Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS)

This chapter from the book "Japan’s International Cooperation in Education: History and Prospects," focuses on the Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS), which has carried out training projects through public-private partnerships to meet the human resource development needs of private businesses investing overseas. This chapter compares AOTS with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Japan’s Governmental Assistance in TVET for Industrial Human Resource Development: Changing Patterns of JICA’s Project-Based Cooperation

This chapter from the book "Japan’s International Cooperation in Education: History and Prospects," focuses on the Government of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in developing countries. We focus specifically on the assistance provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), as the organization mainly responsible for technical cooperation for TVET. We analyze the changing patterns of JICA’s technical cooperation for TVET in relation to the domestic and global policy contexts that have influenced it.

Policy Brief No. 1 2023 “Unleashing Ethiopia’s Garment Sector Potential: Enhancing Work-related Soft Skills with Game-based Training”

The aim of this policy brief is to explore innovative ways of enhancing the soft skills of Ethiopia's garment industry workforce through game-based training. This paper will also provide policy lessons and suggestions for stakeholders to consider in order to promote the development of work-related soft skills of workers in developing economies.

Constructivist analysis of cross-sectional data on varieties of skills: Contextualities and generalities of skills packages and rewards to them in Ghana and Ethiopia

Using cross-sectional data on the varieties of skills and employers’ demands for them, this paper examines determinants of wages in the garment sector in Ghana and Ethiopia. It found that the effects of cognitive and technical skills are consistent, while those of noncognitive and behavioral skills are important but in different ways depending on the culture, work environment, and employers’ expectations. Based on the empirical evidence from the survey using the author’s unique assessment data, she promotes a comparative, constructivist approach to skills analysis departing from conventional institutionalism, which considers school as the predominant site of skills development.

The effects of game-based soft skills training: A quasi-experiment with Ethiopian garment workers

Soft skills are an essential determinant of worker productivity. This study investigates the efficacy of a game-based soft skills training program conducted with 501 workers in Ethiopia’s garment sector. The training was based on behavior modeling theory and included two board games and reflection activities to help participants connect and apply soft skills to their work contexts. The study evaluates the training program, pre- and post-training questionnaires, and a statistical analysis, which indicates that the training resulted in a significant 30.6% improvement in the in work-related soft skills of occupational health and safety, tidiness and cleanliness, workplace efficiency, product quality control, and teamwork of participants.

“Opportunities and Challenges of Skills Development – Why Do We Need Evidence-based Decisions?”

Presentation material at the event, "Industrial Skill Development in Developing Countries: Education, Skills Demands, and Productivity"

“What Can We Learn from the Multi-Dimensional and Multi-Stakeholders Data? Insights from Ethiopia”

Presentation material at the event, "Industrial Skill Development in Developing Countries: Education, Skills Demands, and Productivity"