Executive Summary
Over 1.3 billion people, or roughly a sixth of the world's population is living on less than a dollar a day. Given the trend towards the enhancement of the general lives of the people through the adoption of modern technology and increasing affluence in lifestyle, it is very surprising that their ranks are actually increasing; mainly due to the lack of probable opportunities that they can steadily avail to uplift themselves out of their present condition. It is believed therefore, that one of the main factors to uplift the status of the poor is to provide them with the necessary skills and not merely "giving food in the table".
Skills are increasingly seen as critical to educational development, labor market inclusion and economic growth, making TVET one of the four priority areas in UNESCO's education program. TVET reinforces the ability of youth and adults to cope with the changing labor market conditions and helps to reduce the vulnerability of fragile groups. TVET assists learners in acquiring skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to develop professional careers and enter the world of work as well as active citizenship and lifelong learning.
CPSC, as an inter-governmental organization for the development of TVET in the Asia and the Pacific Region, heeds this advocacy. Through this second In-country Program on Champion Trainers Program on Poverty Alleviation through TVET Skills Development, CPSC contributes to the raising of awareness necessary to put TVET skills into practice for mutual efforts for poverty alleviation.
This special in-country program on developing champion leaders intends to harness the experiences and expertise of learned individuals and organizations to further reiterate their plan to fast-track initiatives to implement TVET skills development programs.
This program is launched in Sri Lanka and was made possible through the efforts of CPSC in collaboration with the Department of Technical Education and Training (DTET) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development. It also sees itself as a catalyst to strengthen the capability of the champion leaders in formulating plans, designs and programs to their respective communities on different aspects of poverty alleviation through the enhancement of TVET skills.
At the end of training program, the participants should be able to:
- Appreciate the significance of TVET skills in the context of poverty alleviation
- Elucidate diverse approaches to employability through TVET skills and generic skills development
- Integrate entrepreneurship programs for addressing poverty alleviation
- Formulate TVET skills development modular programs and strategies
- Develop action plans to tackle poverty alleviation through TVET
