ETF advisory forum 2006 : thematic workshop 4 : skills development for poverty reduction in transition countries / ETF

Skills development for poverty reduction in transition countries. Skills learning for pro-- poor development: Some current areas of international innovation. Labour markets and disadvantaged groups in the Western Balkans: Opportunities for skills development and enhancement. From poverty reduction to economic and social cohension: How can countries be better prepared for ESF type instruments? Skills development for poverty reduction and vocational education and training system reform in Central Asia. Peer reviews and peer laerning: options for policy learning for poverty reduction strategies? Facilitating policy learning: Active learning and the reform of education systems in transition countries.

Skills and skills development are again recognised by the international donor community to be important for poverty reduction. But it is not clear what this means for the systematic reforms of vocational education and training in the ETF partner countries. There is an urgent need to relate the development aid debate on skills development to the practice of system VET reforms in the transition countries. They can benefit from both the experience with skills development projects in developing countries and from the experience with national competence-based education and training policies in developed countries. These issues need to be clarified in order to understand the role that the ETF can play.