Changing patterns in vocational education

One of the long standing issues in education development has been productive job training in rapidly changing economies. The argument has been made that vocational secondary schools are not well equipped for this task. Although vocational and academic schooling often result in similar levels of education and employment, the higher costs of the vocational schooling makes it a less attractive alternative. In the past 23 years of Bank lending for vocational education and training, there has been a clear shift away from vocational secondary schools toward various forms of training, outside the formal education system. Although investment has been shifting into nonformal training, secondary education is in need of new directions. Diversified secondary schools have not provided that direction, leaving questions about how secondary schools might meet social objectives cost effectively.Tertiary Education,Teaching and Learning,Gender and Education,Primary Education,Curriculum&Instruction

Vocational education and training : a review of World Bank investment

In the past ten years the most striking achievement of vocational education and training (VET) has been the development of national training systems from nonformal training centres and post secondary technical education institutions. This has happened largely in middle income countries. Investments in low income countries, especially those in Sub Saharan Africa, have been less successful. In addition implementation weakness and stagnating economies have made it difficult to set up any type of training. Investment in national training programs has just begun in these poorer countries, and success is uncertain because of continuing economic constraints. These patterns suggest that the level of economic development and the consequent size and dynamism of industrial employment have a powerful influence on the outcome of investments in vocational education and training. In small low income countries, recent Bank experience suggests that resources be concentrated in nonformal training centres, training quality, development of management capacity in training institutions, and aggressive marketing of training opportunities and services.Teaching and Learning,Primary Education,Gender and Education,Curriculum&Instruction,ICT Policy and Strategies

China's vocational and technical training

China has embarked on a series of reforms designed to improve the efficiency of productive enterprises through the introduction of elements of a competitive market economy. Vocational and technical education and training (VTE) is to be expanded and improved to meet the skilled labor requirements of a changing economy. The efficiency of the VTE system in meeting changing requirements for skilled labor depends in large part on effective planning and linkages with employment. This study analyzes VTE planning and labor market linkages in the context of the economic reforms, and in comparison with the vocational education and training systems in other countries.Teaching and Learning,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Curriculum&Instruction,Gender and Education,Tertiary Education

Sandwell Health’s Other Economic summit July 9th ­10th 2009 thinking global acting local

From the 1980s, The Other Economic Summits (TOES) meetings have taken place around the world to coincide with meetings of the G6, now G8 leaders of the most powerful economic nations of the world.(1) The TOES tradition has been continued in Sandwell, a small area of the West Midlands of England, where we hold the SHOES meetings, Sandwell Health’s Other Economic Summits.(2) Sandwell is a small area, of 300000 inhabitants, of considerable ethnic diversity. We are part of what is called the ‘Black Country’ where the industrial revolution began. Sandwell is still reliant on manufacturing but is an area of considerable deprivation and environmental degradation. Sandwell was a birthplace for the Methodist church and was prominent in the antislavery movement. Malcolm X visited Smethwick, one of our six towns, shortly before he was assassinated. Sandwell also hosts major centres for Sikhism, Hinduism and black African Caribbean Christianity. The area has a strong tradition of social justice and for seeing our place in the world and our responsibility to ‘think global and act local’. Each year we invite prestigious speakers and take time out from routine health service considerations, to consider the greater problems of the world, climate change, human rights, terrorism conflict and their effects on health. There have been seven Shoes events over the last 11 years. The first was in 1998 when Clinton brought the G8 to Birmingham and we have been established as an annual event since 2005, the day after the 7/7 bombings in London and the G8 summit at Gleneagles, in Scotland.(3) SHOES focuses on economic and environmental influences on health. Our banner for this year was ‘Green, Well, Fair’. We looked at the effects of the credit crunch on health and what local responses we can make from the health service. The subtext for our international health day was ‘Health for Some’ ­ reflecting on unfairness in global health with case studies from Africa, Palestine, and the Balkans. This gave us an opportunity to reflect on what Sandwell should contribute, in thinking globally, acting locally. Almost 200 delegates attended over the two days

Cross-spectral study of the spatial relationships in the North Pacific sea-suface temperature anomaly field, A

Includes bibliographical references.March 1980.C00-1340-68

A comparison of ground reaction forces and muscle activity of the Tsunami Bar® against a rigid barbell during back squat phases

An Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved study was conducted to investigate the effects of the Tsunami Bar® (TB), a flexible barbell, on ground reaction force (GRF) production and muscle activity in the quadricep, hamstring, and gluteal muscle groups during phases of the squat exercise and compare the effects to the effects to using a rigid barbell (RB). A two-by-two repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test was used to compare the results. Descriptive statistics showed significantly higher GRFs for the TB during the unweighting phase, significant differences in GRFs between speeds for each phase, significantly higher forces on average with the RB during the breaking and propulsive phases at the 90 beats-per-minute (bpm) speed, and significantly higher muscle activity with the RB at the 60-bpm speed. A linkage to the beneficial effects of the TB seen in literature was seen with familiarity with the TB