ADB urges Asian schools to align HRD with labor demand

MANILA, Philippines - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has urged Asian universities and secondary schools to align with human resource development of the regional and global economies.

It also encouraged their partnerships with other institutions and the private sector to foster secondary education reform.

In its report titled, Improving Transitions: From School to University to Workplace,” the ADB said that the ability of Asia to cope with its new found wealth hinges on the preparedness of its universities and secondary schools to align with the demands of labor.

“Asia’s ability to compete in a globalized world depends on the readiness of students entering university, the employability of graduates in the labor market, and acceleration of innovation, science, and technology for creating new products and services,” Jouko Sarvi, education practice leader in ADB’s Regional and Sustainable Development Department, said in the report.

The role of education in supporting human resource development is increasingly in the spotlight as more Asian countries move toward middle-income status and demand for skilled labor grows, Sarvi said.

Looking at 15 countries the report recommended diversifying higher education options, in line with labor market needs.

Furthermore, the ADB urged partnerships with other institutions and the private sector to foster secondary education reform, and better prepare students for future employment.

The ADB report admitted that the interface between public and private higher education is complex but that it provides opportunities for significant synergies. One benefit is reaching out to private sources of funding of public universities.

Public universities often have the advantage of being proactive with experimental initiatives.

The ADB cited a government initiative in China, which has created space for selected public universities to experiment with the establishment of loosely coupled academic centers for software production. These centers can draw their staff from both inside and outside the university and focus more on external stakeholders in newly-emerging software production industries.

Such centers are given more autonomy by their universities than other academic units but are required to generate more of their own funding. They may select their own students and charge higher tuition, but their success will be determined by providing students with internships and eventually jobs with external stakeholders in the software industry, the report also said.

Likewise, the ADB report said that growing economic integration across Asia means that it will be increasingly beneficial to capitalize on the experiences of neighboring countries and beyond. More students in the region are pursuing their higher education studies outside their home country.

This trend is likely to grow and become an invaluable asset that enriches the diversity of higher learning across the entire Asian region.