This presentation from Mr. Andrew Bell from the OECD for the 12th meeting of the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Policy Network on Education and Skills presents the main findings of the OECD Skills Strategy Southeast Asia: Skills for Post-COVID Recovery and Growth. It discusses why skills matter for Southeast Asia in line with global mega-trends and COVID, explains the OECD Skills Strategy in the region, and provides the main insights from the report covering three main dimensions: (1) the development of relevant skills over the life course; (2) the effective use of skills in work and society, and; (3) the governance of skills systems.

1. OECD Skills Strategy Southeast Asia
Skills for Post-COVID Recoveryand Growth
OECD Centre for Skills
https://www.oecd.org/skills/centre-for-skills
Andrew Bell
Head, OECD Skills Strategies
12TH MEETING OF THE OECD SOUTHEAST ASIAN REGIONAL
POLICY NETWORK ON EDUCATION AND SKILLS
30 November 2022

2. 2
Agenda for this presentation
Why do skills matter for Southeast Asia?
What is the OECD Skills Strategy
Southeast Asia?
What are the main findings of the OECD Skills
Strategy Southeast Asia?
1
2
3

3. 3
3
Context: Skills for Post-COVID
Recovery and Growth

4. A number of trendsare increasingand changingthe
skills needed for success
GLOBALISATION DEMOGRAPHIC
CHANGE
Digital
Transformation
CLIMATE CHANGE
4
COVID-19
MIGRATION

5. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
CRI score
Global Climate Risk Index
Source: Eckstein, Künzel and Schäfer (2021[43]), Global Climate Risk Index 2021,
https://www.germanwatch.org/sites/default/files/Global%20Climate%20Risk%20Index%202021_2.pdf.
Climate change has implicationsfor skills supply and demand
Extent to which countries have been impacted by weather-relatedloss events

6. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
New
Zealand
Korea Australia Thailand Japan Philippines Malaysia ASEAN
average
Indonesia Cambodia Viet Nam
Share of jobs at risk of automation or with a probability of significant change, 2017
Note: The bars represent occupation-based estimates for the risk of automation, based on Frey and Osborne (2017).
Source: OECD (2020[16]), OECDEconomic Surveys: Thailand, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ad2e50fa-en.
And automation will necessitateupskillingand reskilling

7. In response to these pressures,
educationalattainment is on the rise
Note: Gross enrolment rates refer to the total enrolment rates in education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population of official education age. Gross enrolment rates could exceed 100%
due to overaged or under-aged students.
Source: UNESCOInstitute for Statistics
Gross enrolmentrates, 1990 and 2017
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Preprimary Primary Secondary Tertiary
% Year 1990 Year 2017
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Preprimary Primary Secondary Tertiary
% Year 1990 Year 2017
ASEAN OECD

8. …but many are not obtainingthe skills most needed
in the labourmarket
Source: OECD Skills for Jobs database; OECD calculationsusingdata from the Thai LabourForceSurvey
Mismatches by qualification level and field-of-study, 2017 or latest available year
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Malaysia Korea United States OECD average Australia Germany Thailand
% Over-qualification Under-qualification Field-of-study mismatch

9. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
% Year 2050 Year 1980 Year 2020
Old-age dependency ratio, 1980 vs 2020 vs 2050
Population ageing reinforces the need for continued skills
development and use over the life course
Source: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2019[26]), World Population Prospects 2019, https://population.un.org/wpp/.

10. Stock of migrants by country of origin, latest year available
Source: ILOSTAT (2018[31]), Statistics on international labour migration, https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/labour-migration/; Statista (2019[32]), Number of immigrants in Singapore from 2005 to
2019 (Number of immigrants inSingapore from 2005 to 2019 (in 1,000s), https://www.statista.com/statistics/698035/singapore-number-of-immigrants/.
Intra-regionalmigrationacross SoutheastAsia is both a
challengeand an opportunity

11. 11
11
What is the OECD Skills
Strategy Southeast Asia?

12. OECD Skills Strategy SoutheastAsia
Project objectives
1. Support SoutheastAsiato build a shared
understandingof SoutheastAsia’sskills
challenges and opportunities
2. Identify international good practices
3. Support peer learning and identify areas and
mechanisms to regionalcooperation
12
The aim is to tackle these skillschallengesbut also to
supportthe recoveryfromCOVID-19.

13. Skills strategies can help countries overcomechallenges
and seize opportunities of the future

14. 14
14
Overview of skills performance
across Southeast Asia

15. The OECD Skills Strategy Dashboard
Developing relevant skills over the life course

16. The OECD Skills Strategy Dashboard
Using skills effectively in work and society

17. The OECD Skills Strategy Dashboard
Strengthening the governance of skills systems

18. 18
18
Dimension 1:
Developing relevant skills over
the life course

19. Source: World Bank (2021), Lower secondarycompletionrate, total (% of relevant age group), https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.CMPT.LO.ZS
Inequalities in accessing and completing initial education
persist across Southeast Asian countries
%
0
20
40
60
80
100
Lower secondary completion rate, 2018

20. Many schools in Southeast Asia, especially those that are
disadvantaged, face a shortage of staff and educational material
Shortageof educationalstaff andmaterial in disadvantaged
schoolsrelative to advantaged schools,2018
Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables II.B1.5.13. and II.B1.5.14.
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
Educational Staff Educational Material
Shortage
index

21. Source: OECD Skills Strategy Southeast Asia Policy Questionnaire; OECD, UNESCO UIS, World Bank (2021). Survey of National Education Responses to COVID-19 School Closures,
https://covid19.uis.unesco.org/data/.
Teachers across Southeast Asian countries require
additional support to transition to remote teaching
Support for teachers to transition to remote teaching, 2020 onwards
Supportmeasuresfor teachersto transition to
remote teaching
ASEAN OECD
Cambodia Malaysia Myanmar Singapore Viet Nam Germany Japan Korea OECD
total
Teachingcontentadapted to remote teaching ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 29
Instructions on distance teaching ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 28
SpecialICT training ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 26
Professional development activities on pedagogy
and ICT use
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 25
ICT tools and connectivity ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 24
Professional, psychosocialandemotionalsupport ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 24
Guidelinesfor preparing a virtual classroom ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 13

22. Recommendationsfor developingrelevantskills
over the life course
Broadening access to skills
development
Improving access to ECEC and
compulsory education for
disadvantaged groups
Promoting access to skills
development after compulsory
education
Increasing excellence and
equity
Improving the quality of human
resources in schools
Strengthening funding and
student assessment in schools
to improve equity
Developing skills that matter
Improving the alignment
between skills development
offers and labour market
demand
Steering skills development
choices towards labour market
needs

23. 23
23
Dimension 2:
Using skills effectively in
work and society

24. Source: OECD Skills Strategy Southeast Asia PolicyQuestionnaire; OECD (2021).Active labour market policymeasuresto mitigate the rise in (long-term) unemployment,
https://www.oecd.org/els/emp/almpmeasurescovid19.pdf.
There are significant barriers among women to participate in
the labour market
Labour force participation gap by gender, 2021
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Percentage
point difference

25. Source: OECD Skills Strategy Southeast Asia Policy Questionnaire; OECD (2021). Active labour market policy measures to mitigate the rise in (long-term) unemployment,
https://www.oecd.org/els/emp/almpmeasurescovid19.pdf.
The employment service response to COVID-19 has varied
across Southeast Asian countries
Employment servicesin response to the COVID-19 crisis
Employmentservices
ASEAN OECD
Cambodia Malaysia Myanmar Singapore Viet Nam Australia Germany Japan Korea OECD
total
Additional employmentincentives ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 22
Increased publicsectordirectjob
creation
✓ ✓ ✓ 13
Additional training programmes ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 11
Start-up incentives ✓ ✓ ✓ 9
Otheractive labourmarket
programmes(pleasespecify)
✓ ✓ 7

26. Southeast Asian countries confront challenges in promoting
high-performance workplace practices
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Reliance on professional management score (1-7), 2019
Source: World Economic Forum (2019),GlobalCompetitiveness Report, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2019.pdf.

27. Recommendationsfor using skills effectively
in work and society
Promoting participation in the
labour market
Reducing barriers to
employment for disadvantaged
group
Facilitating the transition of
workers from the informal to the
formal labour market
Making intensive use of skills
Promoting skills use in the
workplace through the greater
adoption of high-performance
workplace practices
Promoting skills use in
everyday life through civic
engagement and leisure
activities
Increasing demand for
higher-level skills
Promoting innovation to
increase demand for high-level
skills
Fostering entrepreneurship

28. 28
28
Dimension 3:
Strengthening the governance
of skills systems

29. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
There is room to improve co-ordination across ministries and levels
of government in some SoutheastAsian countries
Level of policy co-ordination in government, 2020
Source: Bertelsmann Stiftung (2020), BTI Transformation Index, https://bti-project.org/en/; Bertelsmann Stiftung (2020), SustainableGovernance Indicators, https://www.sgi-network.org/2020/.
Co-ordination
index

30. More could be done to facilitate the inclusion of stakeholders
in skills policy making in Southeast Asian countries
Civil society capacity and representation,
as well as participation in policy formulation, 2022
Source: Bertelsmann Stiftung (2020), BTI Transformation Index, https://bti-project.org/en/
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Representation and capacity of interest groups Civil society participation
Index
score

31. Differentmeasuresfor a whole-of-societyapproach Cambodia Malaysia Myanmar Singapore Thailand
Public-privatepartnerships ✓ ✓ O ✓
Formal engagementbody ✓ ✓ O ✓ O
PPP unitin the government ✓ ✓ O
Engagementstrategy ✓
Town-hall meetings ✓ ✓ ✓ O
Publicinformation systemforstakeholders ✓ ✓ ✓ O
Policydialogue ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Outreach to local communitygroups ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Onlineplatformforconsultations ✓ ✓ O
Source: OECD Skills Strategy Southeast Asia PolicyQuestionnaire
SoutheastAsian countries could expand mechanisms to engage
stakeholders in skills policies
Measures in place (✓) or planned (o) to foster a whole-of-society approach to skills policies

32. Southeast Asian countries vary in terms of participation in
skills-related international surveys
Southeast Asian countries’participation in skills related international surveys
Titleof international surveyand latestavailableyearwith participating
SoutheastAsian countries
Brunei
Darussalam
Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam Total
Skillsdevelopment
UNESCO - Catalogue ofLearning Assessment2.02018 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 10
UNESCO - Literacyand Educational AttainmentSurvey2021 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 10
UNESCO - Survey of Formal Education 2022 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 10
OECD - Programfor InternationalStudentAssessment(PISA)2018 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 8
UNICEF, SEAMEO - SoutheastAsiaPrimaryLearning Metrics(SEA-PLM)2019 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 6
IEA - Trendsin Mathematicsand ScienceStudy(TIMSS)2019 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5
IEA - Progressin International Reading LiteracyStudy(PIRLS)2021 ✓ ✓ 2
OECD - Programfor the International AssessmentofAdultCompetencies
(PIAAC) 2015
✓ ✓ 2
OECD - Teaching and LearningInternational Survey(TALIS)2018 ✓ ✓ 2
IEA - InternationalCivicand Citizenship Education Study(ICCS)2022 ✓ 1
IEA - InternationalComputerand Information LiteracyStudy(ICILS)2018 ✓ 1
Skillsuse
UNESCO - Survey of Cultural Employment2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 10
UNESCO - Research and Experimental DevelopmentSurvey2021 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 9
WorldBank - Enterprise Survey2019 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 8
WorldEconomic Forum - FutureofJobs Survey2020 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4

33. Recommendationsfor strengtheningthe governance
of skills systems
Promoting a whole-
of-government
approach
Strengthening
horizontal co-
ordination
Strengthening vertical
co-ordination
Promoting a whole-
of-society approach
Identifying and
engaging relevant
labour market actors
Identifying and
engaging relevant civil
society actors
Building integrated
information systems
Improving data
collection
Improving the
management and use
of skills data
Aligning and co-
ordinating financial
arrangements
Diversifying financial
resources
Allocating financial
resources equitably
and effectively

34. To learn more about the OECD’s work
on skills visit: www.oecd.org/skills/ 34
To discuss OECD’s work on skills, contact:
andrew.bell@oecd.org, OECD Centre for Skills