For our own purposes the British Council completed a survey of our education teams across the world to understand how different governments organise themselves for skills development. We were interested in the huge variety of approaches reported back, and we thought we should dig a little deeper. The result is this short discussion paper which looks at structures in six countries, along with some reflections and questions for the future.
This is a very timely report for the English skills sector. In the cabinet reshuffle on the 15 July 2016, instigated by the new UK Prime Minister Theresa May, skills and further education responsibility moved to the Department for Education. What can England learn from other systems who follow this approach? This report highlights the challenges and opportunities that face different ministerial departments in shaping skills policy.
Additionally we consider whether which ministry holds responsibility for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is an intrinsic part of the success or failure of systems or are other factors such as the centralisation of authority more influential?