Promoting lifelong learning in collaboration with the public, private and education sectors, as has been implemented in Estonia, is the secret to success in workforce development, according to Equitable Education Fund (EEF) manager Supakorn Buasai.
He was speaking at the Meeting on Workforce Development and Training Strategies for Poor and Underprivileged Adults in Digital Age: Experiences and Lessons Learnt from Estonia last week.
Estonia has been touted as the "Silicon Valley of Europe", having risen from a poor to a developed country within three decades, and the EEF is studying Estonia's experience in motivating various sectors to empower the poor and underprivileged to bridge the kingdom's educational gap, he said.
While the Estonian government uses tax incentives for those workers who pursue further studies or re-skill themselves, it also gives the incentives to companies that allow employees to take paid leave to do so.
Kairi Solmann, Adult Education Programme Manager for the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, said the country's success began with a national strategy that gave importance to lifelong learning.
Under the Estonia 2020 National Reform Programme, it is hoped that 20% of the working population will come back into the education system and re-skill by 2020, increasing from 10.5% in 2010.
Meanwhile, the latest figures show that 19.7% of the population has come back and re-skilled as of last year, compared with the EU average of 11.1%, Ms Kairi said.
"Estonia gives the same priority to lifelong learning as the basic education of vocational and higher education for the youth as we believe that an effective workforce must always learn and develop new skills. Certainly, it's the duty of the government to take care and invest in this issue," she said.
Another factor behind the country's success is the serious collaboration between the public and private sectors, the Estonian adult education programme manager added. Moreover, a National Council for Adult Education has been established to work on policies specifically set for adult education. Its targets are adults with a low level of education, adults who do not have professional certificates and the adults who wish to update their skills.
"We also use e-services pervasively. This makes it more convenient for learners. We have a large database comprising all aspects of the Estonian education system, including information about education institutions, students, teachers, curriculums as well as the needs of the private sector. All parties can access the information and use it to coherently plan for education and labour productivity in the future," she said.
Prof Naksit Kuwattanachai, an EEF adviser, said 10 million Thai labourers had not finished high school and 55% of the same group are underprivileged workers who have a low level of education and few skills.
Therefore, improving this demographic is key to helping the country escape the middle-income trap.
Dr Supakorn said the EEF is initiating education and skill development programmes for underprivileged adults nationwide which will target 5,000-10,000 people in the first year. They will be eligible to receive vocational skill development.
