Protocols

Introduction

It is a huge privilege to invite me to this maiden National Skills Summit organized by the
Industrial Training Fund (ITF). There is no doubt that the ITF is the foremost Manpower Training
and Development Agency of the Federal Government. With this enviable status, it is therefore
not surprising that the Agency is saddled with the responsibility of providing, promoting and
encouraging the acquisition of skills in both Public and Private Sectors of the economy.

This is in line with the Agency’s mandate on one hand as well as underscores the current
administration’s policy of empowering youths with technical and vocational skills for
sustainable economic growth and development.

I understand that the Summit is designed to serve as a platform to articulate strategies and
actionable steps for developing employable skills to enhance job creation in Nigeria and I know
that a plethora of intellectuals has been invited here to support this noble cause. This is highly
commendable.

I am also aware of the specific objectives of the Summit which amongst others include
articulating specific strategies for developing employable skills, application of best practices for
aligning skill development to market needs, bringing issues with development implications
which require skills intervention, bringing together development agencies and practitioners to
share ideas and facilitate professional network and collaboration, propound policy guidelines as
well as identification of and assessment of existing skills development and labour market
contexts in Nigeria.

Although I have been asked to speak on the topic Industry Need and Educational Curricular:
Global Perspective, please permit me to provide, for your benefit, the sequential evolution of
TETFund, an organization which by God’s making, I am heading today.

Brief Sequential History of TETFund and where we are today: The Evolution Process

Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is a body set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria
to arrest the rot and deterioration in the educational infrastructure occasioned by long period
of neglect and very poor resource allocation. Tertiary Education Trust (TETFund) formerly
Education Trust Fund (ETF) was established as an Intervention Agency by Education Tax Act No.
7 of 1993 (and subsequently amended in 1998). This law empowered the then ETF to intervene
at all levels of education (Primary, Secondary and Tertiary) in public institutions. In 2011,
Education Trust Fund, ETF was renamed TETFund by the ETF Act No. 16 and refocused to
intervene in only public tertiary institutions (Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of
Education) for maximum impact. Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act, 2011 imposes a two
percent (2%) Education Tax on the profit of all registered companies operating in Nigeria.
Tertiary Education Trust Fund is charged with the responsibility to manage, disburse and
monitor the education tax to public tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Tertiary Education Trust Fund administers the tax imposed by the act and disburses the amount
to tertiary educational institutions at Federal and State levels. Specifically, TETFund’s cardinal
objective is to provide the badly needed funds to support tertiary education, provide
scholarship and grants for staff to enhance the productivity and quality of higher education.
TETFund interventions are anchored on the following areas: Normal Intervention; Library
Intervention; Research grant; Academic Staff Training & Development; Publication of Journal;
Manuscript Development; and Conference Attendance.

It is an intervention agency set up to provide supplementary support to all level of public

tertiary institutions with the main objective of using funding alongside project management for
the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of Tertiary Education in Nigeria.

The main source of income available to the Fund is the two percent education tax paid from the
assessable profit of companies registered in Nigeria. The Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS)
assesses collects the tax on behalf of the Fund.

The funds are disbursed for the general improvement of education in federal and state tertiary
educations specifically for the provision or maintenance of:

 Essential physical infrastructure for teaching and learning

 Institutional material and equipment

 Research and publications

 Academic staff training and development and

 Any other need which, in the opinion of the Board of Trustees, is critical and essential
for the improvement and maintenance of standards in the higher educational institutions
The Fund is managed by an eleven (11) member Board of Trustees with members drawn from
the six geo-political zones of the country as well as representative of the Federal Ministry of
Education, Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Inland Revenue Services.

Areas of TETFund Interventions

As approved by the Board of Trustees, TETFund Interventions can be categorized

as follows:

REGULAR (ANNUAL) INTERVENTIONS: comprising: Infrastructural and Equipment/Furniture-

based Intervention projects; Equipment Fabrication; Entrepreneurship; ICT Support; Library
Intervention; Academic Staff Training and Development; Research; Journal Publication;
Conference Attendance; Manuscript Development; Teaching Practice; and TETFund Project
Maintenance

SPECIAL INTERVENTION: High Impact Intervention, BOT Special Intervention. The Regular
Intervention is yearly for all beneficiary institutions of TETFund. The Special Intervention is
usually at the discretion of the Board of Trustees, on equality of geo-political zones as
enshrined in the enabling Act.

Dealing with the Issue

To discuss the topic effectively, I have dissected my views into three segments primarily for
clarity.

a. The concept of Global Perspective must be addressed on the platform of Global

Curriculum. So it is important to understand what global Curriculum is so as to
underscore its Global Perspective. For Clarity, Global Curriculum refers to. Teaching
pupils from a Global Perspective enables pupils to gain a better understanding of the
world they live in. The Global Curriculum aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and
caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through
intercultural understanding and respect. Why is it important? Global education promotes
 skills, values, and knowledge that are crucial to a student's development. By engaging
with social issues, students build self-esteem and compassion and are empowered to
become active citizens. This is also important for teachers because they also want to
enjoy teaching and watching their students develop interests and skills in their interest
area. Teacher involvement in the process of curriculum development is important to
align content of curriculum with students needs in the classroom.

Global education is one that incorporates learning about the cultures, geographies, histories,
and current issues of all the world's regions. ... Global education develops students' skills to
engage with their global peers and highlights actions students can take as citizens of the world.
How can we change curricular in education? Eight Steps to Curricular Change

Analyze current teaching practices and learning goals. ...

Re-examine the links between goals and course design. ...

Reconsider the role of assessment in the course. ...

Develop teaching strategies and approach. ...

Explore Curricular Questions. ...

Gather Data. ...

Brainstorm the Ideal Major. ...

Formulate, Deliberate, and Assess Possible Reform Models.

1. The identification of labour market issues critically rests on the availability of data,
information and analysis. Labour market information systems (LMIS) provide an
essential basis for employment and labour policies, and inform the design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies that are better focused and
targeted. LMIS also contribute to a reduction in the transaction costs of labour markets
as they help overcome incomplete information of labour market agents.

Most countries are committed to the development of labour market information systems.
However, particularly in developing economies, the functioning of LMIS, if such systems have
been established at all, is hampered by various constraints, including data limitations. Data
limitations affect not only complex issues such as informality and employment protection, but
also labour market indicators that in most developed economies are available on a monthly or
quarterly basis, such as employment and unemployment indicators. Data limitations are related
in developing economies to constraints such as resource scarcity, limited analytical capacity and
structural factors. Furthermore, labour market institutions, including workers’ and employers’
organizations, are weak in many economies, which hamper the development and use of
mechanisms to feed information and analysis into decision-making. Such problems may lead to
ill-informed policy formulation and inadequate monitoring, hindering efforts to achieve labour
market and development objective.

Employer Skills Survey 2019

Welcome to the microsite for the Department for Education (DFE) 2019 Employer Skills Survey.

What is the Employer Skills Survey? The survey gathers information on the skills challenges that
employers face within their existing workforces and in terms of bringing in new skilled labour,
the levels and nature of training investment and the relationship between skills challenges,
training activity and business strategy. This year it also includes content previously covered in
the Employer Perspectives Survey, including topics such recruitment of education leavers,
provision of work placements and apprenticeships.

Research for the survey is being carried out between May and November 2019 by IFF research,
BMG research and Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Department for Education, the Welsh
Government, and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland.

The success of the survey is dependent on the willingness of employers to take part. If selected,
employers can choose a time that suits them to be interviewed. If you are a participant you can
find more information on our FAQs page.

The results of the survey will be made publically available on the gov.uk website in 2020. If you
participate in the survey you will be asked if you would like to receive a summary report of the
findings of the survey.

If you have any questions or need to contact us about the survey, please click here.

SurveyThe UK Employer Skills Survey (ESS) is one of the largest business surveys in the world,
with the data in this report based on survey responses from over 87,000 employers. The survey
provides a comprehensive source of intelligence on the skills challenges that UK employers face
both within their existing workforces and when recruiting, the levels and nature of investment in
training and development, and the relationship between skills challenges, training activity and
business strategy.

The report outlines the skills employers say are lacking from applicants for their hardest to fill
vacancies. The majority of hard-to-fill vacancies (67%) are caused, at least in part, by a lack of
skills, qualifications and experience among applicants. The skills that employers found to be
lacking among applicants ranged across both technical and practical skills, and people and
personal skills. On the technical side, employers reported a lack of digital skills, skills related to
operational aspects of the role, and a lack of complex analytical skills. The main people and
personal skills lacking predominantly related to self-management skills, management and
leadership, and sales and customer handling skills.

Sector skills councils (SSCs) are employer-led organisations that cover specific industries in the
United Kingdom. They have four key goals: to support employers in developing and managing
apprenticeship standards. to reduce skills gaps and shortages and improve productivitySector
skills councils (SSCs) are employer-led organisations that cover specific industries in the United
Kingdom. They have four key goals:

to support employers in developing and managing apprenticeship standards

to reduce skills gaps and shortages and improve productivity

to boost the skills of their sector workforces

to improve learning supply

SSCs aim to achieve these goals by developing an understanding of the future skills needs in
their industry, and contributing to the development of National Occupational Standards, the
design and approval of apprenticeship frameworks and the New Apprenticeship Standards and
creating sector qualification strategies. There are currently nineteen SSCs, covering about 80 per
cent of the British workforce. SSCs are licensed by the government through the UK Commission
for Employment and Skills (UKCES).[1]

An economic model is a simplified version of reality that allows us to observe, understand, and
make predictions about economic behavior. The purpose of a model is to take a complex, real-
world situation and pare it down to the essentials. ... Sometimes economists use the term theory
instead of model.
Lifelong guidance aims to provide career development support for individuals of all ages, at all
career stages. It includes careers information, advice, counselling, assessment of skills and
mentoring. Quality guidance services should be available to all individuals, regardless of their
employment situation, socioeconomic status, ethnicity or gender. Cedefop’s lifelong guidance
project develops research and knowledge exchange for the improvement of guidance and
counselling across the European Union. Cedefop cooperates with the European Commission and
the Member States via the European lifelong guidance policy network (ELGPN).

By addressing the needs of at-risk groups, such as the young disengaging from education and
training, or migrants striving for labour market integration, guidance aims to support social
inclusion. By contributing to reconciling the needs of individuals with the needs of the labour
market and of enterprises, guidance aims to support employment and economic growth.

To achieve universally available quality guidance services across Europe, the Council of the
European Union has adopted, in 2008, a resolution on improving the role of lifelong guidance in
lifelong learning strategies. The resolution acknowledges the centrality of guidance for
education and training policies as well as its leading role in supporting employment growth and
successful careers for individuals. It lays down four policy priority areas:

encourage the lifelong acquisition of career management skills;

ease access for all citizens to guidance services;

develop quality assurance in guidance provision;

encourage coordination and cooperation among the various national, regional and local
stakeholders.

Cedefop’s research in lifelong guidance is concerned with the changing needs of individuals
through their lives and careers. Recent studies have addressed the specific needs of the young,
middle aged workers and learners, and older people. Lifelong guidance strategies and
methodologies for the labour market integration of migrants have also been researched.

Cedefop has developed reference research into standards for guidance professionals’
competences, system development, and improving cooperation between stakeholders.
Currently, research is being developed on ensuring the quality of labour market information and
intelligence in careers information and advice. Studies on the career transitions of individuals
are also being undertaken, with important outcomes for the development of lifelong guidance.

Cedefop cooperates with the European Commission in developing tools and principles which
support the work of guidance professionals and the careers of individuals:

the Skills Panorama, which makes European labour market intelligence available to
professionals, workers and learners;

relevant frameworks for guidance professionals’ work such as ECVET, the EQF framework and
the guidelines for validation of informal and non-formal learning.

Cedefop cooperates with Member States through the European lifelong guidance policy
network. It encourages knowledge exchange between experts and practitioners by cooperating
with Euroguidance and international associations such as IAEVG, ICCDPP and Fedora. Research
is also supported by promoting expert seminars, workshops and knowledge exchange on critical
issues for lifelong guidance policy development.

In this paper, the curriculum are more responsible to industry needs and provide the students
with skills for employment and positive work values needed to meet the demands of the
changing industry and global environment. The existing methodology is based on basics and
current trends of the domain these curriculums developed only theoretical knowledge they
won’t get any industrial based exposure to overcomethis issue, the proposed methodology is
based on education and innovative in the industry,current trends in the job market are also
considered while developing the syllabus.The paper submits recommendation on further
enhanced strategies that will help in the development of education in line with modern trends
in curriculum issues. Keywords:CDC, BOS, Academic Council, Curriculum Development,
Curriculum Process

Abstract

In this paper, the curriculum are more responsible to industry needs and provide the
students with skills for employment and positive work values needed to meet the demands of
the changing industry and global environment. The existing methodology is based on basics and
current trends of the domain these curriculums developed only theoretical knowledge they
won’t get any industrial based exposure to overcome this issue, the proposed
methodology is based on education and innovative in the industry, current trends in the job
market are also considered while developing the syllabus. The paper submits recommendation
on further enhanced strategies that will help in the development of education in line with
modern trends in curriculum issues. Keywords: CDC, BOS, Academic Council, Curriculum
Development, Curriculum Process Introduction The curriculum for individual course has
been designed by a perfect blend of inputs from renowned academicians and industry
experts for each university. To make every graduating student academically excellent and
professionally groomed to assume leadership roles in every sector of the industry and
economy. The component of curriculum design is shown in figure 1. Fig.1. The components of
curriculum design Along these lines determination and association of educational programs
content, educational programs proposition and assessment, the advancement, circulation
and utilization of showing materials, and the pertinence of the educational programs is
what is required today [1]. Interviews with industry mentors at the time of writing are
still being undertaken and their perspectives will be reported in future publications [2]. To
determine new and evolving concepts and trends, it should be considered that the perceptions
between industry and academia might be different [3].These are the four primary stake
holders: students, educational institutions, the industries and the last but not the least the
Government. In the incorporation of industry, instruction, research and development
cooperating as key drivers of the learning economy in conveying reasonable development.
Employability The curriculum is designed to suit the needs of the various stake holders. The

ISSN(Online) : 2456-8910 International Journal of Innovative Research in Applied Sciences and

Engineering (IJIRASE) Volume 1, Issue 3, 10.29027/IJIRASE.v1.i4.2017.106-111 , October 2017
Vol 1 (4) October 2017, www.ijirase.com
107 focus of the curriculum is on employability in Central and State Governments, public
sector, private sector, corporate sector, major agro-based industries and its related
agencies in the national sphere. Employment at international level is also a key focus area.
Syllabus are revised based on recent advances in technology and are included in curriculum.
The obsolete topics are updated with latest topics which include recent techniques
developed through research and adopted by the industry.The following three case studies
describe ways of developing an approach to enhancing employability within specific courses
and discipline areas.Burt and Mason's case study, though categorised here under
curriculum design, also has key elements of working in partnership and work-related learning
(See Figure 2). Fig. 2. The components of work – related learning Add-on programmes are
conducted by the University in order to equip the students with skills required by
industries. Practical training for skill acquisition and sound theoretical knowledge serves to
equip the students to face real-time situations and societal needs.Certain teaching
strategies lend themselves to the development of particular employability skills, as illustrated
in the table 1 below: Employability skill Teaching Strategies Communication Writing and
presenting written and verbal reports Role plays Demonstrations Working in groups
Teamwork Team or group projects Learning sets Group discussion Syndicates Communities
of practice Problem solving Case studies Simulations Investigative projects and research
Using various problem solving tools and techniques Developing or designing models Problem
solving in teams and networks Decision making activities Initiative and enterprise
Brainstorming activities Designing innovative and creative practices and solutions Initiating
change / designing change processes Simulation activities, such as improving productivity
Research and data collection Developing action plans Planning and organising events Time
management

ISSN(Online) : 2456-8910 International Journal of Innovative Research in Applied Sciences and

Engineering (IJIRASE) Volume 1, Issue 3, 10.29027/IJIRASE.v1.i4.2017.106-111 , October 2017
Vol 1 (4) October 2017, www.ijirase.com
108 Planning and organising activities Goal setting activities and scheduling tasks Collecting
and analysing information Self-management Development of portfolios Work plans Using log
books to record time management skills and monitor own performance Career planning
exercises Learning Reflective journals log books, diaries Mentoring and coaching activities
Self-evaluation tools Technology Using the Internet, Intranets Using ICT skills to complete
activities Industry relevant software, technology and equipment Table 1: Teaching strategies
suited to development of employability skills The curriculum should be developed according
to the requirement of the industry. The Curriculum emphasizes exposure in
Communication Skill, Personality development, Soft Skill development, hands-on training in
several laboratory modules which aids them in getting placed. The courses are so
designed to inculcate leadership qualities, organizational capabilities and team spirit among its
students. University also focuses on multi skill development among the students. The
majority of graduates/post graduates are entering industry, government, public sector and
its related agencies in national and international level as engineers, executives, scientists,
technical officers, consultants, system administrators, developers etc. Research Research
demonstrates that curriculum modules execution will be emphatically influenced by
including teacher, to fluctuating degrees, in framing curricular things and learning
circumstances in their own particular classrooms. Empower the accentuation is on
exploratory and speculative duties regarding develop instructor's master headway and to
improve the association of theory and practice in direction, and focus on the suitable use
of these encounters in drawing in educators by making reasonable framework conditions in
which they can agreeably design curricular things and learning circumstances for their
own particular classrooms. These are few factors that effect instructive modules design
viz: 1) political components, 2) social factors, 3) budgetary components, 4) creative parts, 5)
characteristic Factors, 6) understudy cerebrum inquire about. Care must be taken that any
instructive modules ought to be created in the light of the affiliation or setting in which it
will be passed on. A key issue which ought to be considered is whether the course diagram,
transport and organization is united or decentralized. This is every now and again out of the
hands of individuals related with course change however has influence on all parts of
instructive modules progression. Centralization can be seen at both national and progressive
levels. Concentrated educational module have a tendency to be more organized and
deliberate and it is less demanding to guarantee consistency and a standard way to deal
with instructing and learning. Likewise as educational programs organizers, independently
need to encourage this procedure for understudies and guarantee that understudies are
prepared to move onto the following phase

ISSN(Online) : 2456-8910 International Journal of Innovative Research in Applied Sciences and

Engineering (IJIRASE) Volume 1, Issue 3, 10.29027/IJIRASE.v1.i4.2017.106-111 , October 2017
Vol 1 (4) October 2017, www.ijirase.com
109 of learning. It is constantly astute to use an understudy focused approach. These ability
items into different groups and found that the abilities could be roughly divided into
seven categories were comprehensive abilities,theory-basedabilities,digitaltechnology-
relatedabilities,practical abilities,propertyrights
knowledge,interiordesignabilities,andmarketingandmanagementabilities [4]. Strategic research
enables designers to understand the process of change and create the future by analysing
the emerging patterns and understanding future trends [5]. Students learn how to
generate and refine ideas through creative methods; ask strategic research questions, set
research goals and objectives; develop research frameworks; understand research ethics,
credibility and validity; conduct research in order to understand users and their contexts
through ethnographic research, questionnaires development, surveys and competitive
analysis; analyse and synthesize their findings and finally how to document and
communicate their findings using effective presentations methods. The ultimate goal of
strategic research in design is to translate research findings into design solutions. In this
approach, students learn how to create the flow from research to design within the bigger
context of the design process. All things considered research says that the presumption
that is cooperatively outlined by educators, prompt shutting the hole amongst hypothesis
and practice. The curriculum should be developed according to the requirement of the
industry. Innovation Educational modules is has a composite entire, student, teacher,
instructing and the learning procedures, foreseen and unexpected encounters, yields the
results conceivable inside a learning foundation [2]. The essential preface is that educator's
expert advancement is best through their dynamic association in educational modules
outline groups. Here educators are not inactively getting proof from explore and are asked
to just do showing undertakings, yet they effectively apply both research and functional
confirmation in code marking curricular items and learning situations for their own particular
classrooms. These three elements were integrated with the institutional learning identified
by JISC above to create a whole of university approach to curriculum transformation that is
engaging program teams with relevant students and industry, building staff capacity and
creating a common language and tools to support the process [6]. The three parts of
educational programs development can be spoken to in triangle configuration approach,
educator proposition, joint effort with industry administration in groups are the three
edges (See Figure 3). Outcome to Design Collaboration with
IndustryManagement Proposal by Professor Fig. 3. The three components of curriculum
innovation Curriculum Innovation in chart proposal professor, collaboration with industry
management and outcome to design (See Figure 4)

ISSN(Online) : 2456-8910 International Journal of Innovative Research in Applied Sciences and

Engineering (IJIRASE) Volume 1, Issue 3, 10.29027/IJIRASE.v1.i4.2017.106-111 , October 2017
Vol 1 (4) October 2017, www.ijirase.com
110 Fig. 4. Comparison of curriculum innovation In research, cooperation while outlining the
educational programs, plan bunches is drawn closer from two perspectives. The initial one
is the individual teacher point of view and the fundamental inquiry is whether joint effort
among educators as outline group individuals, prompts more powerful educator
advancement. Teacher's expert improvement can be described as the pick up in academic
substance information. Four subjects are exceedingly significant is this regard: (1) the way
toward outlining curricular items by educators; (2) impacts of cooperation in groups and of
joint effort among teachers; (3) curricular items as the primary results of the plan
procedure; and (4) giving PC based help by outside information bolster and by information
delivered and conveyed by educators and students in the plan procedure. The second point
of view is the group's viewpoint and the principle question is whether comes about
because of educational programs learning research are correctly executed plan venture of
educators partake. The focal research topic is interest and outlining by teachers in
educational modules plan groups and the viability of these components on educator's
expert improvement and educational programs advancement in science instruction.
Conclusion The curriculum development process is reviewed and monitored by curriculum
development committee for the whole university. Every department has a curriculum
development cell (CDC), in which Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors
(SG) are members. New syllabus are formed by respective subject professors and discussed
in CDC.The design and development of curriculum and syllabus are done through CDC.Every
department has its own Board of Studies (BoS) which is a statutorybody. There are external
members in every BoS - the first member is fromIndustry, the second member is a reputed
academician and the third member isan ALUMNI. The Proposed design isto improve the
employability. References [1] Ashish Kumar Parashar, Rinku Parashar
“InnovationsandCurriculum Development for Engineering Education and Research in India”,
International Conference on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (ICTLHE 2012) in
conjunction with RCEE & RHED 2012. [2] Dale Holt, David Mackay and Ross Smith
“Developing Professional Expertise in the Knowledge Economy: Integrating Industry-Based
Learning with the Academic Curriculum in the Field of Information Technology”, Asia –
Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, March 2004. 84%40%44%00%Curriculum
InnovationOutcome to DesignCollaboration with Industry ManagementProposal by Professor

ISSN(Online) : 2456-8910 International Journal of Innovative Research in Applied Sciences and

Engineering (IJIRASE) Volume 1, Issue 3, 10.29027/IJIRASE.v1.i4.2017.106-111 , October 2017
Vol 1 (4) October 2017, www.ijirase.com
111 [3] Namhun Lee, Robert Ponton, A. W. “Jeff” Jeffreys, Ron Cohn “Analysis of
Industry Trends for Improving Undergraduate Curriculum in Construction Management
Education”, ASC Annual International Conference, 2011. [4] Mei – Ting Lin, Hsiwen Fan, Po
– Hsiwen Lin, Rungtai Lin “ Investigating the Advantages and Disadvantages of Taiwan’s
Cultural Creative Design Education from Department Evaluation Data”, US – China
Education Review, June 2016. [5] Bahar Mousavi Hejazi “Moving Towards an Outcomes-
Based Curriculum Model in Design Education: an Action Research Study at OCAD
University”, Dublin institute of technology, higher education in transformation conference,
Dublin, 2015. [6] Nicolettou.A, Soulis.S, Seitzinger.J, Chester.A “Innovation by Design: A
Strengths-Based, Data–Informed and Design–LEDApproach to Curriculum transformation”,
International Conference, November 2016.

Citations (0)

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Moving Towards an Outcomes-Based Curriculum Model in Design Education: an Action

Research Study at OCAD University

Jan 2015

Hejazi Bahar Mousavi

Bahar Mousavi Hejazi "Moving Towards an Outcomes-Based Curriculum Model in Design

Education: an Action Research Study at OCAD University", Dublin institute of technology, higher
education in transformation conference, Dublin, 2015.
Analysis of Industry Trends for Improving Undergraduate Curriculum in Construction
Management Education

Jan 2011

Namhun LeeA W Robert PontonRon JeffreysCohn

Namhun Lee, Robert Ponton, A. W. "Jeff" Jeffreys, Ron Cohn "Analysis of Industry Trends for
Improving Undergraduate Curriculum in Construction Management Education", ASC Annual
International Conference, 2011.

INNOVATION BY DESIGN: A STRENGTHS-BASED, DATA-INFORMED AND DESIGN-LED APPROACH

TO CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION

Conference Paper

Full-text available

Nov 2016

Angela Nicolettou

Spiros Soulis

Joyce Seitzinger

Andrea Chester

View

Show abstract

Investigating the Advantages and Disadvantages of Taiwan’s Cultural Creative Design Education
From Department Evaluation Data

Article

Jun 2016

Mei-Ting LinHsiwen FanPo-Hsien LinRungtai Lin

View.
INDUSTRY NEED AND EDUCATION CURRICULAR

In today’s world, some degree of education is necessary for people in most countries. Due to
population growth and the proliferation of compulsory education, UNESCO has calculated that
in the next 30 years, more people will receive formal education than in any prior period of
human history. In fact, illiteracy and the percentage of populations without any schooling have
already decreased from 36% in 1960 to 25% in 2000.

Education in its broadest, most general sense is a means through which the aim and habits of a
group of people is passed from one generation to the next. Generally, education results from
any experience that affects the way in which one thinks, feels, or acts. In its narrowest, most
technical sense, education is the formal process by which society deliberately passes
accumulated knowledge, skills, customs, and values from one generation to the next.

In Africa, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has launched an e-school
program. The goal is to provide 600,000 primary and high schools with computer equipment,
learning materials, and internet access within 10 years.

Education is becoming increasingly international, and mass schooling has promoted the
fundamental idea that everyone has a right to be educated regardless of his/her cultural
background. It has been argued that high rates of education are essential for countries to be
able to achieve high levels of economic growth. Empirical analyses tend to support the
theoretical prediction that poor countries should grow faster than rich countries because they
can adopt cutting edge technologies already tried and tested by rich countries. A lack of access
to education is one of the primary limits on human development.

Education and Economic Growth

It has been argued that high rates of education are essential for countries to be able to achieve
high levels of economic growth. Empirical analyses tend to support the theoretical prediction
that poor countries should grow faster than rich countries because they can adopt cutting edge
technologies already tried and tested by rich countries. Education economics is the study of
economic issues relating to education, including the demand for education and the financing
and provision of education. The dominant model of the demand for education is based on
human capital theory. The central idea is that undertaking education is investment in the
acquisition of skills and knowledge, which will increase earnings or provide long-term benefits,
such as an appreciation of literature. An increase in human capital can follow technological
progress as knowledgeable employees are in demand due to the need for their skills, whether it
be in understanding the production process or in operating machines. Human capital flight,
more commonly referred to as the “brain drain,” is the large-scale emigration of a large group
of individuals with technical skills or knowledge. The reasons usually include two aspects which
respectively come from countries and individuals. The brain drain is often associated with de-
skilling of emigrants in their country of destination, while their country of emigration
experiences the draining of skilled individuals.

This discussion is further sectioned into three broad parts in:

 Labour Market Information System (LMIS),

 Lifelong Career and Guidance, and
 Seamless Interface between Educational Curriculum and Industry Need.

PART 1: LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEM (LMIS)

This can be loosely defined as Institutional arrangements that coordinate collection, processing, storage,
retrieval and dissemination of labour market information. The objective of these systems is to generate,
analyse and disseminate information on current and future skills needs. In this regard, the term
“information system” not only refers to information technology system but to a more comprehensive
set of institutional arrangements, technology platforms, datasets and information flows, and the way
these are combined to provide information to those requiring it. Labour market information systems are
important to policy makers, civil/public servants, employment services, counselling and guidance
services, education and training providers, employers, workers, students, job seekers, researchers
among others.

Some important actors in an LMIS include:

 Ministries of labour/manpower, economy/industry/trade, education, finance etc.;

 Statistical offices and other providers of data e.g. statistical or analytical offices in the
above ministries;
 Public employment offices;
 Census bureaus/population commissions;
 Employers unions, labour unions;
 Education and training institutions (federal, state, public, private, vocational etc.)

Developing and LMIS can be described in 5 steps:

 Formulating the aims of the analysis e.g. employment, education, economy, industry
etc. These can be done at national regional or sectoral levels for short, medium and
long term time frames.
 Data audit of the various data sources – their availability, regularity, reliability and level
of development are important factors.
 Capacity building; this includes infrastructure for data collection, analysis and
dissemination as well as training of analysts (or employing experienced analysts) who
are able to work with data.
 Analysis of the collected data using relevant methods, formulation of research
questions, interpretation and validation of the results.
  Disseminating and use of the LMIS information by labour market stakeholders in order
to make appropriate policy decisions and solve mismatch problems.

LMIS can be of tremendous importance to the TETFUND by providing it with data with which to
formulate policies aimed at bridging the gap between employers and schools. This information can serve
to provide detailed information on skills required by industry presently and in the future and help
institutions tailor their research and training curriculums to the present and project future needs of
industry.

With a global perspective in mind, and to ensure that Nigerian graduates of our tertiary and vocational
institutions are equipped with world class skills applicable to their specific industries, there is a need for
the educational curriculums of our institutions to be adapted to include practical, industry – related
modules, not just theoretical, abstract ones. This will lead to the reduction of rote-learning and
encourage critical, practical thinking to come up with solutions to problems in industry which are often
multidisciplinary in nature.

For the purpose of this presentation, the components of the LIMS include Employer Skill Survey (ESS),
Sector Skill Council (SSC) and the Economic Model.

Employer Skill Survey (ESS)

Increasingly, skills are seen an integral element of competitiveness and desirability among stakeholders
in the labour market. Employer Skill Surveys have an important role to play in:

 Demonstrating the skills that are most in demand;

 Demonstrating where shortages of skills are evident and/or non-existent;
 Measuring the extent, causes and implications of skill mismatches on the economy;
 Understanding the rationale employers provide for investing or not investing in the skills of their
workforce.

Employer Skill Surveys can be sectorial, occupational and/or regionally focused. The target audience of
the surveys need to be identified and these can include government, policy makers, employers,
employees, job seekers etc. With respect to educational curricula, these surveys can aid
educators/teachers/lecturers in the development of practical skills acquisition and teaching programs in
order to equip their graduates with the necessary skills required to compete effectively in the labour
market.

For individual industries in Nigeria, especially large ones such as oil and gas, banking and
telecommunications, a significant amount of their intermediate – to – top level labour force often
acquire specialized skills from developed countries where there is a symbiotic relationship between
industry and the academia. This symbiosis involves industry investing in educational institutions via
research grants, internships, provision of research facilities etc. while the academia provides the
intellectual capital in the form of research, innovation and highly trained/skilled graduates. Most of the
R & D needs, and practical solutions to industry – related issues are usually acquired from developed
countries and these technology/idea/solution transfers result in significant deductions from the
economic bottom lines of these industries. These issues can be remedied in Nigeria by increased
cooperation between industry and academia through the avenues of increased research, innovation and
training capacities. If the objectives of ESS are met, then gaps in available skills in the Nigerian labour
force can be plugged with the aid of our educational/training/research institutions.

Sector Skill Councils (SSC)

These are employer-led organizations that cover specific industries, widely used in the United Kingdom,
the main goals include:

 Supporting employers in developing and managing apprenticeship standards;

 Reducing skill gaps and shortages in order to improve productivity;
 Boosting the skills of their sector workforces;
 Improving learning supply.

SSCs aim to achieve these goals by developing an understanding of future skills needed in their industry,
contributing to the development of regulated occupational standards, design of apprenticeship
standards and creating sector-specific qualifications. In countries such as the United Kingdom and
Canada, SSCs have led to the development of a highly skilled, continuously evolving and sustainable
labour force.

In summary, an effectively designed and implemented LIMS in Nigeria will serve as a road map to
addressing the imbalances between the skilled labour demands of industry and the skilled labour
outputs from our educational/vocational institutions. It will also serve as a tool for enhancing the
relationship between academic/training/research institutions and industry; this will in-turn serve to
reverse the current trend the net in-flow of technological/innovative knowledge into Nigeria from
developed countries while they continue to benefit from the “brain – drain” i.e. the flight of highly
skilled workers seeking greener pastures in other climes who are taking their skills away with them.

PART 1B: Labour Market Information System (LMIS)

This is “any information concerning the size and structure of the labour market or any part of
the labour market, the way in which it, or any part of it, functions, the problems it faces, the
opportunities that could be offered to it, and the intentions or aspirations of its actors related
to employment”. For example: information on employment, unemployment information about
professions.

This can be illustrated through the ‘lens’ of an LMIS typology, which have been developed
based on a landscape review of selected African LMIS models and international best practice
models. The typology classifies LMIS into three categories according to their capabilities, system
participants and outputs:
Basic systems comprise few public actors and can only generate statistics on the labour market
based on survey data.

Intermediate systems involve more public actors and integrate services that create value for
some users beyond data production.

Advanced systems see private sector firms actively contributing to the system, not because they
are obliged to, but because their participation leads to economic gains.

This sort of framework permits an incremental, strategic long-term approach to LMIS

development, which should yield more sustainable systems that achieve the purpose for which
they are designed. Although we currently classify most African LMIS as basic systems, a stepped
approach to adding actors and functionality could help these countries move more effectively
towards more advanced systems, as exemplified by those in Australia, Denmark, France, United
Kingdom or the United States. Specifically, interventions that have been missing from past
efforts in Africa include facilitating the link between employment services and statistical
sources, investing in more collaborative system governance, and substantively engaging the
private sector.

The identification of labour market issues critically rests on the availability of data, information
and analysis. Labour market information systems (LMIS) provide an essential basis for
employment and labour policies, and inform the design, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of policies that are better focused and targeted. LMIS also contribute to a reduction
in the transaction costs of labour markets as they help overcome incomplete information of
labour market agents.

Most countries are committed to the development of labour market information systems.
However, particularly in developing economies, the functioning of LMIS, if such systems have
been established at all, is hampered by various constraints, including data limitations. Data
limitations affect not only complex issues such as informality and employment protection, but
also labour market indicators that in most developed economies are available on a monthly or
quarterly basis, such as employment and unemployment indicators. Data limitations are related
in developing economies to constraints such as resource scarcity, limited analytical capacity and
structural factors. Furthermore, labour market institutions, including workers’ and employers'
organizations, are weak in many economies, which hamper the development and use of
mechanisms to feed information and analysis into decision-making. Such problems may lead to
ill-informed policy formulation and inadequate monitoring, hindering efforts to achieve labour
market and development objectives
Three main functions of Labour Market Information Systems can be distinguished:

 LMIS facilitate labour market analysis;

 LMIS provide the basis for monitoring and reporting on employment and labour policies;

 LMIS constitute a mechanism to exchange information or coordinate different actors

and institutions that produce and utilize labour market information and analysis.

The main purpose of LMIS is the production of information and analysis for policy-makers and
other labour market stakeholders. For example, the functions of the European Employment
Observatory  are stated as follows: “The European Employment Observatory contributes to the
development of the European Employment Strategy through the provision of information,
comparative research and evaluation on employment policies and labour market trends.” It is
important to establish institutional arrangements in order to make the information and analysis
widely available, and to provide opportunities for labour market stakeholders to influence the
agenda of the LMIS.

The LMIS can also be directly involved in monitoring and reporting on employment and labour
policies. Both at the international and the national levels, the institutional role of the LMIS can
be broadened to include the exchange of information or coordination of the LMIS activities of
labour market stakeholders, which include statistical agencies, research agencies and agencies
involved in policy formulation and implementation, including and workers’ and employers'
organizations. This function may range from the dissemination of information on concepts,
definitions and standards, to the allocation of resources regarding data collection or specific
analytical activities.

Labour market information systems consist of four main components:

 collection and compilation of data and information;

 repository of information;
 analytical capacity and tools; and
 institutional arrangements and networks.

Regarding the first component, and given that LMIS should provide analyses of labour markets
in their economic context, collection or compilation of data consists not only of data on labour
markets, but also on the broader economy. For example, data on trade flows and remittances
are indispensable for an analysis of the labour market effects on economic crises.

Labour force surveys can be designed to cover the entire population of a country, all sectors of
the economy and all categories of workers, including own-account workers, contributing family
workers and persons engaged in casual work or marginal economic activity. For this reason,
household-based labour force surveys offer a unique advantage to obtain information on the
labour market of a country and its structure. Other sources, such as population censuses, multi-
purpose household surveys, establishment surveys, or administrative records (e.g.,
employment service records), differ in scope, coverage, units of measurement or methods of
data collection.

Each source has advantages and limitations in terms of the cost, quality and type of information
gained. For example, establishment surveys typically have poor coverage of very small or
unregistered businesses but are a more reliable source on wages and earnings. Similarly,
administrative records provide a low-cost source of labour market information, but this
information is limited by the purpose of the records, which may be different from that of an
analyst or policy-maker.

In concluding therefore, effective LMIS draw on all sources and contains labour market
information as a term depicting all information about the labour market that includes:
processed and untreated data-including the inputs (labour market data, soft and hard), the
processing (labour market analysis) and the outputs (labour market intelligence).

PART 2: LIFELONG CAREER GUIDANCE

As education and employment policies seek to widen choices and to create systems that can respond to
varying needs across the lifespan, career guidance becomes increasingly important for public policy.
Public policy is important for career guidance because it sets the frameworks and provides most of its
funds. However, there is a gap between the two. Few career guidance practitioners show a great
engagement in policy questions and very few policy-makers have a detailed grasp of how career
guidance is organized and delivered. This publication draws upon the experiences of 14 OECD countries
to explore ways in which this gap can be bridged. It is organized around four key questions:

 Why does career guidance matter for public policy?

 How can career guidance be delivered more effectively?
 How should career guidance be resourced?
 How can strategic leadership be improved?

Career guidance and public policy describes the expectations, many of which are long-standing, that
policy-makers have for career guidance services:

 to improve the efficiency of education systems and the labour market, and
 to contribute to social equity.
This then sets out the newer challenges that lifelong learning and active labour market policies pose for
career guidance:

 for access to career guidance to be greatly widened,

 for services to be delivered in far more flexible ways, and
 yet for these to be done in ways that limit the costs to the public purse

These newer challenges imply how career guidance services are organised and provided. At present,
services are available largely to limited numbers of groups, at fixed points in life, and are focused upon
immediate decisions.

The future challenges are: to make a shift so that services focus upon developing career-management
skills, as well as upon information provision and immediate decision-making; and to make services
universally accessible throughout the lifespan: in ways, in locations and at times that reflect more
diverse client needs.

There are good conceptual and theoretical arguments in support of the ability of career guidance to help
in the implementation of the types of policy objectives, for instance, the ways in which career guidance
is provided might help to better articulate community demand for learning, contribute to higher
educational access and completion, and improve the match between labour market supply and demand.
Although the empirical evidence in support of this is limited, it is generally positive. This evidence is,
however, stronger for its impact upon short-term learning outcomes than upon medium-term
behavioural outcomes, and in turn this evidence is stronger than evidence on longer-term impacts. The
longer-term evidence is quite weak, and obtaining it will require more and better longitudinal research.

There is some of the key policy issues involved in providing career guidance for young people in schools,
for out-of-school and at-risk youth, and in tertiary education. In schools, an approach that sees career
guidance only as a personal service, provided by schools themselves, has many limitations. It is costly,
and this limits access. It can be too divorced from the labour market and too focused only upon short-
term educational decision-making. Where it is combined with personal and study guidance, it is
universally given a low priority. Where school funds are tied to student numbers and there is
competition between institutions, there can be pressure upon guidance staff to retain students, whether
or not this is in their best interests.

In addition to addressing these issues, policies for career guidance in schools need to shift away from an
approach that focuses only upon immediate educational and occupational choices, and towards a
broader approach that also tries to develop career self-management skills like the ability to make
effective career decisions, and to implement them. This requires an approach that is embedded in the
curriculum, and which incorporates learning from experience. Such a strategy requires a whole-of-
school approach, and has substantial implications for resource allocation, teacher training and
development, and school planning.

Career guidance also has an important role in addressing the needs of students at risk and early school
leavers. Many successful examples exist, notably in African countries, in which career guidance is
embedded in early intervention programmes which incorporate mutual obligation and personal action
planning. The changing face of tertiary education – expanded participation; increased diversity, choice
and competition – poses major challenges for career guidance that few countries seem well equipped to
handle. In tertiary education, such services are generally limited both in scale and in focus, and
inconsistent in quality. Comprehensive tertiary careers services are well developed in countries such as
Ireland and the United Kingdom, and are growing in other countries, but are generally lacking. The
avenues open to governments to improve this situation include the use of performance contracts, as in
Finland.

There are the settings in which career guidance is provided for adults, and the policy issues that arise in
each of them. In public employment services, which traditionally have been one of the major sources of
career guidance for adults, the focus is generally upon short-term employment options rather than
longer-term career development. There can be a conflict between the need to restrain expenditure on
unemployment benefits and the need to ensure rapid returns to work on the one hand, and the longer-
term career development interests of individuals on the other. Within public employment services,
career guidance generally concentrates upon the unemployed, and services for the employed are much
more limited: using self-service methods and with limited opportunities for personal help. And the
training and qualifications of those who provide career guidance in public employment services are
often at a low level.

Career guidance services, in many countries, are also available in adult education. Here, a major
problem is the close links between individual institutions and career guidance, and the need for
impartial information and advice is a significant issue. Government policy can help to stimulate career
guidance provided within enterprises, innovative arrangements in co-operation with trade unions can be
observed and these seem well suited to targeting at least some of the needs of low-qualified workers in
the work place. Significant gaps exist in adults’ access to career guidance, and there are indications that
demand exceeds the supply of services. In particular, services are more limited for those who are
employed, those in small and medium-sized enterprises, and those not in the labour market or not
entitled to social security assistance. Yet little attention has been given to policies and programmes that
link financial planning to career guidance in order to assist people to make more flexible transitions to
retirement.

Two options for addressing these gaps are suggested: strengthening the capacity of public employment
services to provide career guidance; and expanding regional partnerships.

It should be noted by pointing out that in nearly all countries information on the size and composition of
the career guidance workforce is difficult to obtain. It is clear that in most countries career guidance is
not a profession, but an occupation or a role. The training that is provided for career guidance
practitioners is rarely both specialized and at tertiary level. As a result of limited or insufficient training
arrangements, many career guidance practitioners receive no thorough grounding in the basic theories
of career guidance, little systematic exposure to its social and economic contexts and purposes, and no
systematic applied training in the several methodologies that form the knowledge base of its practice.
While in nearly all countries career guidance practitioners have limited capacity to influence
occupational supply, there are examples in countries such as Austria, Canada and the Netherlands of
registers of career guidance practitioners being established in order to help to maintain and raise
standards of practice. Occupational structures for the delivery of career guidance need to be
strengthened.

Governments have an important role in providing strategic leadership, but need to do so in association
with other stakeholders: education and training providers; employers; trade unions; community
agencies, students, parents, consumers, and career guidance practitioners. Strong co-operation
between education and employment portfolios is particularly important: for example to ensure that
educational and occupational information are integrated; and to ensure that a strong labour market
perspective is included in schools’ career guidance programmes.

Evidence and data are important tools for policy-making. While career guidance has a strong research
tradition, much of this has concentrated upon theories and techniques, and has had little relevance for
policy. Its focus upon both outcomes and costs, for example, has been weak. In addition to better
evidence on outcomes and costs, policy-makers in most countries need to obtain improved data on
career guidance inputs and processes. In the face of some strong evidence gaps (for example on the
scale and nature of private markets for career guidance) governments need to improve their national
research infrastructure for career guidance. This can be done through a number of concrete steps,
including financial support for research institutes that specialize in the link between career guidance and
public policy, and the development of academic expertise through the regular commissioning of policy-
relevant research.

Policy-makers are also faced with a choice between including career guidance as just one element in
broader guidance and advisory services, and providing it through specialized career guidance services.
The universal experience of the review has been that when included within broadly-focused guidance
services career guidance tends to be squeezed by the more immediate and day-to-day personal and
study problems of the minority of students with particular problems. Under such circumstances, the
career guidance and career development needs of the majority tend to be a secondary priority.

The importance of providing career guidance through specialized career guidance services is also
emphasized by the need for policy-makers to improve the transparency of career guidance in order to
make it more accessible.

In seeking to expand adult career guidance services policy-makers can draw upon a number of
innovative approaches outlined in this report. These include: a wider role for public employment
services; more extended local partnerships; a closer link between financial planning for retirement and
career guidance; more innovative and cost-effective delivery methods, with implications for staffing
structures and staff training and qualifications; the wider adoption of market-models; and the adoption
of more innovative methods to finance career guidance.

Conclusion
The creation and management of lifelong career guidance system requires policy-makers to address six
major issues, whether in considering career guidance services for young people, for adults, or for both.
They are:

 Ensuring that resource allocation decisions give the first priority to systems that develop career
self-management skills and career information, and that delivery systems match levels of
personal help, from brief to extensive, to personal needs and circumstances, rather than
assuming that everybody needs intensive personal career guidance.
 Ensuring greater diversity in the types of services that are available and in the ways that they are
delivered, including greater diversity in staffing structures, wider use of self-help techniques,
and a more integrated approach to the use of ICT.
 Working more closely with career guidance practitioners to shape the nature of initial and
further education and training qualifications in support of the development of career self-
management skills, better career information, and more diverse service delivery.
 Improving the information base for public policy-making, including gathering improved data on
the financial and human resources devoted to career guidance, on client need and demand, on
the characteristics of clients, on client satisfaction, and on the outcomes and cost-effectiveness
of career guidance.
 Developing better quality assurance mechanisms and linking these to the funding of services.
 Developing stronger structures for strategic leadership.

PART 3: SEAMLESS INTERFACE BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM AND

INDUSTRY NEED
The need for a seamless interface between the Nigerian educational curriculum and industry need is
more apt now than before. Government must, as matter of urgency, facilitate a seamless synergy
between the curriculum designed for all the segments of education I n the country and the specific
needs of the various industries responsible for the growth and development of the nation’s economy.

Industry skills requirement is highly dynamic owing to the rapid evolution of science and technology,
therefore for labour market entrants (school graduates) to possess skills that can suit the needs of these
technologically driven industries, our educational curriculum must contain cutting edge contents that
are designed to meet specific industry needs since there is a connection between schools and jobs.

UNESCO in February, 1994 launched the University-Industry Science Partnership (UNISPAR) Programme
in Africa with the view of promoting cooperation between Universities and Industries in the region
(Suleiman Bogoro, 2015). The main objective of the programme is to facilitate indigenous technology
development through transfer of research results from university to industry (Suleiman Bogoro, 2015).
This emphasis was intended to assist the Continent in indigenous technology development specifically
targeted at small scale manufacturing enterprises and other local problems (Suleiman Bogoro, 2015).

Over the last four decades, governments around the world have stimulated linkages between academia
and industry. In recent years, this trend has gained ground (Dill and Van Vaught, 2010). Stimulating
technical advance in industry is viewed as a necessity to promote economic growth. Policy makers
across countries seek to stimulate universities to become more entrepreneurial, engaging more actively
with the productive sector in order to generate employment and grow the economy (Suleiman Bogoro,
2015).