ASEAN, China must bridge HE and workforce skills gap

By Katherine Forestier. Countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China face serious disconnects between the knowledge and skills that their higher education systems provide graduates, and the skills needed for the countries’ future development. Education reforms and more international knowledge exchange and collaboration will be needed to bridge this gap and should be the first task for the ASEAN as it moves towards economic integration, according to speakers at the British Council’s Going Global 2013 conference held in Dubai from 4-6 March.
The ASEAN – comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – will become an ‘economic community’ and regional common market by 2015, with important implications for its workforce and skills development. Read more...