ASEAN+3 leaders explore ways to secure job amid 4th industrial revolution  Leaders from governments, businesses and academia from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as South Korea, China and Japan gathered in Seoul Tuesday to examine ways to better secure jobs amid technological advances dubbed the fourth industrial revolution…

Enhancing Job Creation and Skills to Prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution | Seoul, Korea November 7-9, 2017  Recent trends in automation and rapid technology advances, collectively dubbed ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’ (4IR), are radically shifting the economic landscape, and changing the nature of jobs and the profile of skills required in the labor force.  For economies in the ASEAN+3 region – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, plus China, Korea and Japan – adapting to these evolving trends will be a critical challenge in terms of human resources development and job creation for the future.  The regional conference Bank, Korean, regional and global experts and policymakers together, including Park Soonhwan, Acting President of Human Resources Development Services (HRD), Korea; Daehwan Kim, Director General of Ministry of Employment and Labor, Korea; Misook Lee, Deputy Director, Global HRD Cooperation Team, GIFTS, HRD Korea; Raja Bentaouet Kattan (Team Lead and forum organizer ably assisted by Hayeon Kim and Mary Dowling); Shin Chul Jang, Presidential Job Committee, Korea; Carl Benedikt Frey, Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment; Loh Gek Khim, Director, Skills Development Division, SkillsFuture Singapore; Caroline Wagner, Ohio State University; Sunny J Park, Head of Corporate, External and Legal, Microsoft Korea; Dato’ CM Vignaesvaran Jeyandran, Chief Executive, Human Resource Development Fund, Ministry of Human Resources, Malaysia; Joon Young Park, Resident Representative, IFC Korea Office; Kittya Evans, Deputy Director General, Thailand Professional Qualification Institute; Michael Staton, Learn Capital; Tom Vander Ark, Getting Smart; Pablo Ariel Acosta, Senior Economist, Social Protection and Labor Global Practice; Tan Sri Dr. Noorul, Secretary General, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia; Tran Thi Thai Ha, Director, Manpower Training Needs Analysis and Forecast Centre, Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam; Diosdado San Antonio, Director, Department of Education, Philippines; Muchtar Azis, Deputy Director for Competency Standard, Ministry of Manpower, Indonesia; Ding Jingjing, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, China; Po Yang, Peking University; Kim Do Hyung, IDB and many others, including delegates from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Guinea; there were study visits to Samsung Innovation and Creativity Center (C Lab) and Hyundai Motor Studio.

The implications of automation for education Automation is heralding a renewed race between education and technology. However, the ability of workers to compete with automation is handicapped by the poor performance of education systems in most developing countries. This will prevent many from benefiting from the high returns to schooling…The quality of schooling is not keeping pace, essentially serving a break on the potential of “human capital” (the skills, knowledge, and innovation that people accumulate).  As countries continue to struggle to equip students with basic cognitive skills-  the core skills the brain uses to think, read, learn, remember, and reason- new demands are being placed…View full story…

Girls’ education and the future of a nation – Sri Mulyani Indrawati – In 1978, we both started our high school education in our home city of Semarang. Our almamater is located on a major artery in the heart of the city, and occupies a beautiful Dutch colonial building. The robustness of its architecture befits the reputation of our school at that time: a school led by a passionate principal who promoted discipline and effective learning…

We have a challenge to make sure children get into school but an even greater challenge to make sure they are learning  Approximately 60 people attended a panel discussion on October 13 featuring noted education experts Dr. Harry Patrinos of the World Bank and Dr. Luis Crouch of RTI International. The event, “New Evidence on the Impacts of Reading/Literacy: A Discussion with the Members of the Global Reading Network Community of Practice,” was hosted by the Global Reading Network in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Dr. Jean-Marc Bernard of the Global Partnership for Education moderated…

Improving Labor’s Skills – The key to success  With a dynamic economy and a population of more than 90 million, Viet Nam constitutes a large market for APEC economies. The Vietnamese Government and enterprises are striving to enhance quality of the human resource that will turn Viet Nam into an attractive destination for sustainable investment in the future”…

Study: Preschool executive function skills to pay attention, manage time predict later math and reading achievement Can skills learned in preschool predict how children will perform in elementary school? A study by RTI International found that executive function skills—mental skills that help you get things done, manage time and pay attention—in 5 year olds can predict their math and reading performance in 5th grade. Moreover, the study found that children with low math ability but high executive function skills at age 5 can catch up with their peers by 5th grade. Executive function is controlled by the front lobe area of the brain…

Foreign Investment and Indonesia’s Weak Human Capital Investment in Indonesia is still dominated by foreign direct investment (FDI), which accounted for 61.4 percent in the first half of 2017. Some people may argue that a dependency on FDI may increase the economy’s vulnerability, especially if there is an outflow, but our inability to finance domestic investments means we still need foreign funds…