Human resources key to national growth

Education and investment in human resources (HR) are the driving force for economic development, HR experts and educators from Việt Nam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) agreed at the Global HR Forum held in Hà Nội on December 14. Themed “Miracle on Han River to Miracle on Red River”, the forum enabled in-depth discussion among experts of both countries of policies to develop human resources…Jaime Saavedra, senior director for the Education Global Practice of the World Bank, said that automation poses new challenges to governments seeking to equip their citizens with skills for employment. Automation is expected to significantly disrupt labour markets as many jobs disappear. Yet some other jobs such as teachers, psychologists and nurses cannot easily be automated. Some workers whose jobs cannot be automated, such as hairdressers and surgeons, will find that technology will make their jobs more productive, he said. “In the same way that technology destroys jobs, technology also creates jobs,” he said. “The ability of workers to compete with automation requires a strong educational system. The challenges for the educational system are now much more complex than what we tend to recognise.” He emphasised three skills that individuals need in order to take advantage of technological progress. They are technical skills, socio-emotional skills and foundational skills, meaning literacy and numeracy. “Jobs that require high socio-emotional skills such as nurses and social workers are growing. We need to teach our children and youth how to navigate interpersonal and socio-emotional challenges effectively, with the ability to overcome obstacles, be reliable, good at teamwork, communication, leadership and self-control. Most important is that they learn how to learn,” he said. Việt Nam has a high level of commitment to investing in general education, he said. Many countries, including Việt Nam, should follow the path of RoK and provide 12 years of high quality education and build a world-class university system like Korea’s, he said…

Stanford, Colombia Educators Win Tencent Co-Founder’s First Yidan Prizes Tencent co-founder Charles Chen, also known as Chen Yidan, as he appears on the cover of the May-June issue of Forbes China, the Chinese-language edition of Forbes. A fund to promote global education set up by Tencent co-founder Chen Yidan handed out its first two awards in Hong Kong last night. Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford University, received the Yidan Prize for Education Research. Her work on the power of the “growth mindset,” based upon the belief that intelligence isn’t fixed and can be developed over time, has influenced education psychology, the Yidan Foundation said in a statement. Vicky Colbert, founder and director of Fundación Escuela Nueva in Colombia, was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development. Her project Escuela Nueva (“New School” in Spanish) has transformed education at rural schools in Colombia and has been adopted by 14 countries, reaching over five million children, the foundation said…

Ranking race in China is costly Incentives aimed at ensuring its institutions can compete with the best have led to its two leading universities, both in Beijing – Tsinghua University and Peking University – being ranked 25th and 38th, respectively, in the 2018 QS World University rankings…

Vietnam: promising market for education investors…Vietnamese spend $3 billion every year to pay for their children’s study overseas, but the local education market has not been able to take advantage of this spending…

In first-of-its-kind deal, Florida school sold to Chinese education company Florida Preparatory Academy has been sold to a Chinese education company making its first foray into the United States…

Technical and vocational education and training for young people has a small positive effect on employment outcomes While the review provides some evidence of TVET interventions having positive effects on employability and employment for young people, several limitations of both the included studies and the review itself prevents one from drawing direct and strong inferences from the result of the analyses…

Vietnam: promising market for education investors Nguyen Anh Toan, advisor to the International Business Management (IBM), noted that one of the weak points of Vietnamese students is limited English and soft skills. In addition, textbooks for junior colleges and universities are not designed well enough. The demand for high-quality education is high, especially as Vietnamese are now more willing to spend more money on education. Vietnamese spend $3 billion every year to pay for their children’s study overseas, but the local education market has not been able to take advantage of this spending…

Afghan Public Universities Modernize to Attract Talent Higher Education Development Project aims to increase access to higher education in Afghanistan, as well as improve its quality and relevance…

Increasing Access by Waiving Tuition: Evidence from Haiti (also: https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/1813-9450-7175 In Haiti, providing public financing to nonpublic schools conditional on not charging tuition results in more students enrolled, more staff, and slightly higher student-teacher ratios..