1. Ana Maria Oviedo
Human Development, Latin America and the Caribbean
The World Bank

2. Did you know that…

3. It is estimated that in
the U.S. today’s
students will have 10
to 14 jobs…

4. By age 38…

5. Today, 1 in 4 workers
have been with their
employer for less
than one year…

6. Over 1/2 have been
with their employer
for less than 5
years….

7. The top 10 jobs that
will be in demand in
2020 do not exist
yet…

8. How can we prepare
students for jobs that
don’t yet exist?

9. Using technologies
that haven’t been
invented?

10. To solve problems
that we know nothing
about?

11. We live in exponential
times…

12. Did you know?

13. There are over 88
billion searches made
in Google each
month….

14. More than 1.8 zettabytes
(1.8 trillion gigabytes) of
information were created
and stored in 2011 (enough
to fill 57.5 billion 32GB
Apple iPads) …

15. The amount of
information is
doubling every 2
years….

16. For students
starting a technical
or college degree
this means that…

17. Half of what they
learn in their first
year will be
rd
outdated by their 3
year…

18. What does it all
mean?

19. We live in a fast-changing
world, how well are we
preparing our young
people to face it?

20. Caribbean countries have
made impressive progress in
providing education to their
people…

21. 10
Education trends
9
9
9
8
8
6
6
0
2
4
4
1960
1970
1980
Barbados
Dominican Rep.
Haiti
Trinidad and Tobago
Source: Barro and Lee (2010)
1990
2000
Belize
Guyana
Jamaica
2010

22. Today young people have close to
complete secondary school in most
of the Caribbean …
Schooling of youth 15-24
12
50
10
40
Percentage
60
8
30
6
20
4
10
2
0
0
Dominican Rep.
Barbados
Haiti
Secondary complete (%)
Source: Barro and Lee (2010)
Belize
Trinidad and
Tobago
Tertiary (%)
Guyana
Avg. yrs. (r. axis)
Jamaica

23. But…is the system working?

25. The majority of youth have low
academic performance
Source: CXC (2012)

26. Pass rates, CSEC, 2008
English A
70%
0.62
60%
0.48
Pass rate
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0.60
0.39
Math
0.63
0.59
0.45
0.49
0.47
0.48
0.40
0.47
0.44
0.46
0.45
0.41
0.44
0.34
0.44
0.37
0.35
0.33
0.31
0.28

27. Do students make the best
choices?
V.S.

28. Do they have the skills they
need?
 Secondary education is academically



oriented
Many secondary graduates do not master
basic skills
Few labor market-oriented courses
Little career counseling
Little help to transition to work

29. Is the education system in a
bubble?

30. IS EDUCATION PAYING OFF
IN THE CARIBBEAN?

31. Most workers are still employed
in traditional sectors
DR, Jamaica, St. Lucia
Agriculture
15%
Other services (incl.
Education, Real estate)
25%
Public administration
5%
Wholesale & retail
22%
Construction &
utilities
7%
Hotels & restaurants
6%
Manufacturing
10%
Transport, storage &
communications
7%
Mining
1%
Financial & insurance
services
2%

32. More education brings better
pay, but few opportunities
Distribution
St. Lucia monthly income (ECD)
St. Lucia occupations
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
<200
[201 399]
[400 799]
[800 1,199]
[1,200 - [2,000 - [4,000 - > 6,000
1,999] 3,999] 5,999]
Primary or less Secondary incl.
incomplete
More than
secondary
Public employee
Private Employee
Primary or less
Secondary incl. incomplete
Apprentice
Self-employed
More than secondary
Total
Unpaid Family Worker
Total
Other
For many educated workers there are few options
outside the public sector and education…

33. Source: World Development Indicators (2012)
om
R
.L
St
uc
ia
ep
ub
lic
Ja
m
ai
ca
D
om
in
ic
a
G
uy
an
a
G
re
na
da
Su
ri n
am
e
in
ic
an
An
tig
Be
ua
liz
an
e
Tr
d
in
Ba
id
La
rb
ad
tin
ud
an
a
Am
d
er
To
ic
ba
Tu
a
go
&
rk
s
C
an
ar
ib
d
be
C
ai
an
co
s
St
Is
.K
la
nd
itt
s
s
an
d
N
ev
is
D
0
5
10
15
20
And workers still face high
unemployment…
Unemployment rates, Caribbean & LAC

34. Especially youth…
St. Lucia
Jamaica
60
60%
50
50%
40
Percent
70%
40%
30%
30
20
20%
10
10%
0
0%
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 Total
Primary or less
Secondary
More than secondary
14 - 19 20 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 - 64 65 and TOTAL
over
Total
Male
Female

35. Do their job opportunities
match their aspirations?
 High reservation wages
and career goals
 Migration prospects
 Family/social support
system might delay
independence
 Too few jobs!

36. What skills do employers
value?
Honesty/integrity
86%
Work ethic
86%
Problem solving / efficiency
82%
Communication skills
79%
The ability to work well on teams
77%
Taking individual responsibility
68%
Dependability
47%
Computer skills
45%
0%
Source: CKLN (2005)
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%

37. Do firms invest in them?
Percentage of firms that offer training
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Small
Medium
Caribbean
Rest LAC
Source: Enterprise Surveys (2010)
Large

38. So…what do we need to ask?
 How do we build comprehensive skills at all
levels of schooling?
 How do we make sure children are not “left
behind”?
 How do we give more value (social and
economic) to technical skills/professions?
 How do we take advantage of the global
economy (also a global labor market)?
 [Migration vs. brain drain]
 How do we create more jobs domestically?