Publication: Republic of Cameroon
Loading...
Date
2015-04
ISSN
Published
2015-04
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The overarching goal of this study is to facilitate Cameroon’s strategic objective of ensuring a well-educated human resources base in support of its quest to emerge as a strong middle-income economy by 2035. This study is intended to support Cameroon in preparing a national strategy for skills development, related policies, and institutions to boost competitiveness and productivity, and job creation - while being aware that many factors other than skills can limit productivity and job creation, including weak governance, bureaucracy, infrastructure, and taxation policies that directly affect the business environment. The study focuses on skills development for the informal and formal labor markets. For this purpose the authors have undertaken empirical analyses on growth accumulation effects, skills development through the education, and training system that is presented by examining skills accumulation effects, and value-chain analysis that shows the constraints for the demand and supply of skilled and unskilled labor in Cameroon. This report also presents a comprehensive diagnostic of skills development policies and institutions in Cameroon. It analyzes the various mechanisms for skills development and their alignment with emerging sector demand. The study attempts to bridge a knowledge gap about the skills mismatch in Cameroon, and address the question of how education and training can make valuable contributions to developing skills, spurring growth, increasing competitiveness, and helping Cameroon evolve to higher-value products and services. This study attempts to understand the skills in demand by employers, the constraints on the development of those skills, and the skills that make a difference in raising productivity.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2015. Republic of Cameroon. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22433 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Strengthening Skills and Employability in Peru : Final Report(Washington, DC, 2011-05)This report presents the final results and conclusions of a multi-year program developed by a team comprising Bank staff and first-rate Peruvian researchers, which provides policy-relevant analysis of the constraints to labor market entry for low income workers. Expanding employment opportunities and addressing the deficits in skills of large segments of the labor force have become a central concern for policy makers, the business community, academics, and the society at large in Peru. The study of the labor market and skills acquisition is not an empty field in Peru. Many local analysts have undertaken several studies of the education and training systems and the associated labor market returns. However, up to now data limitations have precluded detailed analyses of the constraints of low-income workers, particularly youth, to map their skills into suitable jobs, and to acquire the skills demanded by the labor market. This is, in fact, generally the case throughout Latin America and in many countries in the developing world. It is hoped that this effort and the report can contribute to inform the discussions of the future of social and employment policy among policy makers and the Peruvian society at large.Publication China Early Child Development : Early Childhood Education in Yunnan(Washington, DC, 2013-11-18)Yunnan is a medium-sized and relatively poor Chinese province on the southwestern border of China. In 2012, the Yunnan department of education formally requested Bank support in conducting a review of early childhood education policies and programs in order to gain an in-depth and evidence-based understanding of the challenges the province faces in expanding early childhood education-in particular to rural and mountainous regions. The Bank's China education team embarked on raising funds, designing and implementing a rather elaborate research agenda around early childhood education. The goal was to investigate key challenges, and to propose policy interventions for expanding the Early Child Development (ECD) coverage in rural Yunnan. This report presents the findings from the background studies, and draws potential policy implications for improving the access to and quality of preschool education in Yunnan province. China has now almost achieved universal 9-year basic education. Over the last decade, the country has devoted increasing attention to policy development in early childhood education. Even though China does not yet have a specific early childhood education law, it has established a rather elaborate set of guidelines and regulations pertaining to early childhood education. Early childhood education has expanded significantly within the last few years. There are two main types of preschool programs for 3-6 year olds including: a regular 3-year program which is called kindergarten, and a one-year program attached usually to primary schools. The rapid growth of preschool teacher supply has contributed to the drop in pupil-teacher ratios across the nation. In Yunnan in particular, the ratio has decreased from approximately 30 to 20 in recent years. However, urban areas still enjoy a more favorable pupil-teacher ratio, as well as a higher proportion of qualified teachers compared to rural areas. Rural areas account for 50 percent of total preschool enrollment, but only 22 percent of all trained teachers serve in rural areas.Publication Employer Voices, Employer Demands, and Implications for Public Skills Development Policy(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-05)Educators believe that they are adequately preparing youth for the labor market while employers lament the lack of skills. A possible source of the mismatch in perceptions is that employers and educators have different understandings of the types of skills valued in the labor market. This paper uses economics and psychology literature to define four skills sets: socio-emotional, higher-order cognitive, basic cognitive, and technical skills. The paper reviews the literature that quantitatively measures employer skill demand, as reported in preference surveys. A sample of 28 studies reveals remarkable consistency across the world in the skills demanded by employers. Although employers value all skill sets, there is a greater demand for socio-emotional and higher-order cognitive skills than for basic cognitive or technical skills. These results are robust across economy size and level of development, sector, export-orientation, and occupations. Employers perceive that the greatest skills gaps are in socio-emotional and technical skills. These findings suggest the need to re-conceptualize education and training systems. Taking into consideration the developmental process to acquire the skills identified by employers, this implies the need to recognize that (a) the job-skills development process necessarily begins at birth and continues throughout the life cycle so skills policy should, as well; (b) schools play a relevant, but limited, role in skills development and the role of parents, mentors, and the work place must be defined and enhanced; and (c) the skills most demanded by employers -- higher-order cognitive and socio-emotional skills -- are largely taught (the former) or refined in secondary school, which argues for a general education until these skills are formed.Publication Developing Skills for Innovative Growth in the Russian Federation(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-06-10)Over the past decade Russia has experienced stable economic growth with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growing by 7 percent per year from 1998 to 2007. While the nation still enjoys a relatively healthy growth rate, analysis shows that the sources for the future growth are limited and to boost growth Russia should rely on increasing labor productivity. Improving productivity will impose new demands on Russia's workforce requiring better skills to satisfy the needs of economy growth. The international business environment survey reports that Russia's private sector considers the lack of skills and education of workers to be the most severe constraint on its expansion and growth. Despite the very high level of formal education attained by Russian workers the problem behind this may be explained by the current quality and content of education, which does not develop the necessary skills and competences demanded by the labor market. This report examines the reasons and the consequences of this skills deficit, which constrain productivity and limits innovation ultimately stifling accelerated economic growth in Russia. The objectives of the report are: 1) to deepen the understanding of the structure and composition of this skills deficit by analyzing in detail the demand for and supply of particular cognitive and non-cognitive skills; 2) to review the capacity and problems of the current systems for skills provision in Russia both through the public and private provision thereby identifying some of the underlying reasons for this skills gap; and 3) to support the development of evidence-based policy making in professional education and training, which will lead to a system better responding to the challenges of the economy and labor market.Publication Early Child Education : Making Programs Work for Brazil’s Most Important Generation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2012-05-29)This report draws deeply on the extraordinary efforts and innovations demonstrated by early child development policy makers around Brazil. This report draws on background papers about innovations in early child education in Rio de Janeiro and in caregiver training and supervision in two municipalities within Sao Paulo state. The year 2011 marked the beginning of a new administration in Brazil. The Ministry of education clearly identified early child education (ECE) as one of the top priorities of the new administration, along with secondary school and improving the reputation of the teaching profession. Early child development interventions are essential to both increasing the productivity of Brazil as a whole and to providing equitable opportunities for the disadvantaged. These programs benefit the poor more than other populations, and the poor are most in need of these benefits. Education interventions are crucial. Creches and preschools provide opportunities for stimulation and development that can wire children for future success. Therefore, early child education can particularly benefit the poor, helping to close the gap in cognitive development across income groups. A World Bank study compares adults from two regions of Brazil (the Northeast and the Southeast) who attended preschool to those who did not and found that pre-school attendance is associated with additional total years of education.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Error: Could not load results for 'https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/item/relateditemlistconfigs/6d466e3c-f00d-5cc9-8720-f583ae6d731f_downloads/itemlist'.