As the societies get service oriented there is an acute shortage of skilled work force. Given the world is increasingly interconnected and economies are increasingly interdependent the issue is a global challenge and in the same breath – is a global opportunity. The existence of millions of unskilled and semi-skilled population requiring life skills and livelihood skills and employability, while there is an acute shortage of skills of all kinds, offers an immense challenge for all. Institutions need to re-orient the pedagogy, the economists need to revisit their theories, and instructional technology providers need to sharpen their tools, and policy makers may revisit their focus keeping in view the changing landscape of the skill market place. The human aspects of life and livelihood are of paramount importance. Life skills, livelihood skills and sustainability interact nationally and globally. Life skills at a point in time and space find themselves as livelihood skills at another point in time and space. They are subject to constraints of sustainability. Sustainability, given our understanding of the global environment – is on focus locally and beyond.
There are deeply humanistic and philosophical issues involved. They are inseparably related to the business and practical aspects of skills, and their deployment, including rural-urban demographic divide and the likes. The technological advances and changes in life styles make some skills obsolete while demanding hitherto unknown skills. The working conference seeks to address these.
The city of Hyderabad represents the heart of India in many ways – geographically as well as in tradition. Given the huge human dimensions of India – which needs to be transformed into a demographic dividend – it is expected she would be a major player in the global skill market place of the current century. The conference is international and would have a global reach. It is hosted by REEDS (www.reeds.in), which is a not-for-profit civil society organization registered in India dedicated principally to rural development.
The following themes are intended to be covered:
1
Skills development – policy, plan & strategy
2
Institutional development & international cooperation
3
People, technology & inclusive development
4
Metaphors, models & paradigms
5
Life and livelihood skills & employment
6
Environment & emerging technology
7
Domain specific Skills
8
Synergy- Higher Education & Skill Development
9
Empowerment & Transformation of Rural Landscape
Asia Pacific International Education Forum
This is a special feature of the conference. APIEF is an initiative launched by Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET), during their annual conference recently held in Melbourne. The forum aims to bring in synergy among education providers in the region and would support co-ordinated action in addressing skill development issues.
