Contents

• Introduction
• Vocational Training – the need of the hour
• Different connotations of skill
• Steps taken by EU countries
• Impact of such reforms on teaching
• Conclusion
• References

Description

The world economy is passing through a phase called ‘globalization’. This hitherto unprecedented phenomenon has set off a chain of events that have resulted in fundamental changes in economic structure of countries. Such radical changes have been accentuated due to another new production alternative that is commonly referred to as outsourcing or offshoring of jobs by one country to another country. This has resulted in a radical transformation of the age old concept traditional division of labor and has fostered a completely unique concept popularly known as flexible manufacturing process. These changes have, perhaps unwittingly, converted services sector to an extremely relevant and important constituent in the entire production process.
Globalization has transformed the world economy and shifted the center of gravity of global industrial production to such an extent that some authors predict within 2020, the gross national product of Brazil, Russia, India and China taken together would exceed the total gross national product of United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, USA, Italy and France (Wilson and Purushothaman 2003). Such a fundamental change in global production scenario has, quite obviously, resulted in changes in the prevailing structures of distribution of income and wealth in many economies of the world (Castells 2000). These changes have also thrown up many important environmental consequences as well (Barnett 2004).