TOKYO, October 13, 2011 – Low- and middle-income countries in East Asia need
to make their higher education systems more responsive to labor market demands
and the economy as a whole to climb up the income ladder, says a new World
Bank East Asia and Pacific Regional Report released today.
Across the region, higher education institutions can realize their full
potential by providing skills and research to spur productivity and
innovation, considered critical to achieving growth in a competitive global
environment.
Titled “Putting Higher Education to Work: Skills and Research for Growth in
East Asia”, the report sheds light on the functional skills that workers must
possess to be employable and to support firms’ competitiveness and
productivity. It also examines how higher education systems can produce
research that will help apply, adapt and develop new technologies that will
drive growth.