The Role of Education in Promoting Economic Sustainability

Abstract

Education plays a vital role in the economic development of low and middle-income countries. It is viewed to be the core element of social, cultural and economic capabilities of any nation and system of education is largely responsible for the growth and development of the nation. Moreover, it furnishes human capital and is a critical variable for driving economic development forward. Investment in education results in an increase in human capital of the children and enhances their skill levels. Skill development is necessary to be absorbed as educated workers in numerous sectors of an economy and has been a crucial driver for creating and sustaining economic growth in usual developing economies. This leads to the presence of critical skill levels in an economy which may be downplayed to the creation and sustenance of innovative processes and technologies, enforcing in an increase in labour productivity and thus economic growth, development and sustainability. Thus, the current study argues about how skills development plays a pivotal role towards boosting economic growth in developing economies, and consequently leads towards economic sustainability.One of the biggest challenges persistently faced by investors and enterprises around the world is finding workers with the right set of skills. In recent years, the problems associated with skills mismatch have been more evident as there has been an increasing number of skilled workers struggling to find an appropriate job. These problems are even more critical in the Low-Income Countries (LICs) where labour market institutions are not as developed, and the nature of the markets is more chaotic than middle-income and high-income countries. In this sense, skill development refers to the process that starts with the identification of the necessary skills for a specific job and involves improving those skills throughout the life of the individual. Hence, from the production side, it is crucial to promote policies to raise the level of skills of the workforce to ensure appropriate skill-match in the labour market, especially in the private sector amid structural change taking place in the economy. The recent desire to boost the manufacturing sector and to promote labour-intensive industries in low-income economies calls for the promotion of policies that help the creation of an adequate level of skills in the labour market.

Keywords education, economic sustainability, human capital, skill development, economic growth, low-income countries, labour market, workforce skills