WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — A new report by the World Bank has found that short-cycle higher education programmes (SPCs) can be a highly effective tool in times of crisis such as the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, when millions of people across Latin America and the Caribbean need to acquire the training and skills to urgently join the formal job market.

The report found that these education programmes include technical degrees, tertiary careers and advanced vocational training programmes.

The pandemic hit the region severely, causing an unprecedented economic downturn and a sharp drop in employment and production at a time of important transformations in the world of work.

In this context, SCPs, which are usually two or three-year programmes oriented to the labour market, could help boost employment by offering a path to relatively quick and well-paid job opportunities, according to the report “The Fast Track to New Skills, Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean”.

Countries in the region should promote the expansion and quality of these programmes in order to benefit a greater number of people and generate rapidly the human capital necessary for economic recovery and growth, the group said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed an unprecedented crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean, pushing millions into poverty. Short-Cycle Higher Education Programmes can play an important role in the recovery by helping overcome the employment crisis and preparing individuals for today’s world of work,” said Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, vice president of the World Bank for the Latin American and Caribbean region.

“In this context, countries across the region need to promote the transformative potential of SCPs,” he added.

According to the report, the salary benefits of technical level careers are clear. For example, short programme graduates generally earn — as expected — lower salaries than bachelor’s programmes graduates, but on the regional average the former earn 25 per cent more than the large percentage (54 per cent) of dropouts from bachelor’s programmes, considering student characteristics.

Similarly, on the regional average SCP graduates earn 60 per cent more than high school graduates with no higher education. In this case the salary difference ranges from lows of 32 per cent to 110 per cent.

SCP graduates also fare well in terms of employment. Not only do they outperform high school graduates; they also outperform dropouts from bachelor’s programmes. Relative to the latter, they have a lower unemployment rate (3.8 versus 6.1 per cent), and a higher formal employment rate (82 versus 67 per cent). Particularly in the current context of unemployment and informality, these are important results.

The report also shows that SCP students graduate at a higher rate than bachelor’s students (57 versus 46 per cent), which is especially relevant given that bachelor’s dropouts account for about half of all the individuals that start higher education in LAC and that, on average, SCP students come from more disadvantaged backgrounds than students from bachelor’s programmes.