This book addresses growing reservations about the relevance of educational systems to the economic and social needs of individuals by examining different aspects of transitions from school to work or further studies within formal and informal settings in Asia. Highlighting important issues such as selectiveness and inclusiveness, integration of transversal competencies, vocationalisation of secondary schooling, approaches to career guidance and emerging models of student support, it is of particular interest to educators, policymakers and other stakeholders who are concerned about the effectiveness of system-wide and institutional-based approaches. The first part of the book explores different models, mechanisms and approaches to policy and practice in the context of Asia, while the second part examines Hong Kong students transitions to post-school life and provides an account of issues and challenges the government and individual schools experience in terms of structural supportfor both mainstream and special-needs students.

Margarita Pavlova is Associate Professor at the Department of International Education and Lifelong Learning, the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). She is also the director of the UNEVOC center (Hong Kong) that is a member of the UNESCO network of centers for technical and vocational education and training.

John Chi-Kin Lee is Vice President (Academic) and Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). He is also director of the Center for Religious and Spirituality Education, the EdUHK and Changjiang Chair Professor in China.

Rupert Maclean is concurrently QAPCO Professional Chair of Vocational Studies, UNESCO Chair on TVET and Sustainable Development, and coordinator of the UNESCO-UNEVOC Centre in Qatar at the College of the North Atlantic-Qatar.

1 Stepping into the world: transitions to post-school life.- Part I. Issues and models of school to work/life transitions in Asia and the Pacific region.- 2 Challenges Beyond Schooling: Innovative Models for Youth Skills Development in India.- 3 Transversal skills as a missing link between school and work: Experiences from the Asia-Pacific region.- 4 Modern Apprenticeship as an Effective Transition to Working Life: Improvement of the Vocational Education System in China.- 5 Transitions: Conceptualization of Individual Educational Pathways.- 6 School to university transitions for Australian children of refugee background: A complex journey.- 7 Informal education and learning pathways: supporting livelihood trajectories of Indian Women in an urban slum.- Part II. School to work transitions in the context of Hong Kong.- 8 Life planning, vocational and technical educations and secondary schooling in the context of educational reform and socio-economic changes in Hong Kong.- 9 In searchof an epistemological underpinning for Applied Learning in Hong Kong: insights from the Aristotelian phronesis and its contribution to facilitating a sustainable transition from school to work.- 10 Schools support for postschool planning: A Hong Kong perspective.- 11 Post-school Transition of Students with Special Educational Needs in Hong Kong.