Hi, my name is Karina Levina and I work on employment policy for the International Labour Organization (ILO). The ILO recent research has shown that young people face pressing challenges in transitioning from school to work. For example, more than one in four young persons in Africa—around 72 million—are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). Two-thirds of them are young women. The situation is further exacerbated by various global shocks, such as COVID-19 pandemics, and risks of multiple crises.
Addressing school-to-work transition challenges of young people, especially in the regions with growing youthful populations such as Arica or the Arab States, has never been more urgent. There is a strong need for policies and programmes to address this challenge. In the run-up to the International Youth Day on August 12, 2023, we would like to invite you to share your thoughts, knowledge and experiences on the following:
- What can be done at the global, national, and local levels to address youth school-to-work transition challenges?
- Are you aware of any efficient school-to-work transition interventions and what are their key success factors?
- What partnerships are essential for efficient school-to-work transition policies and programmes and how can they be established?
- How can young people be better engaged in developing school-to-work transition policies and programmes?
Please read one of our blog entries below to get a sense of the scale of this challenge:
https://www.youthforesight.org/resource-details/Blog/1760
Or watch the recording of the Webinar on Youth Employment and School-to-Work Transition in Africa:
https://www.decentjobsforyouth.org/event/167
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Youth day was celebrated in our home by offering cold drinks,refreshments,sweets to children.
The International Youth Day is one of the wonderful opportunities to share the pressing challenges that the youth are facing in terms of transitioning into an independent livelihood. Likewise, it is a very good opportunity to share the chances of curving the surmountable difficulty by sharing experiences on the ground. I will share with you as below how it is possible to share the future of the youth in my community because of a youth livelihoods project that is happening in one of the regions here in Ethiopia.
One of the key lessons we have got at project implementation phase is that knowledge and skill bases of the young ones should be given priority should the youth transition to a meaningful and independent livelihood. The business ecosystem should also be friendly to their choices and aspirations. Because of this approach, now a lot of IDP and crisis affected youth are reviving and finding proper transition into the world of work a possibility. The chance of success on the young ones depends on the readiness to challenge and shape their future by themselves by and large as the support from their community also is positive and possible.
Solomon Debebe
Youth Development Advisor
Thank you @Bilen Solomon Debebe. You may need to explain a bit the possible ways in which the business ecosystems may be friendly to the choices of youth. Do you have cases in which some of these ways have been tried in your local context?
@Dydimus Zengenene In the specific project experience I mentioned, the local government was quite interested and willing to accommodate the key questions of IDP youth by providing plots of lands, workspaces/ shades, and access to loan and training facilities. The coordination and the felling of the host community was also very positive that could be explained by the willingness to co-invest with the IDP youth was also another key feature I could explain as an enabling ecosystem. The overall involvement of key stakeholders was significantly positive so that the recovery and development work on the ground was possible at implementation phase. Happy to share more should you have further query.
Thanks,
Solomon
Dear @Bilen Solomon Debebe , thank you very much for the insights. What I find interesting in the case that you've described is the co-investment of the host community and IDP youth. Could you please elaborate a bit on that?
I am also wondering how the skills development component was organized in this project? Did project participants received any capacity development along with plots of lands, workspaces/ shades, and access to loan, which skills training were provided and were the local authorities involved?
Thanks!
Dear @Karina Levina thank you very much for your reflections and questions. The co-investment of the IDP and host youth in this specific project happened during the establishment of small startups as they apply for loan and other services together. There was willingness and interest to collaborate and work together among these groups and the small business created was intentionally mixed ones in terms of the profile of the youth to enable the IDPs feel included in the community. At the background there was huge work around community engagement and conversation as to how this was designed. So, as one of the nexus project models in our experience, we were able to see the sense of 'we' instead of us and others.
Regarding the skills development piece, after identifying the marketable and relevant skills, TVETs in these areas formally organized those trainings while the local government committed to provide sheds and working spaces for the youth. Hence, the sessions were practical, and it was possible for the youth groups to be able to start their own business right away. The willingness of the government and community to make these things happen was quite interesting that made the task possible. Now, the project is seen as one of the best in the region if not in the country.
Thanks again,
Solomon
Transitioning in the corporate sphere is really a difficult challenge to pull. Taking into consideration the limited opportunities for under graduate student. Especially, where I am from.
Thank you @Kadijatu Barrie . Do you have an opinion on how initiatives such as internships might or might not be of help under your local circumstances ?
That's a very good point @Kadijatu Barrie , this is an issue that ILO studies identify this same issue as well: youth unemployment and weak results in school-to-work transition is a more demand-side issue in labour market than supply-side, i.e., there is no shortage of skilled youth, but shortage of jobs for their qualifications. You can refer to one of the reports here: Report: Global Employment Policy Review 2023: Macroeconomic policies for recovery and structural transformation (ilo.org)
This subject is very dear to me as someone who have been working with young people in the corporate and non-profit space.
Transitioning has been a challenge for a lot of people in academia and also for apprentices . The main challenges spotted all years have been on policy/programme design and resources.
On the first challenge (policy), a lot of countries have been slow to adapt the best in industry practices from countries or industries that have chalked success. Doing the same thing all over again and expecting different result does not work. Countries that have relatively low unemployment rate have been intentional about the challenges and how they implement solutions. Schools are supposed to develop the human being and equip them with relevant skills for the real world of work.
Curriclum design should be in tandem with stakeholder engagement. Final year students should be equipped with entrepreneurial mindset in their field of studies. They should be armed with the knowledge of relevant tools to enable them succeed in their respective fields.
programmes should be done in such a way that the mindset of graduate is to create or be employers rather than employees.
With resources, it is always going to be scarce from the little knowledge we have in Economics. However using the little we have, wherever we find ourselves in a creative way can go a long way to help. strategic partnerships also enable us to get the very things we lack without much stress.
A well-equipped lab and practical tools for students to use help students to integrate easily when they eventually graduate.
‘Skills rather than degrees’ and “Tearing the paper ceiling” are some of the mantras being spread everywhere even in the most advanced economies. We can tone down on the theoretical aspect of practical courses.
Germany, Singapore, Japan etc have run this model for decades and this has made them achieve greater height. Students work with companies while in school on small projects so by the time they complete, their resumes are filled with all the requisites or create their startups.
Thank you very much @Abdallah Issah for you contribution. Indeed, equipping young people with practical skills to allow them to better integrate in the labour markets remains fundamental. I also find your point on entrepreneurial mindset quite interesting. How would you see this to be implemented in practice and which partnerships do you think are essential for that?
TVET(Technical Vocational Education and Training) for all high school students. This can be done by pairing students with organizations and scoring them based on that. Funding from VCs, Angel investors and NGOs.
Instead of academia chasing industry, bring industry to academia.
I would imagine that school-to-work transition is more challenging for young refugees and internally displaced persons. I am wondering if there are experiences and observations to share regarding school-to-work transition for young refugees and internally displaced people. @Rahildaris Antonieta Marchena Herrera @Foni Joyce @Tapiwa Yemeke @Rana Jukhadar @Isaac Boateng @Chiara Curcio @Mwanza Ngane Barthelemy @Eesha Moitra @Milagros Lazo Castro
Similarly school-to-work transition may be more challenging for young people living with special conditions, for example HIV and other disabilities . I am wondering if there are experiences and observations to share regarding school-to-work transition for young living with special conditions @Talent Chiweya @Phyllis John Primus @Gareth Jones @Ali Raza Khan @YAYA TRAORE
I am coming in more from a data perspective here, and would like to highlight another issue: lack of data availability on disabilities. This is particularly the case in Africa. Once we have better data availability, it would be helpful to complement experiences shared by young people to broader trends in data.
Yes, it's true, that young people living with HIV have challenges in school-to-work transition . In most cases the affected young people do not even finish school. So there may not even be a school to transition from. Over and above all challenges that any youth faces, young people living with HIV find it hard even to be accepted in some working environments.Stigma,stigma and stigma everywhere. I think there is need to work together to improve education opportunities through lifelong learning, provide opportunities for internships as well as to educate potential employers to be more inclusive in their recruitment policies
A great discussion indeed! ESSA is pleased to offer insights on the question: 'What can be done at the global, national, and local levels to address youth school-to-work transition challenges?'
ESSA recently launched a report titled "What Next? Enhancing African Students' Transition to Employment through Effective Career Services." This report addresses the crucial topic of school-to-work transition. It is a valuable resource for universities, educators, employers, and policymakers within the sub-Saharan African context, where graduate unemployment is a challenge. The report offers insightful recommendations aimed at bridging the gap between education and employment. Collaborating with The Education Collaborative at Ashesi University and Kepler University in Rwanda, ESSA conducted this research, with financial support from Dubai Cares. The report presents a concise three-step approach to elevate employability outcomes for African students:
Drawing from these findings, the report extends evidence-based recommendations for universities, colleges, and employers alike:
For universities and colleges:
• Collaborate closely with industries to assess labor market needs and skill requirements.
• Involve students in career service initiatives from the outset.
For employers:
• Actively seek partnerships with universities.
• Share explicit skills requirements with educational institutions and establish a digital platform for industry insights exchange.
For those interested, you can access the complete report through this link: https://essa-africa.org/node/1807.
Thank you for the opportunity to contribute.
Izel Kipruto, ESSA
Dear @Izel Kipruto, thank you very much for great insights from the study, those are extremely interesting to observe. What I find particularly interesting is that the study looked not only on the supply side of the issue (skills and training), but also at matching and intermediation (career services). I also find it great that the publication is tailored for practitioners who work on youth employment and school-to-work transition, giving them rather clear advice and steps to follow. However, as my colleague @Vipasana Karkee has mentioned in some discussions above, we are frequently omitting the demand side of youth unemployment and school-to-work transition (e.g. pro-youth employment macroeconomic and sectoral policies). I am, therefore, wondering if there is any further interest or appetite from ESSA side to explore this side of youth employment and school-to-work transition in the sub-Saharan African context?
Nigeria's unemployment rate is quite concerning as young people struggle to find employment. Along with the difficulties associated with inadequate digital skills training, there are also a dearth of opportunities for exposure to the working world. Offering youth the chance to volunteer in actual workplace settings is one approach for businesses to close this gap. Youth who volunteer may have the opportunity to acquire useful hard and soft skills that will help them compete on the job market.
Thank you @Babatunde Oluwaseyi . Botswana has a wonderful national internship programme that may be interesting to learn more about. The program offers unemployed citizen graduates a chance to develop work skills and experience that will support them in the transition from school-life/academia to the working environment through attachments in various organisations in Botswana. Placement is done for a maximum period of two (2) years by the Department of National Service and Internship which matches the applicant’s credentials to available job profiles requested by host organisations
More can be found here:
https://www.gov.bw/employment-apprentice/national-internship-program
Thank you @Babatunde Oluwaseyi the concerns you raised are real. Graduates often struggle to break into the industry after completion of their studies.
I do agree that volunteership, internships and attachements are a good bridge from school to work.
In Zimbabwe, most of our universities programmes offer one year or more mandatory industrial attachment before the student graduates. This appears to have created opportunities for graduates to gain the much needed experience in the field before they actually get reinstated. As such, we have a good number of graduates that go on to be hired by the same companies they would have done their industrial attachment at.
@Palm Nyamukondiwa I agree absolutely with your comments. It is the same for our country Nigeria, but only after the one year of study. Can we ensure replication of such policies in our secondary schools and also other informal learning centers.
How do we achieve this?
Can we create a curriculum to achieve this?
Dear @Babatunde Oluwaseyi, @Isaac Boateng and @Palm Nyamukondiwa, thank you very much for raising a critical issue of volunteering, internship and apprenticeships as means of facilitating youth entry to the labour market and access decent jobs.
Let me quickly draw your attention to the following publications and instruments which might be somewhat helpful in institutionalizing volunteering and apprenticeships programs in your respective countries (which will, of course, require political buy-in and social dialogue, and may be quite a lengthy process).
First, the recent ILO publication on the design of volunteer programmes to facilitate the entry and re-entry of young people into work - https://forum-ids.org/on-the-design-of-volunteer-programmes-to-facilitate-the-entry-and-re-entry-of-young-people-into-work/. It focuses on identifying the main features of volunteer programmes and, more generally, the types of volunteer programmes or work that are likely to be effective in promoting the integration and re-integration of young people into decent employment.
Second, the ILO Recommendation on Quality Apprenticeships 2023 (No. 208) - https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:R208
Firstly I think there is a big gap between young people's aspirations & companies needs,
A non profit organization based in France called "Article 1" is among the game changer into helping young people in their school to work transition.
Recently, I created a small projectcalled "TTAN'ORA" to adress those issues but especially based in Madagascar, we are still reflecting & working on it , and we all know that, addressing school to work transition is not easy and is mainly an evidence-based work as data on the employment situation in developping countries are so insufficient. I will be happy to discuss further and even bulding a partnership with ILO, feel free to send a email : tianavaleriane.andriantseheno@sciencespo.fr
Dear @Tiana Valériane ANDRIANTSEHENO Thank you very much for stressing the gap between youth expectations and company needs. The "TTAN'ORA" project appears to be interesting. May you shed more light on the approaches that you have in mind to close this gap in Madagascar? Have you established partnerships with the government and other local players? How will these partnerships work?