NN46, September 2011
Towards a New Global World of Skills Development? TVET's turn to Make its Mark
Skills for the Young Majority
By Mtinkheni Gondwe and Ad Boeren, Nuffic, The Hague
Email: mgondwe@nuffic.nl; aboeren@nuffic.nl
Keywords: Youth; retention rates; completion rates; gender
Summary: Maximum effect in capacity building in Sub-Saharan Africa can be achieved by targeting skills development at the youth bulge, with conscious effort on involving girls and increasing education completion rates.
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Youth bulge and development
Ninety-eight percent of the countries with a low human development index are in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The total population in this region in 2010 was 864 million, of which youth (<20 years old) comprised 54%. Half of these youth (49.6%) are female.
Considering that few youth in SSA complete their secondary education and that access to tertiary education in SSA is generally <10%, the secondary education level is the most critical level for skills development. This is the level at which the majority of youth can quickly be introduced to a trade before their premature exit out of the education system.
The labour market consequence of the low secondary education completion rates and low tertiary enrolment rates is that a large percentage of the labour force in SSA does not have a high education attainment level. This has further consequences on the effectiveness, efficiency and productivity of the labour force and the economic output of their labour.
Raise school completion rates
We are convinced that the majority of students who attend school (both general and technical streams) ideally want to emerge from the system with a certificate of completion. Especially where the education was not free of charge and had to be paid for personally, we can expect that students and their parents will want a return on their investment. This therefore raises questions about the low completion rates for secondary school (e.g. 8% for Mozambique in 2010; 40% for Ghana in 2008). Why is it that students are leaving the system prematurely or without successful completion? Surely such a large number of students do not drop out or fail due to low academic capacities?
To gain insight into the possible factors causing this low completion rate, we interviewed various stakeholders in the education sector of Mozambique. Various possible factors were mentioned, among which is the timing of examinations. This factor usually gets little attention but may be an important one. The final year examination is the only determining factor for a student’s learning outcomes from a lower or upper secondary school cycle, whereby a cycle lasts 2-3 years. Although students are tested at the end of each study year comprising a cycle, the results of these tests are not taken into account when weighing the learning outcomes during certification in the final year. When the main examination comes, many students have forgotten the material they learned in the first two years of the cycle. Yet they are tested on this material as well. Even if the students study hard for the final examination during their final year, they have an overwhelming task of going through three-years’ worth of study material in various subjects in one go and understanding or remembering it for the final examination.
This system is similar in many other SSA countries and very possibly contributes to the low pass rates on the continent. Students often exit the system without recognition for any of the learning they may have acquired. It is clear that this system of examination is not working for SSA and needs to be reviewed. A modular examination system which takes into the account the test results of students at the end of each school term or study year, in addition to the final year examination results, would perhaps produce better certification outcomes and pass rates. Students would probably be better able to cope with the short term examination deadlines since working towards short term goals is more appropriate for students in the secondary school age group. Additionally, issuing performance certification with each examination would serve as an incentive to stay in school and complete a given module. This would especially be useful to reduce the drop-out rate since students would see the relevance of staying in school and completing the learning modules.
Focus on lower secondary school
The timing of examinations is not the only factor reducing secondary school completion rates. And until many of these factors are tackled, the high drop-out rates in SSA will continue. Recognising this, education authorities in SSA should seriously consider increasing marketable skills training and modular performance certification in lower secondary school, which is the level at which the drop-out rate is highest. Currently, most TVET investments made by national governments, donors and the private sector are focussed on the upper secondary and tertiary education levels.
The decision to focus on skills development at the (lower) secondary school level would translate into increasing the share of TVET institutions to reach at least half the number of general secondary schools over the medium to long term. Currently, general secondary schools significantly outnumber their TVET counterparts in most of SSA.
Pay special attention to girls
The fact that females make up approximately half of the youth and of the total population in SSA, requires a conscious focus on the marketable skills development for girls too. Neglecting this is wasting potential, drastically reduces the economic effectiveness of the labour force, and slows down national development.
However, it is an illusion to expect equal participation in all subjects and disciplines by boys and girls. It is a universal fact that girls have other occupational interests than boys. Even in current TVET institutions, enrolment figures show that most of the girls are concentrated in the softer subjects (e.g. commercial subjects, administration and management subjects) than in the technical and engineering disciplines. In the provision of TVET, this preference must be respected to serve those girls who genuinely wish to study these subjects, having based their decision on their personal interest and good, objective and sufficient information.
On the other hand, some girls make occupational choices based on what their friends and peers have chosen or based on the occupations they see women role models around them practising. For these girls, the bias must be broken and opportunities created (e.g. career guidance at school) so that they can think their choices through properly and make occupational choices beyond what they can imagine for themselves at that moment. Girls are as academically competent as boys. Their increased involvement in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is crucial considering their numbers and the importance of the STEM fields in national development, innovativeness, and achieving self-reliance and global competitiveness.
To sum up
Too many youth in SSA are leaving secondary school without recognition of any of the learning they may have acquired during their time at school. The secondary school completion rate in the region is too low, resulting in a labour force that has a low education attainment level. This is an obstacle to economic development of the region. Various factors are responsible for this and need to be reviewed by authorities to address the situation.
- -The first priority to giving SSA youth a chance in the labour market is to keep them in school and raise the completion rates. Even premature exit at any stage of the secondary school cycle needs to result in learning recognition through certificates. Modular education and examination would make this possible.
- -Recognising that secondary school drop-out rates will remain high in the medium to long term, effective human resource development in SSA needs to focus on training of marketable skills, particularly for youth in lower secondary school. This education level is the most critical for reaching the majority of students since it is also the level at which the majority of youth are dropping out.
- Increasing the number of TVET institutions would be necessary to increase the number of students with access to vocational training.
- -In the process of targeting youth in lower secondary school, special attention should also be paid to girls. They form half of the youth population and so their potential contribution to the labour market and national economy is high. Education and training in occupations that are appealing to girls should be offered, while also actively stimulating their interest for subjects that are traditionally not chosen by them.
References
Gondwe, M., Walenkamp, J., Hoven van den, R., 2011, Alignment of higher professional education to the needs of the local labour market: the case of Mozambique, in press, Nuffic, The Hague.
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Cite article as: Gondwe, M. and Boeren, A., (2011) ‘Skills for the Young Majority’, in NORRAG NEWS, Towards a New Global World of Skills Development? TVET's turn to Make its Mark, No.46, September 2011, pp. 21-24, available: http://www.norrag.org
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