Help youth acquire relevant skills that will shape their future

The International Youth Day will be marked on August 12, 2019. Themed, ‘Transforming Education’, the day comes at a time challenges abound in the education sector.  Indeed, the theme is apt, considering it is based on inclusive, quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities.

But how do we modernise our education to help youth get opportunities? It is clear that today, Kenyan youth face more challenges than past generations, yet many of them do not have the skills to overcome the obstacles. The breakdown in traditional family structures has left many young men at a loss. These factors must be addressed.

Ironically, the institutions that society created and bestowed power upon for social change are faltering and overwhelmed. The family is in a crisis mode, having almost lost authority over youth; giving them leeway to engage in unproductive and irresponsible behaviour. The onus has now fallen on educational institutions; themselves facing challenges of control and identity while religious life is at a crossroads.

As a society, we spend an inordinate amount of time, resources, and money looking at how to improve the quality of education. The questions we ask are always the same. How do we improve the quality of teaching and learning? How do we make our youth more motivated and competitive? And how do we get children to value and ‘own’ their education? Clearly, Kenya’s challenge and the place of education is also characterised by a rapidly changing global economy that requires workers to be innovative, flexible and adaptive.

Competitive world

First, the rate at which our youth find jobs depends on how prepared the labour market is to receive them, and how ready they are for the labour market. Even with high primary school enrollment, with an equal number of girls and boys starting school, primary and secondary school completion can no longer be our goal. Youth need skills to give the country an edge in an increasingly competitive world. But the environment where the youth can use their talents and skills is also wanting.

Second, we must get involved as communities. If we bury our heads in the sand, it will soon become a bigger problem. Margaret Meade said, “The solutions to adult problems tomorrow depend, in large measure, on how children grow up today”.

Third, we must help youth to address the multiple demands of an economic, social and environmental nature by assisting them to develop skills needed for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship; promoting equitable, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and supporting transitions to green economies, environmental sustainability and, particularly so, because a skilled workforce goes hand in hand with economic growth.

Youth unemployment

To ensure this becomes a reality, education authorities should build a strong research base to form the foundation for policy development in education and for effective professional management. Therefore, there is need to strengthen and sustain research activities as well as to undertake internal continuous reviews in education in order to modernise and feed on, and expand the school system in response to changing circumstances as well as to enhance the ideal of continuous quality improvement.

This is so because, paradoxically, as the world struggles with youth unemployment, it is experiencing a skills shortage. It is quite telling that 43 per cent of employers indicate they could not find the skills entry-level workers they needed.  Addressing youth unemployment and under-employment therefore requires both job creation and skills development; something that puts the education sector in the drivers’ seat.

Fourth, besides promoting self-employment, TVET is key in the overall development of the country. The Government must continually improve TVETs to offer relevant skills as a strategy to close the practical gap in the country’s labour market and ensure that creativity and innovation are central to the new curriculum. Also, modernising education at middle and university level will go a long way in making Kenyan graduates globally competitive.

Fifth, better engagement for youth and making them part of those seeking to find solutions to challenges—whether in health, economy and SMEs or issues related to peace-building or even national cohesion.

One can actually say that there’s no peace without the youth. We need to work with them and believe in their abilities to help in shaping their own future. Our education institutions must be deeply involved.

We live in an information society. We need to help youth not only know values and skills, but also to succeed in shaping our future.

Prof Mogambi, a Communication and Social Change Expert, teaches at University of Nairobi hmogambi@yahoo.co.uk