Nigeria, with its youthful population, has tremendous potential for economic growth and development. However, this potential remains largely untapped due to the high rate of youth unemployment.
As of Q3 2023, the youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24) was 8.6%, up from 7.2% in Q2 2023.
This figure reflects the broader issues in the labour market, where informal employment is predominant, with 92.3% of workers engaged in informal jobs.
Additionally, 87.3% of workers were self-employed, indicating a reliance on informal and self-employment due to limited formal job opportunities. This growing figure underscores the urgent need for effective skills development programs that can prepare young Nigerians for the workforce.
This stark Nigerian reality is ever so much more pronounced on World Youth Skills Day, a commemorative celebration established by the United Nations to raise awareness about the critical need for marketable skills among the global youth population.
This day highlights the urgency of investing in youth skills development and addressing challenges such as unemployment, underemployment, and the skills gap.
By focusing on vocational training and other skill-building initiatives, World Youth Skills Day fosters a future-ready workforce capable of thriving in diverse professional environments.
The theme for World Youth Skills Day 2024 is Youth Skills for Peace and Development. It highlights the crucial role that young people play in peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts
In an era where technological advancements and globalization are reshaping the workforce, the significance of equipping young individuals with essential skills cannot be overstated.
Basic literacy and numeracy are the foundation of all skills because they equip youth with essential cognitive abilities needed for effective communication, problem-solving, and continuous learning, which are critical for transitioning into and thriving in the workforce.
Unfortunately, data from UNESCO, posits that circa 20 million Nigerian children are out of school while 70% of those in school are not learning anything defining the fact that Nigeria is in a dire basic education crisis which must be resolved for our youth to become meaningful contributors to Nigeria’s economy, peace, political stability and future in general.
A 2022 report by the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF FCDO and others did not only focuses on the problems of basic education in places like Nigeria, it also sheds light on proven solutions, prescribing focus areas for progress. It stressed the existence of solutions that can work at scale and within existing government systems to improve learning outcomes.
It states that what is required includes commitment to learning programs by governments and the composition of the programs: with emphasis on teacher training, improved instruction through structured pedagogy and measurement of learning outcomes.
Live ongoing successful implementation of large-scale education transformation programs using these globally acknowledged mechanisms is what NewGlobe brings to Nigeria, through its innovative approach. There are already four distinct examples in Nigeria running statewide intricate public school systems built upon four core aspects: A digital learning platform, adaptive instructional content, teacher training and coaching, and 360-degree support.
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Within this holistic system are many sets of practices, such as school management, learning and development, instructional guidance, and feedback. Schools in this system are being transformed using technology and data, every school is transparent and accessible to its political leaders; decisions and policies are data-based and children are learning at a speed not seen before in Nigeria. Political leaders across the continent are coming to learn from Nigeria’s systems and then implementing them in their own countries.
These programs are EdoBEST in Edo State, EKOEXCEL in Lagos State, KwaraLEARN in Kwara State and BayelsaPRIME in Bayelsa State delivering quality education to more than one million children irrespective of their social or economic backgrounds, democratizing education in Nigeria.
As we celebrate World Youth Skills Day, it is essential that all key stakeholders from the Federal and State governments to teachers and parents recognize foundational literacy hurdles to skills acquisition for Nigerian youth and begin to implement local, already in Nigeria and successful methods for solving this problem such as NewGlobe’s.
