Shaping Youth Skills in Challenging Times

Developing useful skills during tough times is difficult but essential. Everything that people are doing now, school, work, travel, and even social interaction is happening in challenging contexts. COVID-19 pandemic affected the lives of young people in various ways. Currently, not every child, teenager, or student has the same access to education and online learning tools.
Data from the United Nations confirm that about 70 percent of the world’s learners are affected by the school closures. On the other hand, millions have no access to the internet or computers to continue their education remotely.

Other data show that globally, one in five young people are not in employment, education, or training also known as NEET. Further on, three out of four young NEETs are women. At the same time, girls in developing countries and poor areas are more at risk of not returning back to the classroom when schools reopen. Besides, education problems, labor, and financial uncertainty, children and young people might witness health problems or the loss of close relatives to the virus. This would increase their responsibilities for other family members or younger siblings, thus make it difficult for them to continue their education.

In terms of sustainable development, education and training are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda. SDG4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” highlights the importance of technical and vocational education and training. Even the International Labor Organization points out the need to equip young people with the necessary skills from employment and entrepreneurship.

On their part, new graduates feel uncertain about their future as the pandemic has disrupted local labor markets. Seasonal jobs, internships, and other potential job opportunities are at risk of being turned down. However, the global outbreak has not impacted all the sectors in the same way. While many companies are laying off their staff, others are adapting to the new reality and switching to new models. Some are identifying business opportunities and launching their startups. Many are really young or young adults have seen opportunities in the situation and sprang into action.
Entrepreneurial training and knowledge help to identify such opportunities. There can be numerous solutions to one problem, the key is to learn how to navigate those solutions and find the most practical. The free entrepreneurial training by the Entrepreneurship Campus can help you build this mindset

You can read more about starting a business in a time of crisis in a previous blog post.

Meanwhile, UNESCO has just launched the Global Skills Academy, a place where to find free and high-quality online training offered by members of its Global Education Coalition. The Organization unveiled the project, Skills for a Resilient Youth in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond, on World Youth Skills Day, celebrated on 15 July.

Everyone can find a way to help young people get training in case they are out of jobs or education. Remember that a given solution can work in specific circumstances. What’s important is learning how to analyses those problems and solutions. Young people from all over the world are already showing their solutions to issues they face in their communities through the ideas and projects they submit at the 2020 Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition. You can join this initiative, especially now that the voting has started and the Campus members are really active in supporting each other with experience and ideas.