Morocco-Rabat Forum: Aligning Education and Employment
21 October 2011
Read by 1926 persons
Training Employment - Several speakers at the youth consultation forum, which began Wednesday in Rabat, Morocco, called for better alignment of training with the needs of African economies. They believe this change will reduce the high unemployment rate among Africans aged 15 to 35.
"The training we provide to young Africans needs to be rethought to take into account different contexts. We cannot continue to provide this training without considering the demand and needs of businesses," pleaded Mamadou Ndoye, former Senegalese Minister of Basic Education and National Languages, at the opening of the forum. For Joël-Eric Missainhoun of AfricSearch, a firm specializing in recruiting African executives, a real interaction between businesses and schools training young Africans must be created to ensure better alignment between training and employment.
"Involving the private sector in training young people is essential. This approach will help identify companies' recruitment needs and define training priorities accordingly. This avoids having many young graduates on the job market forced to take odd jobs unrelated to their training," said an AfricSearch official.
According to him, businesses could even finance training and provide educational support to schools that agree to a partnership with the private sector.
"As part of a joint effort, companies can provide financial resources to support training adapted to their needs. They are also willing to send some of their employees to provide teaching or tutorials," continued Mr. Missainhoun.
He called for a business-school partnership for training young Africans within a strategic vision to plan employment priorities over several years.
"As recruiters, we know that companies' manpower needs can change from one period to another. We must therefore define these needs over five, ten years or more to ensure that all young people trained during this period will have work," added Mr. Missainhoun, an executive at the AfricSearch office in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Youth unemployment is one of the issues that will be discussed during the three-day forum organized by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the Islamic Organization for Education, Science and Culture (ISESCO).
Nearly forty young people from 22 African countries are participating in the meeting, whose work is divided into thematic workshops and plenary sessions.
The main conclusions of the forum will be compiled into a document entitled "Youth Declaration," which will be presented at the ADEA Triennale scheduled for February 2012 in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
Afriquejet.com
Published October 19, 2011.
Posted online October 21, 2011.
"The training we provide to young Africans needs to be rethought to take into account different contexts. We cannot continue to provide this training without considering the demand and needs of businesses," pleaded Mamadou Ndoye, former Senegalese Minister of Basic Education and National Languages, at the opening of the forum. For Joël-Eric Missainhoun of AfricSearch, a firm specializing in recruiting African executives, a real interaction between businesses and schools training young Africans must be created to ensure better alignment between training and employment.
"Involving the private sector in training young people is essential. This approach will help identify companies' recruitment needs and define training priorities accordingly. This avoids having many young graduates on the job market forced to take odd jobs unrelated to their training," said an AfricSearch official.
According to him, businesses could even finance training and provide educational support to schools that agree to a partnership with the private sector.
"As part of a joint effort, companies can provide financial resources to support training adapted to their needs. They are also willing to send some of their employees to provide teaching or tutorials," continued Mr. Missainhoun.
He called for a business-school partnership for training young Africans within a strategic vision to plan employment priorities over several years.
"As recruiters, we know that companies' manpower needs can change from one period to another. We must therefore define these needs over five, ten years or more to ensure that all young people trained during this period will have work," added Mr. Missainhoun, an executive at the AfricSearch office in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Youth unemployment is one of the issues that will be discussed during the three-day forum organized by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the Islamic Organization for Education, Science and Culture (ISESCO).
Nearly forty young people from 22 African countries are participating in the meeting, whose work is divided into thematic workshops and plenary sessions.
The main conclusions of the forum will be compiled into a document entitled "Youth Declaration," which will be presented at the ADEA Triennale scheduled for February 2012 in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
Afriquejet.com
Published October 19, 2011.
Posted online October 21, 2011.
