Unemployment is the number one challenge currently faced by young people in Africa especially amongst University graduates. Did you know that in every 10 University graduate, just about 2-3 of them get to have a job, and yet employers say they are unable to find people with the appropriate skills and experience.
The growing problem of youth unemployment in Africa is a major concern for many governments especially the Cameroonian government. Recent estimates by the World Bank shows that more than 10 million young Africans, often poorly skilled, leave the school system every year in search of jobs in local employment markets which are not expanding fast enough to create jobs. Many of these job seekers lack the requisite skills employers want. Without employment-related skills, graduates cannot benefit from even the minimal employment opportunities that may be available to job seekers.
Cameroon’s economy and future prosperity depends on ensuring that employers have the skilled workers to maintain and grow their businesses. The opportunities are there, but young people need the right skills to be able to access them. Skilled workers make individual companies and industry sectors more competitive, and skills development training helps to lift individuals out of the cycle of poverty.
Many governments have now come to appreciate the role of TVET in national development and are rolling out strategies to develop the practical talents of their young people to support economic growth and industrialization. Over the past decade, many countries have developed policies, strategies and legal frameworks aimed at reforming and strengthening their TVET systems. Among such countries is Rwanda, which has established a Workforce Development Authority, Ghana, whose Council for TVET (COTVET) is mandated by law to oversee, coordinate and harmonize skills development at all levels in the country, and Cameroon which aims to create a trained workforce for various employment sectors and increase understanding of technology and also allow individuals to fully participate in society as responsible citizens.
What is TVET?
Many Cameroonians cannot give an answer to this question, yet TVET is what we need in this country to transform our lives and change the economy of Cameroon.
TVET stands for Technical and Vocational Education and Training. It is education and training which provides knowledge and skills for employment.
TVET comprises of formal, non-formal and informal learning which prepares its students with the knowledge and skills required in the world of work. TVET is recognized to be a very important drive for social equity, inclusion and sustainable development.
Over the years, TVET has also been referred to as:
-Apprenticeship training, -Vocational education,
-Technical-vocational education, -Occupational education,
-Vocational education and training, -Technical education,
-Professional and vocational education, -Career and technical education,
-Workforce education, -Workplace education.
Fotabe Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy provides solutions to this unemployment issue. FELA’s employment program provides high quality and relevant training to graduates, this is why the government and its partners are investing so significantly in TVET, to equip students with the skills they need to succeed in the world of work. In TVET, young people have the opportunity to learn from basic to advanced levels across a wide range of institutional and work settings.
Fotabe Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy (FELA) is committed to reducing the unemployment rate of graduates especially and supporting youths to gain relevant skills required for the workplace. In addition to delivering quality training through FELA, we also have as priority to improve public awareness on TVET and strengthen industry-TVET linkages in partnership with Cameroonian employers.