Improving technical training degree programs in Guatemala, Honduras and Jamaica

• In Event: Approaches to strengthening local workforce development organizations for youth: lessons learned

Proposal

The USAID Advance Program works to strengthen the quality, relevance, and access to 2- and 3-year technical post-secondary degree programs in nine academic institutions (universities, community colleges, and training centers) in order to increase employment opportunities for disadvantaged youth ages 17-30 in Honduras, Guatemala, and Jamaica. Advance’ activities include: (1) offering academic institutions updated curriculum support for two-to-three year technical training degree programs that respond to local labor market demands, access to learning materials, training of staff, and support to other nonacademic services, such as setting up or strengthening career centers and mentoring programs; (2) providing a subset of youth beneficiaries scholarships to attend the degree programs in order to facilitate access to tertiary education; (3) offering soft and technical skills as well as labor bridging support to youth beneficiaries (internships, links to possible employment, and access to a career center); and (4) creating links with the private sector.

Technical training institutions in Latin America have historically been perceived as less-prestigious, with coursework that is too often disconnected from workforce realities. These institutions encounter enormous challenges to connect with industry, government, local communities and other peer institutions at the local, national and globally. Technical training institutions need to improve their management and administration, update their degree programs, curricula, student services and strengthen the skills of their faculty and staff. This presentation will focus on different strategies created by Advance to develop the capacity of technical institutions to strengthen their role as a central actor in local education and employment generation. We will share key differences in ways institutions take up these strategies in the short, medium, and long-term.

Authors

• Alejandro Paredes Trapero, FHI 360

• Ana Florez, FHI 360