What works in adolescent skills: How evidenced, localized solutions are equipping young people with the skills that Africa needs

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Africa is at a critical juncture. In the next five years, Africans will make up 42% of the global youth population, and by 2030, 100 million African adolescents will have entered the global workforce. This demographic shift presents a time-bound opportunity for social and economic transformation, but one that can only be seized if the adolescent population is educated and skilled for the future.

Currently, African adolescents are missing out on opportunities to develop the skills they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world. For many, secondary education is out of reach. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest completion rates for secondary education in the world. For those in school, only one in ten have reached the minimum level of proficiency in basic numeracy and literacy skills. The formal secondary school system is failing to reach the most marginalized and deliver relevant knowledge and skills. And organizations, like those on this panel, are stepping up to focus on innovative, localized solutions to address these gaps and ensure adolescents both in and out of school are better prepared for their futures.
This panel brings together the experiences from four organizations – PEAS, Educate!, Komo Learning Centers, and ALiVE – each committed to equipping adolescents with the skills and confidence they need to thrive at school and beyond. Collectively, they have 60 years’ experience working directly with adolescents in rural communities across Sub-Saharan Africa. They have tested, developed and scaled a range of interventions to strengthen and contextualize skill development. The presenters will share their evidence-based insights into what works and what doesn’t, drawing on their journeys to achieve impact at national scale.

Empowering young people to take charge of their learning and development builds the skills and confidence necessary for them to choose their future pathways. Komo Learning Centers' Do It Yourself (DIY) Program offers a model where adolescents lead their learning through projects aimed at building social skills, critical thinking, problem-solving, and leadership. Kukuza’s DIY Clubs foster a sense of ownership by equipping adolescents to lead projects that address real community challenges. This program aims to develop a cohort of skilled adolescents who are self-aware and ready to engage in a changing workforce. To sustain these changes, Komo recognizes that school leaders and teachers must be supported to create environments that encourage student participation and put students at the center.

Learner-centered schools build student skills by meeting students where they are. PEAS focuses on empowering school leaders to run learner-centered schools that provide the skills and support students need to thrive. School leaders are well-placed to understand their unique school contexts, their students and communities, and to identify the best solutions for the challenges they face. Across its 36 secondary schools in rural Uganda and Zambia and its partner schools, PEAS equips school leaders with the tools and resources to drive change. This includes supporting the development of student-centered School Improvement Plans informed by evidence from inspections and input from the school community.
At the same time, curricula should deliver the skills and knowledge demanded by the formal and informal labor market. Curriculum design needs to be agile and future-focused, delivering a range of skills that are in-demand today, and those that will be required tomorrow. African governments are responding through curriculum reform. Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, among others, have adopted Competency-Based Curricula (CBC) to equip students with a broad range of skills and competencies that prepare them for their future.

However, for these reforms to meet the needs of young people, it is crucial for curriculum not just to shift what schools teach, but how they teach it. Educate! has developed a core student experience, which incorporates practical skills training, hands-on experience starting and running a business and mentoring, to address this. As they have built out their evidence base, they have worked to identify promising pathways to scale both through direct delivery and integrating their model into education systems. By introducing an employment-focused subject in secondary schools, implementing reform rollout support programs, and maintaining clear incentives and sustainability structures to support the change, they are working to reorient education systems towards providing a more skills-focused student experience.

PEAS also recognizes the need to bridge the gap between policy and practice, and support schools to translate standardized national curricula into effective classroom practice. In Uganda, PEAS has supported its 30 secondary schools to adopt and implement the competency-based curriculum rolled out in 2021. PEAS used rural teachers’ local expertise to adapt schemes of work and align assessments to local realities. The curriculum’s set of generic skills was also adapted to PEAS Top 10 Teaching Practices, a set of ten guiding principles for effective, student-centered pedagogy, to support teachers to monitor these skills in their classrooms.

To complement these localized approaches, it is essential to ensure that skills development is informed by evidence and tailored to the specific needs of different regions and demographics. ALiVE offers a data-driven perspective on the current state of adolescent skills across Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Their research reveals a significant gap in foundation and 21st century skills, emphasizing the need for contextualized frameworks that address these disparities. ALiVE advocates for the need to understand the nature of the target skill set in each context and develop a clear framework for measuring these skills.

This panel will delve into these diverse, but complementary approaches to adolescent skill-building, highlighting how tailored interventions can be scaled without losing local relevance. By sharing their collective experiences and evidence, the panel seeks to inspire and guide efforts to equip Africa’s youth with the skills they need to succeed. Attendees will gain practical insights into strategies that have been proven effective in different contexts, providing a valuable resource for those committed to advancing the skilling agenda for African adolescents. Ultimately, this session will highlight how localized, evidence-based approaches can play a pivotal role in delivering the skilled youth Africa needs for a prosperous and inclusive future.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Daniel Omaya, SHINING HOPE FOR COMMUNITIES

Individual Presentations

• How learner-centered schools build student skills by meeting them where there are - Daniel Kyasanga, Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS)

• Equipping youth with skills for the future: An evidence-based approach to skill development - Meghan C Mahoney, Educate!

• Lessons learned from Komo's work to strengthen skill development amongst adolescents in Uganda - Elizabeth Nabuyama, Komo learning centres

• Building capacity to assess and nurture adolescents' life skills in the global south: Insights from an East African initiative - Mary Goretti Nakabugo, Uwezo Uganda