Assessing early learning (West and Central Africa)
English
International organizations
Information is gathered from other international organizations that promote skills development and the transition from education and training to work. The Interagency Group on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (IAG-TVET) was established in 2009 to share research findings, coordinate joint research endeavours, and improve collaboration among organizations working at the international and national levels.
Core skills and literacy
Core employability skills build upon and strengthen the skills developed through basic education; the technical skills needed for specific occupations or to perform specific tasks or duties (such as nursing, accounting, using technology or driving a forklift); and professional/personal attributes such as honesty, reliability, punctuality and loyalty.
Core work skills enable individuals to constantly acquire and apply new knowledge and skills; they are also critical to lifelong learning. Various agencies and organizations have given different labels to these skills, ranging from “key competencies” to “soft skills”, “transferable skills” or “essential skills”.
Case studies and good practices
Case studies that document good practices and illustrate the benefits and lessons learnt of particular approaches or methods in real practice.
Since 2014, UNICEF in Western and Central Africa began providing technical and financial support to develop early learning assessment tools to help countries assess children’s cognitive, language, socio-emotional and motor skills that are critical for a smooth transition to primary school. As of October 2021, a total of 13 countries – Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, São Tome & Principe, Senegal and Togo – have conducted early learning assessments.