Pathways to employability: Lessons and case studies for closing the youth skills gap
The Innovative Secondary Education for Skills Enhancement project was created for the purpose of understanding the dynamics of the youth skills gap and its implications for employment. The first section of this article brings attention to research done under this project. Findings reveal that cognitive, non-cognitive, and technical skills are key for employment; while technical skills are valuable in helping youth secure jobs in the short term, the skills most valued by employers are cognitive and non-cognitive. Secondary education is an important platform for developing these needed skills in youth.
In the second section of this article, six innovative skills development programs targeting youth in Asia and Africa are discussed. Valuable lessons are given on how skills development programs for youth could be designed, and how such programmes could be expanded.